The Big Guy :)

Cameron ran to him before anyone else. Loving his excitement this year!

We got Castiel on his lap, but the twins questioned him more this year.

Emmitt couldn't think of anything he wanted, but quickly found something. 

One of my favorite things . . .

I love listening to the kids singing along to the radio in the kitchen. 

They get that from their father :)

True Believer

"Mom, can you mail this for me?"

I wish they'd believe like this forever . . . 

Emmitt's First Bus Ride

This is my text to daddy after getting Emmitt off to his first day:

----- Emmitt jumped on the bus as soon as the door opened with no hugs or kisses, didn't even turn around to wave. His little face pressed against the window as the bus pulled away and he had the biggest smile on his face. He then gave me a thumbs up :) -----

The thumbs up has always been his thing. We give him a thumbs up to let him know we are proud of him and he gives us a thumbs up to let us know he's okay. 

I didn't even think of crying until he gave me a thumbs up with that big grin on his face. 

He's okay...

This one was definitely harder on mommy...

Our Journey to the Ocean

We are staying in Eugene, Oregon. 

It sits right between the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade Mountains. 

We had to decide if we were traveling West or East for the day. And really, growing up in the Midwest, how do you not pick the ocean?!?

On the way, we saw what we thought was smoke, but then realized that they were clouds laying on the ground. 

Everywhere we looked there were pine tree filled hills. Lots and lots of huge pine trees. 

We turned a corner and realized that we were about to drive through a hill. It was a pretty long tunnel. 

Then finally we saw the ocean. This is at a state park. See how far the ocean is away?

We then saw this sign. 

Well, it's June 1st. We took that as a sign we were going on a hike. 

We trudged through sand dunes that had been washed a mile inland. 

Then we made our way through a woods. 

We could hear the waves crashing. We came out of the woods to see this. 

A meadow. No ocean. At this point I was convinced we were going the wrong way. Because i ALWAYS get lost. But we walked through the meadow. And when we got over the hill....

The ocean!

And the best part of hiking that far to see it . . .

We had the entire beach to ourselves as far as we could see!

It was still a hike across the sand to reach the water. 

And when we got there, it was painfully FREEZING. It actually hurt to walk in it. But we did, for a brief moment :)

Then we walked up the beach and picked up orange, purple and blue shells. Really, they were mostly broken, more like sea glass, smooth pieces of shells. 

Then the hike back, which seemed to be all up hill. But doesn't the journey back always seem to be?

Especially when we reached the sand dunes again. That was brutal. 

This is overlooking the journey we just made.

 A day I will remember, and the adventure made our trip to the ocean that much more special :)

I've now had my feet in the Pacific Ocean! Check that off my list :)

Bag of Bones

Not often are the boys interested in the girl's school projects.

Today was a HUGE exception. 

Audrey came home with a bag of rodent bones today. She had dissected an owl pellet today. 

I say "eww!"

But the boys said "cool!"

Never have they sat and listened so intently as she told them how the jaw bone fit onto her skull. She pointed out all the little teeth. And described how her friend cracked open her skull and found a brain!

Again "eww!"

Something for the boys to look forward too :)

Eww!!!

Quiet Morning with My Twins

Cameron had a birthday party this morning at the movie theater. Epic.

I had KC take him, because the taste of movie popcorn was more appealing to him at 10:00am. 

The girls wanted to see the movie too, so they tagged along happily.

Just me and the boys on a beautiful morning. 

So, I took them for a bike ride.

First we made it to the park, which we couldn't pass without playing on. About 5 minutes in Cas had to go potty, so back home we went. 

They wanted to go again, so I took them the opposite way, to avoid the park. 

We stopped to sit on a bench to look at the "lake", actually a neighborhood runoff pond. 

Emmitt wanted to wait for a fish to jump :)

I got them going again, only to be stopped by a family of geese. 

We stopped and kept our distance so they could cross the street. 

On again. 

And then as we got to our house, Emmitt notice that the geese had crossed through our backyard. 

So we sat on the sidewalk watching them very slowly walk away. 

They put on about a mile and a half, with many stops on the way. 

Then we played in the backyard. 

I attempted a mini photo shoot. 

But as soon as they looked at each other. 

Castiel turned it into a grass fight. 

Oh well, that's my boys :)

Little Helpers :)

Zoe was in my kitchen again tonight. She actually still is, finishing up :)

She changed it up tonight though. She requested mini assistants. 

And they were SO excited. 

They took their jobs very seriously and made sure they got their fair turns. 

They listened to her so well. I think she might have new little helpers more often now. 

She shooed them away while she baked the cookies, but they returned promptly when the oven buzzed. 

They couldn't take their eyes off their work :) Jell-O cookies!!! 

(Recipe was found on...... You guessed it, Pinterest)

Growing pains

We tease Audrey, lovingly of course, about how short she is. 

She has the nickname "shorty mc short shorts" in the house. She loves the t-shirt saying "I'm not short, I'm fun sized!"

But I think that might be changing. 

The last few mornings she's barely been able to walk in the morning. Aching upper thighs. I have been doing stretches with her, to try and loosen the muscles up.

I feel bad seeing her hobble out the door for school, but with only a few days left, it seems silly to keep her home when there is little I can do to help. 

Maybe she has some long legs coming and she'll have the last laugh. I never thought she'd be one to outgrow me. 

I pictured her more like her name sakes, Grandma "Audrey" (who I never got a chance to meet, but believe she was on the short side) and Grandma Irene "Elizabeth" (who I know was short, not sure if she was even 5ft tall)

Love her. Hope this passes soon. 

Say It! I'm a Monkey's Uncle.

Daddy's day off usually looks like this a couple times a day. 

But today's the first day I heard Cameron say, "Say you're a monkey's uncle!" while having daddy in a "head lock". 

Oh the things daddy teaches them :)

Wonder how long it'll be until the three of them can really take him, LOL. 

I want to be....

A garbage man

The boys ran out to watch the recycling truck this morning. 

And then Emmitt took off down the sidewalk. 

The garbage man got out and said hi to him and then glanced back, I'm sure to make sure an adult was close behind :)

He was pretty mad when I made him come home and not let him leave with the garbage man.....

He told me that he wants to drive that truck someday. 

Boy's Discovery Today

They noticed the leaves on the trees today :)

Leaves = Shade!

Very simple but very exciting to them. 

It's the simple things in life that put the biggest smiles on their little faces :)