Garage Sale Time

This weekend, Friday and Saturday, we had a garage sale. We try and have one every Summer with the neighbors. It is good to clear things out and rid of things that we no longer need or the girls have out grown. We always seem to have a lot of people stop by our sales, especially on Friday!

The girls once again set up a little water,soda, and juice stand. They always seem to do very well and the fact that it was 90+ degrees on Saturday helped out in the drink sales department. Here are a couple of pictures my Dad captured of the little sales ladies. It was pretty cute the way Peyton was so into it this year. People would walk up the driveway and she would open the ice chest and say "we have water". She made quite a few sales this way! I did not even tell her what to do or say. She just really liked it when the people would hand her the dollar bill! She would get so excited! ;)

Swim Lessons...x2

For the last 2 weeks the girls have been in swim lessons at the Canby pool. Maddie went everyday Monday through Friday. Peyton had her class Monday, Wednesday, Friday. It worked out great because their lessons were at the same time.
For Peyton's class, we had to go into the pool with her. Bry and I would take turns swimming with Peyton. Her class was really an introduction to water, floating on her tummy and back, blowing bubbles, and going under water. She did very well in the water and really enjoyed the lessons, especially the hokey pokey which we did at the beginning of each class. She walks around the house singing it quite a bit.
Maddie was in level 3 and has really "bloomed" in the last two weeks. She went from not wanting to put her face in the water to not only putting her face in the water but swimming all by herself! She is working on the forward crawl, backward crawl, and is able to swim streamline. She now jumps off the rope swing and the diving board with confidence and after landing in the water swims to the side of the pool. She has really gained so much during the last 2 weeks. I am hoping this can become a future sport for her. She still has a ways to go before being on a swim team, but I think it would be a great sport for her to focus on.

Here are some pictures...Enjoy... Peyton and I

Maddie swimming on her own!

Peyton practicing her front kick and blowing bubbles.

Maddie running in the air while flying off the diving board!

All done for the day!

The girls with their swim certificates! Good job!

A Weekend On The River

We spent a weekend at my parent's house on the Columbia River. Friday the girls and I went down and met up with not only my parents, but with Errin, Jeff, Austin, Jacob, Jordyn, Ryan, Kristin, and Connor. We went out on a boat ride, relaxed on the porch, and were pulled on a "tube" behind the boat. It was a great way to stay cool and have some fun with the family.

On Saturday Bry joined us and we went out on the boat once again and on the wave runners. We also had a great BBQ Lunch. This time Caitie joined us too. It was a great weekend! Lots of fun.

This picture was taken when the kids and I were not there...but I found it on my Mom's Camera and thought it was sweet...Little Connor and Grandma on the porch at my parent's house. Silly Peyton
Austin

Jacob and Jordyn on the "tube"... Jammin out.

Ready to go...Me, Peyton, Maddie, and Jordyn. This was the girls first time being pulled behind the boat. They had fun!

We blew up a little pool and put it on my parents porch. Peyton really had fun swimming and splashing in it.

Cait and I.

Maddie driving the boat with Papa.Peyton driving the boat with Papa.

Bry and Maddie on a boat ride.

Bryan took Maddie on her first big wave runner ride.

There were gone for a really long time.... over and hour and when they returned Maddie was asleep. She is really asleep, still sitting up. She was worn out!

Kristin and Connor splashin in the pool.

Bry took Peyton on her first wave runner ride.

She was really excited to go, until they got away from the house and around the corner. Then she wanted to come back to the house. Her ride was about 2 minutes long....what can I expect she is only 2 herself. When she got off the wave runner, she said she missed Grandma too much to go out to the river. :) It was pretty cute.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the fun at your house and letting us play in your "yard"!

Maddie's Hair Cut...Before and After

2nd Week of Summer Vacation....Arizona!

