Happy Birthday Claire!

Claire turns 5 on July 1st, but we decided that we had better celebrate early because of the new baby. We kept it pretty simple this year. On Saturday we went bowling and let Claire invite a friend, and then on Sunday evening we had a family dinner/party. She had a great weekend, and loves all of her new presents. She received tons of things to color on/with. Thank you to everyone! It has been nonstop coloring at our house.
On a side note...it turns out that Grace is an amazing bowler. Not only could she lug around a 15 lb. ball, but she managed to score a 141! Granted we were using bumpers, but it was a good 40+ points higher than anyone else. :) Way to go Grace!

My little catfish

Last year I signed Claire up for swim lessons. She started out in the entry level preschool class, Catfish 1. She had a lot of fun, but she was still timid around the water. She wouldn't put her face in, not that I really blame her, but she wasn't progressing. After each session we would practice skills in the bathtub, and she would tell me that she was ready to try again. She took that class 3 times! Finally she was onto Catfish 2. I think I was more excited than her.

The first day of the new class made me think, "here we go...we'll be doing this class at least 3 times too..." By the second day, Claire was all of a sudden doing everything the teacher asked her to do. It was such an amazing turnaround. She even started swimming a few yards on her own! She's having so much fun in the water now, and seems to feel comfortable. I'm super excited for her! Good job Claire! Bring on Catfish 3!

Preschool Graduation

It's hard to believe that the school year is already over. It's even harder for me to believe that Claire will be moving on to elementary school this fall! She has come such a long way over the last 2 years of preschool. She can write her name, several words, read short stories, and recognize most large numbers. I am so proud of her! She is more than ready to learn much more in the coming year. I'm excited to see her grow and develop, and to see what she will be able to do next June!

Priceless

We have been trying to get the girls to actually go to bed at bedtime lately. I know, it doesn't seem like too much to ask...but seriously, we have had a really hard time with it. All was well and good when we first put them in the same room, that is until Grace discovered the light switch. Why sleep when you can flip on the light and play for hours?

Solution #5,465 maybe if Grace can't turn on the light, they will actually sleep

Trip to Home Depot= 4 miles
White ceiling fan= $59

Little girls that stay in their room, and fall asleep before 9pm.... priceless

Yes, it was a success...we'll see if the trend continues. This morning when Grace came into my room, the first thing she said was, "mommy, my light's broken." Ahhh yes, I think this will be a good thing. :)

The Sun Came Out

Yesterday was gorgeous! When we woke up and looked outside at the clear blue skies, I wanted more than anything to take a trip to the beach. It has been so rainy the last few weeks, so I was ready to celebrate the sun!

We left first thing in the morning after breakfast. It turned out to be the perfect time to go. We missed much of the traffic that I was expecting to see for such a rare nice day. About halfway there, Claire started complaining of an upset stomach. This is pretty common for her to say, so I didn't think too much of it, besides to tell her to keep her eyes on the road instead of looking down...just in case. Well, as we neared Seaside and turned onto 101, she threw up all over herself. We were shocked! This was only the 2nd time in her entire life (besides baby spit up) that she had ever puked. We pulled over, cleaned her and the van up, and continued on our way. Luckily I had packed extra clothes since we were headed to the beach. Thankfully she felt much better afterwards and was still able to enjoy herself.

Other than that drama, the rest of the day was perfect! We decided to go to a drive on beach in Gearhardt, which was perfect considering my current state. We were able to drive right up to where we played and didn't have to carry anything to/from the van. The beach was clean, the sky was clear, the sun was warm, and the wind wasn't bad at all. Overall, it doesn't get much better at the coast. The girls had a great time playing and even spent lots of time in the water.

After a few hours we packed up and drove down to Cannon Beach where we ate lunch at Moe's. It was pretty busy down there, but we were able to get in and out pretty fast. The girls really liked being able to watch the flying kites, seagulls, and ocean from the table. We headed home after eating, but we had a great time! I'm so glad we were able to go, especially since today it is pouring rain again. Such is Oregon. :)

Mt. Tabor

Memorial Day this year was pretty uneventful for me...I had to work. Chris, however, took it upon himself to seize the day. He began the morning by cleaning bathrooms, our shower, and laundry room! To say that I was pleasantly surprised would be a huge understatement! Thanks honey! It was really great to see when I came home from work.

In the afternoon he took the girls on another outdoor adventure/hike at Mt. Tabor park in Portland. It has a nice trail that goes around a reservoir and loops back to a playground. The kids had a great time of course. They are really enjoying going for hikes with dad. If you know of other kid friendly trails, please let us know.

We finished up the day with a classic Memorial Day BBQ with family. There was quite the spread of good looking food. It was challenging for me to look at all the options and have to choose only 1 extra thing to eat besides my burger. Oh well, overall I'm doing really good on my diet. Hopefully it will all be over soon!