Weekend With Grandma & Papa

Hey, it's been awhile since we wrote anything here but I guess we've been too busy with school, homework, soccer practice and soccer games to find any time to write. Well, over the weekend I brought both dogs and both boys to spend a weekend in Astoria. (Wendi made her annual pilgrimage to the beach with her girlfriends and did not attend.) The biggest drawback of doing the Astoria trip this time of year is that both boys missed their soccer games on Saturday.

The trip was great. Both Casey and Alex spent some quality time with the grandparents. They even got to ring the bell of the Astoria Trolley. Later in the weekend we all got to visit with my brother and his family. They have a kiddo about Casey's age and the two boys played non-stop for at least an hour. Needless to say, Casey slept most of the three hour drive back home to Corvallis.

My friend Gene and I had a little time to go Geo Caching in the Astoria area. We were able to pick up 18 or so. The best hidden one was underneath a sand dollar buried in the sand! The coolest hide was off one of the docks where someone had "hidden" it on a rope, submerged in the Columbia River.

SEASON & LEE'S WEDDING

Our beloved Season got married! We got to know this young lady when Alex was three years old and she’s been part of the family since. She hooked up with a super nice guy, he’s funny & kind, and happy to loft either of our boys gleefully into the air. Ya gotta like that!

We arrived early enough to explore the Gray Gables in Milwaukie, which is a lovely old house with tons of gardens and ponds and fountains. The boys had the honor of being in the wedding. Instead of full-blown tuxedos they wore vests and ties over long-sleeved cotton dress shirts. They looked so fabulous and charmed everyone… Alex stood up with the groomsmen & even got to escort a bridesmaid down the aisle! He said it wasn’t embarrassing, just “weird”. Casey was the ring-bearer, paired up with a sweet little girl that we met last year at the Zoo Lights festival (by the end of that visit they were holding hands.) Casey had several one-on-one conversations with the father of the bride.

This was a huge thing for these boys, they were completely independent because Derek & I were simply part of the audience! We weren’t able to make the rehearsal due to first-week-of-school conflicts but they just stepped in and did sooooo good, and we were sooooo proud!

The reception was lovely and we enjoyed meeting the folks at our table. Soon the boys got to relax a bit & remove their vests & ties, still looking sharp in their button-down white shirts & black slacks. Season (bless her!) dropped off a goody bag at our table with toys & colored pencils & very useful hand-held fans. Why were the fans so useful? Because soon the music started and CASEY WAS THERE TO BOOGIE! I’m not kidding, he was BREAKDANCING out there! And he was good! He did spend some of his time out there as instructor because there was a lot of interest in what he was doing. [I think the last person to lay such moves had a run-in with fire ants.] Anyway, soon we were all out there. I enjoyed the slow dances with hubby, & also dancing with Alex, gosh we don’t do that near enough!

After dancing & visiting until around 11pm we finally decided it was time to scoop up our boys & make that 1.5 hour drive home. They were awake longer than we expected, but still Derek and I were the only ones awake for most of the trip. Mostly me.

Wow – what a great celebration!

School Starts!

Here's some pics...

Alex - 5th grade. Has a big locker, enjoyed being with all his friends. Alex & Mama had a great bike ride home, & then he cranked through his homework.

Casey - Kindergarten. Met lots of new little buddies, and had recess!

Both reported a great first day!!!

Tuesday 09/02 - Tomorrow is the First day of school !

Franklin Elementary had an Open House today. Casey got to check in & get acquainted with his kindergarten teacher & classroom, find his seat & the all-important cubby! He’d met the teacher last Fall but this time the room was crawling with his classmates so that was fun. He was a bit shy but I’m sure will warm right up. He’s such a smart cookie, I think he’s gonna love this school thing!

Alex was, shall we say, ambivalent about going today. He has missed his friends this summer, but is perhaps dreading the homework & saddened that the summer went by so fast (me too!). It was fun though because when he walked by his classroom, Alex was positively Mobbed by his buddies, his “guys” :) That put a smile on his kisser…

We brought along the sweet young lady that’s been hanging out with them late this summer & she enjoyed the trip. She’ll be picking Casey up from school at least until her classes begin at OSU at the end of September. We hung out for awhile at the playground & let the guys run around a bit. Now they’re off to pick up a few important items (crayons & colored pencils). There’s just something extra special about starting the school year with a new box of crayons……………

Our bed is covered in school supplies from last year. Many of them are still useful (glue sticks, scissors, pencil-sharpeners) but we’ll do the final sort & see what last-minute items we need to purchase tonight! Derek woke their little selves up early so we’re working on this school schedule. Early bedtimes, then rise & shine!

Labor Day Weekend

SILLY HIKING BOYS!

This morning we took advantage of some sunshine & got the "boys in blue" out for a hike with the pups in nearby MacDonald Forest.

You can see them acting cool in the photo :) We explored an “old growth trail” which was very nice & shady & moist. Then up to a cool spot, an old quarry which is full of water & red newts, at least some of the year. Evidently they’re scarce in the Fall, so the boys played in the water without them. Until we were leaving & one last rock was lifted to reveal a teensy little baby newt! All of about 2 inches long! That was a great adventure! The entire weekend was a great adventure and I was sorry to see it end...

We do sooo love having our house full.

This was the last summer weekend, school starts for our boys on Wednesday (Alex 5th grade, Casey enters Kindergarten). So we were thrilled to fill up the house this long weekend with some dear friends. We had 4 boys running around the house, most often traveling in a herd. Or is it a pod? Or a gaggle?

We also enjoyed seeing our doggy friends Miriam, Tinka, & Zoey, although Bear does not yet embrace the “invite a dog to your home” idea so he spent some of that time on a leash attached to a parent. He really wanted to sneak in and give Miriam a nip on her back leg (trying to herd her??) but he doesn’t try it in the back yard, on hikes, or at Miriam’s house…humm…. Well, canine company is simply something he needs to get used to, so each experience is a good one. He's still off the charts cute :)

We played some good board games, enjoyed lots of food, drink, & companionship. We had a bit of drop-in company and managed to suck her in to drinking a beer & playing a game with us. We had fun at a local pet store looking at all the fishies. One of our little friends is a budding marine biologist, although he’s keeping his options open & may be an RV designer. Anyhow we enjoyed touring the fish place & later introducing a few new critters to our freshwater tank 

The big guys managed to move a verrry long couch from Point A, to Point B, whoops it doesn’t fit at Point B so on to Point C. That exercise earned them a pizza  Bear tagged along on his first ever Mountain Bike ride (up Dimple Hill) with Derek & some other buddies. Bear was one of two Border Collies on that trek & behaved very well, so yay! we have another activity to burn some of that pup’s fabulous energy! Another bike ride (of the road variety) took Derek & a buddy to Adair Village, where they met another buddy & found one of the many Geocaches they logged this weekend. That fellow, by the way, was driving because he had conveniently “forgotten” some essential bike gear!! A likely story!!

Now it's Monday evening & we're putting the boys to bed, we'll wake them early in the morning & enjoy their last day of summer vacation!