New Shoes, Trip to the Zoo, Rose Garden, then Nap

Yesterday was a very fun filled day for Meadow and I. Todd was going to be gone all day and night for a bachelor party so I wanted to fill our day with lots of fun activities. It was nice also because I got a full night of sleep and had a fair amount of energy yesterday. We stopped in Gresham to do a quick return at one of the children's shops and ended up finding some cute shoes and a dress for Meadow to wear to JD and Liz's rehearsal dinner. Meadow had a lot of fun trying on new sneakers and did a great job testing them out in the store. She was so excited about the one pair we had to wear them right then. I have to admit, they do feel super comfy. She is actually wearing them in the pictures. After a short shopping trip, we drove out to the zoo and met up with my friend Amy and her son Quinn, who is four months old. It was so great to see them and to see how much Quinn has grown and changed in just a few months.

The weather was also just perfect. It has been really hot here and is supposed to get hot again soon. So, we took advantage of the mild 75 degree day to check out all the animals. I definitely think the highlight for Meadow was the train and probably the ice cream treat we got after our lunch. Meadow really loves trains and whenever she hears a noise that sounds like one, she says choo, choo train very excitedly. We had started to play in this sand area and she heard the train and I asked her if she wanted to go on the train now, and she left the sand area lickity split. We rode the train to the Portland Rose Garden and got off there and went down to the playground for a bit and then checked out the roses before heading back to the zoo. After such a fun filled day, Meadow was fast asleep in the car within about ten minutes from the zoo. A true display of a very fun filled day, since Meadow rarely takes naps anymore.

Meadow thinking about giving Quinn a kiss. I think she was also copying him putting his fingers in his mouth in this pic. She was also copying another baby crawling around near us.

He was giving me some great smiles and I kind of caught one of them.

Quinn thought Meadow was pretty cool

Well, until she decided to grab his hand. This was really great practice for Meadow. She wasn't super excited about Quinn on my lap at first and actually said, "no baby Mama" But, then she warmed up to him a bit.

On the train ride. I just had to share this pic of her calf muscles too. She definitely has her mom and dad's muscles.

mmmmmmmmm they smell so good.

This one had actually fallen off, so Meadow had fun holding this one and getting a good smell.

Relaxing Afternoon at Trillium Lake

This past Sunday while Todd was at work Meadow and I went on a little hike by the Salmon river. It was so nice to be in the shade and it was a lot cooler than in our neighborhood. I was so happy I got Meadow to stand for a posed picture. Meadow found this neat little cave in the tree.

On Monday Todd had taken the afternoon/evening off. It was about 100 degrees at our house so we headed up to Trillium Lake to find some cooler temperatures and relax and do a little sea kayaking.

This was definitely a highlight for me. I haven't been able to lay on my belly in months, so it was nice to borrow this intertube from a nice family and float around for a bit. The water temperature was just perfect and I think the baby enjoyed floating. Meadow had fun playing with some other kids that were there and she was immediately named the little pirate for her pirate ship. It was pretty hilarious.

Trying to catch a lilly pad

I wish Todd had every afternoon off. It was so nice to be able to break up the work week with this little excursion up to the mountain. I know I shouldn't be thinking about this already, but I am really going to miss summer once it is over. But, I definitely have an exciting new adventure coming this fall. Baby #2!!!!!! I am so curious to see what he is going to look like and what his temperament will be. I am definitely getting prepared for the lack of sleep. I am just having the hardest time sleeping between 3 and 6am. Hence, my blogging at 5:43am. Well, I will sign off this post for now. This weekend will be busy with wedding festivities for our friends Liz and JD.

Frog Lake Adventures

This past Friday we headed up to Frog Lake by Mt. Hood for a Little Bear Hiking club adventure and to spend some time up by Mt. Hood enjoying the cooler 80 degree weather. It was in the mid 90's in Portland that day. My good friend and neighbor runs a program for kids 2-7 focusing on bringing families out hiking and exposing kids to nature. Since the program fits right with our lifestyle, we try to participate as much as we can. This hike focused on finding tadpoles and checking out what insects we found on the trail. There were beautiful dragon flies and butterflies flying all over and we did get to see several tadpoles and small fish in their early stages of growth.

Meadow checking out the trail
Getting a little bit of assistance stepping over a log. She often wants to do everything herself these days, so it is nice when she asks for help or lets you help her. Our little girl is growing up.

Checking out the tadpoles

Learning about the nature activity

Todd thinks this is such a great hippie pose. I love the wooden name tag she got for participating. She also gets a sticker to put on the necklace for every hike she does with the program.

Saying the cheer at the end.

Meadow is really starting to develop several little friendships. This is her new friend Teagen. She is even sharing mommy's sunglasses with her. Meadow is such a social butterfly and always requests for her friends when we go to the park. We go to Wildwood park every Tuesday so now she expects to see certain friends on that day. too cute.

My new friend Mia, Teagen's mom. Always fun to meet other cool moms who like the outdoors.

Teagen and Meadow getting a ride in the sea kayak.