For the second week of Summer Vacation we went to Arizona to visit my best friend, Jana, and her family...husband Chris, and boys Brenden and Keegen! We try to see each other about once a year. This year Bry, I, and the girls all went to AZ and had a GREAT time! Our kiddos are about the same ages, so they really enjoyed playing together and got along so well! Here are some pictures of our fun visit! Keegen and Peyton having fun together....so cute! This was their first time meeting.
We relaxed some of the days and hung out in our PJ's! We went to a Fire Museum called "The Hall Of Flame". Bry really enjoyed the visit! The Museum was pretty neat with engines, trucks, and even horse drawn fire apparatus from all over the world. They had walls of patches from all over the world and Bry was able to find the Clackamas County Fire Patch (where he works). The kids enjoyed playing in a fire truck and trying on fire gear. They also had a children's section dedicated to learning about fire safety and what to do in your house if there is a fire. We spent a lot of time in this area.

We took a trip to the Grand Canyon. This is 5 hours away from Jana's house so we made it an overnight trip. We stayed in Flagstaff, about 2 hours away from the Grand Canyon. It was really an AMAZING sight and totally worth the drive! We had to laugh at the comment Maddie made when she first saw the Grand Canyon... "it just looks like a hole in the ground with a bunch of rocks!" I guess this is what it looks like to a 6 year old. Myself...I thought it was BEAUTIFUL and simply indescribable. It looked like a painting. It is just so big.
We hiked along a paved trail and rewarded the troops with ice cream at the end!
Beautiful

We saw Elk just walking along the side of the road. They are huge!

We had Keegen's 2nd Birthday Party! A BBQ and Swimming party.

I loved the hamburger cake. It was just such a "Keegen cake"!

Of course we went swimming EVERY DAY! The kids were in the pool whenever they had a chance. We felt so lucky to have a great place to cool off from the heat. The temperature ranged from 104 to 114! Just a tad bit hot. So the pool was very refreshing!

On the 4th of July we had a pool day, went out for a great dinner, and then went to a firework show! The kids were great and stayed awake for the entire show. They all had light up necklaces, flags, and wore red, white, and blue.We had such a great busy visit with our friends it was very hard to leave! I could have stayed another week and been just fine with it. We had such fun and I love visiting with Jana! We always seem to pick up right where we left off. We love just hanging out, talking, shopping, and just catching up. I look forward to our next get together, here in Oregon or in Arizona!

I know the kids looking foward to seeing eachother again too!

1st Week of Summer Vacation! The Beach!

For the first week of our Summer Vacation we went down to the coast for the annual Cannon Beach Sand Castle contest. It was a great time! Once again, we enjoyed the sunny days and the cloudy days....at least there were not many rainy days.
The actual week was really meant to be a "working vacation". My Mom, Bryan (for the weekend), and I worked really hard...painting, cleaning, and doing a mini-makeover on the beach house. We painted the kitchen walls and cabinets, painted the utility room walls and cabinets, and painted the bathroom walls and cabinets. We also scrubbed floors, walls, and cleaned out cabinets of clutter. My favorite part of this mini makeover was seeing the final project and all we accomplished in a weeks time. I also enjoyed the accessorizing and decorating. It is a great feeling to complete so much and enjoy the beach house in what feels like 3 new rooms.
Of course each day, we tried to fit in something fun. We enjoyed the sand castle contest on June 19th...which is also our anniversary. 11 years! Wow...it really has gone by so quickly. Maybe it feels like we just were married because the girls love to watch our wedding video on a weekly basis. We relive the day we were married about once a week. All of the day feels fresh in my mind and I love that!
Some of the other fun things we did were:
*drove into Seaside and went on the merry-go-round and played games in the arcades.
*We also dug in the sand quite a bit. Peyton especially loves to dig and we spent hours at a time making fake campfires, seagull birthday cakes, digging holes, and building sand castles.
*We looked around the tide pools for hermit crabs and other sea life.

Here are some pictures from the week. I did not include painting and house pictures. I want everyone to be surprised when the walk into the beach house....no sneak peeks.

Maddie and Peyton in front of a big banana split.A Turtle and a mermaid.

I love pictures like this.
Anniversary Ice Cream Cones....we were able to go out to dinner that evening....thanks Mom!On the Seaside merry go round.Peyton doing her very favorite thing! Playing in the sand.Maddie and her "campfire".
Just playing on the beach!