Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Cousin BFFs

We love getting together with Trav & Bridg as much as possible, especially because we get to see how sweet Tristan & Lincoln are with one another. It's so cute how much Lincoln enjoys being around his little cousin now. He loves sharing things with him - blueberries, legos, Dad's iPhone. Although Tristan isn't able to appreciate all these things yet (especially since Mom is constantly watching to make sure none of them go into his mouth!), I can't wait for the day when they can really play together. Also, Lincoln says his cousin's name in the sweetest, softest voice. It ends up sounding more like, "Tee-stan". Oh, how I love these two!!


SO sweet - holding hands!!

Monday, August 30, 2010

H2C (aka - Mini-Corrado Fest)

This is Brian and my second year being involved with Hood to Coast, and I can't believe it's taken us this long to realize what a great event this is!

Some of our friends are on Team Storytime (no, it's not a group of teachers - there's a story behind the name that doesn't involve setting a good example for our youth!) and they needed an extra runner and volunteer last year. Although we were kind of unsure what all this would involve, we jumped on board since we can rarely resist an adventure! Brian didn't think he was much of a runner (he'd ran a few 5-10k charity events) and hardly trained before his first H2C (not suprising!), but surprised everyone when he was one of the fastest on his team! Me - I had a great excuse to not be a runner last year since I was ten days pregnant (so what if I didn't know yet - it was still a valid excuse!) and "just" had a baby this year. So, no, sadly I couldn't run again this year, but loved being a volunteer!


Comfy quarters in Van A!

The boys of Van A - including Jaime who naively signed up to be the driver!

More of the team - including MaryJo, driver of Van 1 who, every year, knows what she's in for, but somehow is convinced to come back! And Andy Corrado who coordinates this crazy team every year!

Brian running with his "dirty hippy friend". Apparently, they shared a sandwich and an apple while running together. Needless to say this was not Brian's fastest pace out of the three runs!

The whole crazy Storytime Team at the finish line!

Jenna & Lyndsey enjoying a brewsky at the end!

And here is my favorite picture by far. Yes, that is Joey Harrington. Brian told him he had to get a picture with him for his wife. I wonder how often he hears that?? This would probably be one of my fave pics of all time if it weren't for Brian looking a little unabomber-ish. Oh, and if Joey was holding my son :)

This year, Lawrence and I paired up and volunteered at Exchange 1 in Government Camp. The weather forecast predicted snow flurries for our exchange up on Mt. Hood, but I ended our five hour shift with the worst raccoon eyed sunburn ever. Thank you Mr. Weatherman for preparing me for winter weather in the middle of summer. You had me fooled enough to bring my down vest instead of my sunscreen.

Lawrence & I rocking our fashionable reflector vests.

The next day we made the trek to the beach to meet up with our team at their finish line. Although we missed them in Seaside, we got to meet up with them in Cannon Beach. Who cares if everyone else hadn't slept in 36 hours and were sore from running 15-20 miles?! Lawrence and I were there to celebrate!! And celebrate we did! How can we stay at the Corrado cabin on the beach and not have a good time?! It was definitely a mini-Corrado Fest! (And for those not familiar with Corrado Fest, it's basically a college reunion with those who are still stuck in '97-'01 :) Tristan got to experience his first time with this crazy group and I'm sure he'll fit right in over the years (although he'll take a break from the ages of 14-21 :)

Beautiful day at the beach! And nice action shot of the boys playing cornhole.

Lawrence & I enjoying our time at the beach (with a sneak attacker behind us :)

Lynds, Jenna, Nolan (Tristan's personal nanny for the weekend :) & Hillary - a little tired after their mega relay.

Lyndsey proudly displaying her H2C medal

The next day was a beautiful, picture perfect day at the beach. And speaking of pictures, since Mick was also a volunteer, he and Carinn came over with us and took our family portraits while there. Although I fretted over our outfit choices (some things never change) and tried to figure out what to do with my raccoon face, it turned out to be a really fun picture session. I can't WAIT to see how they turn out!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Mommy playdate

So, I've tried unsuccessfully to set up a weekly playdate with all the new mommies this summer. With all the busy schedules of the large group of mommies we now have, it was nearly impossible! But luckily, we found a day where almost everyone could get together. And of course, it happened at the end of summer!

It's amazing how many mommies there are amongst our friend group now. It was so much fun to get together with everyone and see some of the kiddos playing together. It's almost hard to believe that the four recent lil' ones will be running around with the biggies in a year!

Even though I have to go back to work soon, I hope we can continue this group. It's important for all of us mommies to have each other during this exciting, yet terrifying time. And also important for all of these kiddos to get to know their friend "cousins" since they will be seeing each other a lot over the next several years! We joked that the next mommy playdate may have to also include wine!

Here are some pics of us at our 1st mommy playdate. Hope there are many more to come!