Sea Kayaking just shy of 30 weeks. This is such a nice relaxing activity to do while pregnant. I can get into the boat pretty easily, I just need a little help getting out.

Meadow has really been enjoying our recent little sea kayak excursions. She likes to put her hand in the water and relax next to dad, she even helped paddle this time.

Just had to share one of our recent fun days on the mountain. We will be heading up to Timberline this coming weekend for a wedding, so it will be fun to be on the mountain and see how it has changed since the winter.

Trip to California

Almost a month ago now, Meadow and I headed to California to see two of my good friends from college at SUNY Cortland. Lesley now lives in Salinas, CA and my friend Tricia lives in Raliegh, NC. We try to get together as much as we can despite living so far away. We had gotten together in December for my friend Jen's wedding but unfortunately we didn't get a chance to see our kids. Tricia and her husband and son had planned a trip out to see San Fransisco and to see Lesley, so I decided to make the short flight down to see them. Lesley has a four bedroom house which is nice and spacious to accomodate us all. We packed a lot in our five day trip. We went on a nice local hike, went to the neighborhood playground, headed to Monterey for a couple of the days and hung out on the boardwalk, went to Dennis the Menace park, and visited the aquarium. One of the days we went to Santa Cruz and went on a nice train ride to the redwoods and hung out on the beach. It was a fun trip and was also nice to be able to see Hunter who is three and a half. I hadn't seen him since he was about six months old.

At the harbor in Monterey. Meadow is sporting her harness/ teddy bear packpack which I have to put on her sometimes. She is just a very fast little toddler, so it is much safer to have her wear this, especially when I am pregnant and am not quite as agile. She actually loves wearing it because she gets to wear a backpack just like the bigger kids and her parents.

Going down the bumpy slide with Les and Joe. This park was really fun. I highly recommend it for anyone visiting Monterey with kids.

On the train ride from Santa Cruz

Seeing the big redwood trees.

All geared up for the beach. One of the times Meadow actually rode in the pack.

Loving the water

Enjoying ice cream and playing in the sand with Hunter

The Cortland Girls

July 4th Weekend

I have a little catching up to do with blogging. So, this post is a little outdated now. On July 4th we headed over to our friend Jen and Tony's for a bbq and to celebrate Maddie's 2nd birthday. Meadow was very excited to go to Maddie's house for her party and is still requesting we go back to Maddie's birthday party. Too cute.

Our friends Liz and JD got both the girls a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal. Meadow really liked both of them and here she is holding on tight to Pooh. I also had to document the shoes that she had to leave the house in. She did finally request to put her sandals on bc her feet were so hot.

Maddie got a new tricycle for her birthday. The girls had a great time taking turns pushing each other. I love how they are really starting to play together now instead of just doing parallel play. Of course they still both have their agendas, but sometimes their agendas go together.

Sitting together in the muck bucket.

These pictures don't really do the fireworks justice. But, the neighbors down the road from Jen and Tony put off a big fireworks display. Well, big for legal Oregon fireworks. The girls were pretty tired, but they seemed to really enjoy the display.

Jen with the girls.

The next day we headed over to Steve and Rita's (Ghanny and Bampom's) to go swimming and met up with the Wubbenas. Hope even took a few steps, so that was really fun to see.

Xavier and Meadow just have a grand time together. Here they are giggling up a storm.

Summer Days

The summers in Oregon are so beautiful and generally not too cold or hot. So, we have been enjoying our time outdoors and having fun. On Tuesdays Meadow and I go to Wildwood park and meet up with other moms and kids and have a picnic lunch before heading over to the library program. Today we will be going to see reptiles, but they have had storytellers and musicians the past few weeks. We have also been enjoying swimming at the neighborhood pool and at Ghanny and Bampoms house as well as playing in the sand down by the river. We even have set up an outdoor water park in our side yard. Meadow loves to play in her little pool and with her water table. We recently set up a canopy so we can have shade on the hot days.

Here are some pictures of the little water park, including Todd cooling off. Meadow decided she wanted to sit in the water table the other day.

Practicing her back stroke

We set up her slide next to the pool. A very fun addition

Cream cheese mouth with a great smile. Meadow is so fast, it is hard to catch the good expressions these days.

The beautifully stained deck. Todd worked hard for a couple days this past weekend getting this done.

Our new neighbors. We think that people in our neighborhood have been feeding them because they came around right at dinner. I have to admit the babies are so cute.

Our cat was not too fond of their presence. The other day the mom had been peeking over our picket fence and Meadow saw it very briefly and had been asking to see it ever since. She was very excited that it came back to visit with her babies.

This past Sunday it was kind of a drizzly misty day, so we decided to do what we would normally do on a spring weekend day and head to one of our favorite hikes. It was so great to be outside and enjoy the beautiful scenery along the Salmon river. I was also very excited that my back was feeling better. We did between 3-4 miles. Meadow walked probably about half of it and rode in the backpack for the rest. It was so much fun seeing her observe all the little things a long the hike. She pointed out fun plants and little holes that we would have never seen. She also learned what a clover is.