August highlights
alot happened in August… much that we didn’t even have time to blog!
- First up: Steff Wright visits with her girls. She drove all the way here from Colorado with just her little girls to go to her husband’s Cousin’s wedding and see family and friends. What a crazy woman! Glad she came though. We had fun! We treated them to a tour of all the fountains in Downtown Portland that you are allowed to swim in and play in, plus a Visit to our favorite sandy beach on the Columbia River, Gourmet ice cream in the Pearl District of Portland, Riding on Public Transit, Picking blueberries at our favorite ranch- the kids all loved the horses there too…. In case you are wondering, Steff was only here for two and a half days… We really packed it in!
- Bryan started working two days a week in Vancouver rather than driving out to White Salmon every day. The drive on the other days is still pretty long, but at least he gets to stay around here more and he has time to go cycling with friends around town on the days he works near home. He has been exploring East Clark County on his bike and has seen some scenic forests and farmland and even a castle on his rides.
- Cub Scout Rain gutter Regatta: For the activity for pack meeting in August the kids were able to make boats to race down a rain gutter. Siblings were allowed to make boats too as long as they bought the kits themselves so we got two extra kits and the boys had a great time making their boats. They did a great job. Also at this pack meeting Isaac earned his Wolf rank. He is moving right along the cub scout trail!
- The boys started swim lessons and really improved their strokes and Micah started actually swimming, not just bobbing along in the water. We have two fishy boys now and Reece still hates to get his head wet. They all have fun in the water at least and family trips to the pool are much more interesting now.
- Camping: We joined some friends in the Gifford Pinchot National forest for a two night campout at Beaver Campground. We cooked outside, ate in the rain, rode bikes all over the campground, went for small hikes, and it was fun to take our little two person raft out on the river by the campground. The girls from the other families with us are of young babysitting age and they were pretty smitten with Reece. It was fabulous that they would volunteer to take him around the campground and let us have some free time. The girls decided to make “movies” one day so they got out their parents’ digital cameras and they all adopted stage names and made some movies. Reece was the only boy in the movies they made (all the other boys were off being manly riding bikes around the campground) and he was given the stage name of Joey. For a few days afterwards, Reece kept insisting on using his stage name and would say “I’m not Reece, I’m Joey” if anyone called him by name.
- Cottonwood Beach: We found this beach on the Columbia River earlier in the summer. It is sandy and the water is fairly warm and calm and we all love it. We have spent just about every hot day there this summer. The boys really got into engineering their sand structures and swimming. We definitely have the tans to prove that we hung out there all summer.
- Isaac’s 9th Birthday Party: Since Isaac’s birthday usually falls near or on the first day of school AND Labor day Weekend, we always have a hard time finding a good day to have his party. This year we opted to have it a week and a half early so that his friends would actually be in town for it, and so it would not fall on a school night. This year we opted for cheap and just went to Cottonwood Beach with cupcakes. It was impossible to get the kids to come home- they were having so much fun. Isaac loved his party and we are glad that we have had him in our family for another year!
- West Coast Estonian Days: This event took place this year on the University of Washington Campus in Seattle. It is happens every year somewhere in the West, but not often this close. Ily joined an Estonian Folk Dance Troup and got to go perform with them at the Song and Dance Festival at the end of the week of events. Bryan and the boys came along and hung out with Grandpa Doug in Seattle while Ily rehearsed and danced and performed till she was pretty darn footsore. The show went great and was fun to be a part of. The men had a great time seeing the Pacific Science Center, eating pizza, and swimming at the hotel. Everyone was happy.
- The next day we took time to go to the Aquarium all together (where we saw the Octopus climb the wall of his tank and just about climb out-eww/cool!) and then we said goodbye to Grandpa and took a ferry out to Bainbridge Island to pay a quick visit to Matt and Tiff Weighall and see their new babies. The ferry ride was really cool. We walked on the ferry and then watched all the cars drive on and explored all the decks. Isaac said it was like an airport in an earthquake, and it really was. Vinyl seats arranged inside just like at an airport, snack bars to buy some travel food, tables to eat food at, lots of travelers with bags, and a slight rumble from the engines making the whole place shake a bit. Matt and Tiff met us at the ferry terminal on the island and we sure do like them and their babies are adorable. All three boys took turns fighting over who got to hold the babies. Good thing there were two of them to pass around! Can’t wait for Melinda’s twins to come! We are ready to cuddle some more babies!
Now school is starting again and our adventures will be slowing down. Hallelujah!
Posted by Ily on September 7, 2009