Best buds Tristan & Logan

Most of the mommy crew - there were 7 mommies and 10 kids there altogether!

Ang with her kiddos Haylee & Brady and Ali with Aubrey.

Buds since they were born - Grant Dente & Nick Zervis

Leah & Nick Zervis

Ali & Aubrey


Tristan lovin' on the ladies! Even though the ladies around him aren't as interested, he seems pretty enamored by all of them!

Exhausted from a fun playdate! *almost 3 1/2 months*

Florence Fun

This past weekend, we traveled to my old stomping grounds for a weekend stay at Sarah's parents' house on Woahink Lake, outside Florence. Since Florence was just 45 minutes away and the closest coastal town to where I grew up, it was definitely a frequent quick trip if we felt the need to leave home for a day or two. We usually went to either Heceta Head Lighthouse (also known as Devil's Elbow), just north of Florence, or to Honeyman State Park and Dunes. This time we stayed at a place I never frequented as a child, but is as equally as fun.

Always the gracious hosts, Sarah's parents let us stay at their house while they were away. Of course we brought The Pickle so that we could take advantage of their lakeside access. Beautiful house + lake by the beach + good company = fun times had by all.

*Funny random thought - whenever we went to Florence or any other town along the ocean when I was growing up, we always called it, "going to the coast". When I moved to Portland, all I heard was, "going to the beach". I never call it the coast now!*

Here are some pics of us enjoying our getaway weekend:


Sarah with Little Man

Dave also getting his Little Man time in.

Can you tell who's related?? Carinn, Angela and Sarah on the deck with the beautiful view in the background.

Even the doggies enjoyed their time together. (If you look closely, you'll see TP hanging from Bella's mouth - proof that she's not partial to just digging around in our bathroom garbage - the dirty rascal :)

Late night photo shoots are never a good idea - this was the only normal one out of quite a few poses.

Not one of the normal ones.

Another beautiful view from their deck of Woahink Lake - and what an amazing day in Florence!



Out on The Pickle - we all had to get our driving lessons from Captain Dave!

A lunch photo opp

Another photo to show the beautiful day at the coast!

All Lawrence really wanted to do was dune board, but had to settle for using this cheap alternative - her jeans!


Brian & Lawrence decided log rolling down the hill was an equally terrific idea!

Can't wait to go back!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Happy 3 month Little Man!!

I can't believe our Little Man is 3 months old today!! It has gone by so fast and every time I look at him, I'm amazed at how much he's grown! In fact, just last week I took out all of his 0-3 months clothes to make room for the next size in his dresser. So sad - some of his outfits only got one wear, and some were not worn at all.

Here are some 3 month stats:
Can roll over from tummy to back and back to tummy! (Although he does the tummy to back a little easier)
He can laugh out loud!
Is really aware of things around him and loves to interact with anyone close by
Loves to smile and does it frequently :)
Can sit up with some support
Can sleep through the night (9pm-7am) with only one 4am feeding!
Starting to hold his bottle on his own

Here are some pics of our sweet Baby T:

Love the look on his face! At Daddy's softball game *12 weeks*


Daddy's last softball game *almost 3 months*

Going to lunch with Dad for his Happy 3 month!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Meet the Fockers

We just got back from our Focker Weekend. And if you're wondering if I'm referring to those Fockers, yes, I am! Here's the back story:

It all began five years ago when Brian came with me to meet my parents and our good family friends - Sandy & Wayne Anderson - at their beautiful house in Brush Prairie, WA. They greeted Brian and I at the door with a scene right out of Meet the Parents. And the similarities just continued from there. One funny example - since Brian didn't bring any swim shorts for their pool, Wayne lent him a pair of almost-Speedos. There's a reason Brian doesn't wear Speedos - sorry hon - but his legs barely fill them out! And if you're wondering, yes, we really did play pool volleyball. I swear we weren't trying to emulate the movie, it just kept happening! As you can see, every time we all get together, we call it the Focker Weekend.

After "rushing" (see previous post :) home from Bend, we cruised over to the Andersons for a BBQ and met my mom, Doug, Trav, Bridg and Lincoln there. They were all staying the night, but since we have doggy responsibilities, we had to just stay for dinner. The "Fockers" live in an amazing house right on a golf course, so of course we had to come back early the next morning so that Brian could make the tee time and us girls could enjoy their pool. Oh, what a life! Rough weekend, I know :)

Here are some pics of our fun Focker Weekend:

Hanging out on the porch swing

All ready for the pool!


What a life - the view of the course from their backyard


Lincoln can't hardly wait to join the big guys out on the course

Enjoying some pool time with Grama Candy

Just loungin' by the pool - no biggie :)

Sandy getting in some Tristan time



Grama & Papa getting in as much Little Man time as they can

I love how this pic shows the differences between generations - Lincoln is playing with the iPad while Wayne is looking at an old school form of communication (and yes, that would be the high quality OK mag :)