Field Trip Time

Last week Grace's preschool group had their first field trip. It was a trip to the fire station. I was actually pretty excited to see what their set up was like inside their little "house". Grace, however, really didn't want to go. I had to drag her out the door, and bribe her with bringing a toy along in order to manage a peaceful arrival.

Our tour started out great. We got to see the truck up close and listen to the firemen talk about what they do. The boys especially had a great time. Grace wanted to see, just from a distance. The firemen let the kids shoot an extinguisher with water in it across the lawn. Of course, Grace didn't want to participate. Then came the excitement. They got a call on their radio. We all scampered over to the predesignated meeting area, and watched as they loaded up and rolled out with sirens and lights going. Afterwards, we all just sort of stood around and tried to corral the kids for a photo. At that point Grace was like, "why did they have to leave? I don't want them to leave. I want to shoot the water. Will they come back now?" It just figures.

I was secretly hoping that our tour would end this way. It was quite the send off....I just wish we would have had a few more minutes there first.

Just Another Day

So on Friday I happened to enter into my 30's. How did that happen? It seems like just last year I was graduating from high school, and headed off to college. Okay, so maybe not last year, but still...not that long ago. I always thought 30 would be horrible, and truthfully, I'm still not sure it isn't. I am going through waves of feeling great (ie: hey I'm 30, smart, hot, and got my stuff together, go me) to suddenly feeling not so great (ie: hey I'm 30, my body is going to start getting old, I will never be young and hip again, the next step is 40, yikes). So yeah, I am conflicted to say the least. I guess I don't really have a choice, so here I go. It can't be that bad. At least I feel like a real adult now.

For this great celebration Chris and I took a mini-vacation to a local B&B called Chehalem Ridge. It was a short drive to get there, and the views were amazing! It was a gorgeous house right on the side of a mountain with great views of the Tualtin Valley. We had a yummy dinner at Dundee Bistro and our breakfast in the morning was quite tasty as well. We spent the day walking through a corn maze, shopping at Lloyd Center, watching a movie (Contagion), then to a fondue dinner. It was so nice to spend some time with Chris and have a couple days without changing diapers or dealing with normal life. Thanks to my mom and dad for having all the kiddos for a couple nights! It was a relaxing little getaway!

Baby to Boy

Today I was brave....

After I finished cutting Chris's hair, I decided that it was time for Neil. I loved his long blonde locks but they were getting pretty long. I just didn't realize how grown up he would look when I finished.

Here is Neil yesterday...

And today...




So I am new to this boy haircut thing. I have been clipping Chris's hair for the last 10 years, but a baby is so much harder! I usually use the #2 on Chris, so I got out the #8 for Neil and it was still soooo much shorter than I was planning on. Oh well, I think it turned out cute in the end. Just don't inspect it too closely when you see him. He didn't want to hold still.

I just can't get over how much more grown up he looks. My baby is turning into a toddler.

Watch Out

Neil is on the verge of taking his first steps. He is cruising around and scooting on his bottom. He's getting really fast too! Today I left him alone for a couple minutes to run something upstairs. When I came back he was in the kitchen emptying the cabinets. Then, a few hours later, he managed to scoot into the bathroom, pulled himself up to stand by the toilet, and was chewing on the seat! Ahhh, I remember this stage. Any day now and I am going to be chasing him around everywhere. He's already proving that he needs to be watched much more closely.

Big Girl

Today was a big day for Grace...first day of preschool! She was soooo excited to go this morning. It was fun to see her get her back pack on and for once let me do her hair without complaining. I can't believe how big she is! I have a feeling that she is going to LOVE preschool this year!

The first of first

Yesterday was Claire's first day of school in the first grade. When did I get old enough to have a first grader? Yikes!

I was a little bit nervous for her because she was put in a class without any of her friends and with the teacher that I was least excited about. She came home however all smiles and really happy with her new class. She got to pet a hermit crab and she said that all the kids were really nice and so was her teacher. Yay! Now I can relax and let her have a fabulous year and make lots of new friends.

I was planning on walking her to school, but I was pretty sick that morning so daddy had to take her. This was great until I saw the picture that he took of her....and her shoes that really did not match her clothes. Oh well right. She was sure happy with her outfit.

Ireland Part 2 (still pretty long)

So...after spending a few low key days in Cork, we ventured out to Killarney for a day. It was one of my favorite days of our whole trip. The weather was perfect and there was so much to do. We started with lunch in the city and then found a very nice jarvey to drive our jaunting cart through Killarney National Park. It was absolutely gorgeous! The kids thought it was great to be in a horse drawn carriage going down the city streets and into the park. It took us to see Ross Castle which is on the edge of one of the 3 Lakes of Killarney. We were able to walk around and see the sights before riding back to where we started.

Afterwards we found this great little ice cream shop in the city known for their sea salt ice cream. (http://icecreamireland.com/2010/02/24/sea-salt-ice-cream/) You can try it if you are brave. Chris really liked it, and he has even made it himself a couple of times since. To me, it's only ok. I liked the other varieties that they had much better.

Once we had our treat, we set off by car back towards Ross Castle. There were boat tours there of the lakes. It was really pretty out on the water. Afterwards we headed down the Ring of Kerry a little further until we came to the Muckross House and Gardens. We walked around the grounds and took lots of pictures. It was amazingly beautiful there. So much to see! Then we were off again to the Torc Waterfall for a short hike. It reminded us of the gorge in Oregon. It had the same look and smell as if we were looking at a waterfall back home. Afterwards, we were all pretty exhausted after a full day of hiking and exploring. We made the drive back to Cork.

Towards the end of our trip we packed up all our things and headed up to Roscrea, where my Aunt & Uncle live. We had a really good time with them! It was Neil's 1st birthday while we were there, so we had a small celebration with a strawberry swiss roll cake with fresh cream, yum!

We were able to find a small local pub with some traditional Irish music being played. It was really fun to listen to live music. The kids thought it was great! We even got to drive through Moneygall (the town Obama's relatives are from) on our way there. It was funny to see the town all made up still after the recent Presidential visit.

The next day we went to Birr Castle. It is an inhabited castle today, which was interesting. I can't imagine living there. We were able to tour the grounds, which were home to a giant telescope and museum. The telescope used to be the biggest in the world for over 70 years.

We had a little more time to kill, so we headed downtown Roscrea for a visit to the nice park they have there. The kids had a great time while Neil napped, and we got to relax a bit. Afterwards, we headed back to the house for a tasty dinner.

We said our goodbyes the next day and then headed off towards Aillwee Caves followed by our B&B that night. The caves were a fun place to visit. They are located with the Burren National Park area. It was such a pretty drive to get there, although very narrow and winding. The Burren is famous for it's contrasting landscape. It looks a little bit like a moonscape. Lots of rock interspersed with grass in all sorts of shapes. It's very beautiful. The cave itself was only alright, but Chris and the kids were able to go hiking up the side of a rocky mountain. They all came back down with cuts and scrapes. We stopped at another ancient tomb site on the way back, and enjoyed all the views.

After a much better breakfast at the B&B, we headed off to the Cliff of Moher. We had probably the best weather of our entire trip that day. It was gorgeous! We should have worn shorts. It was perfect for seeing the amazing views of the Atlantic. I think this is one of the most impressive sights to see in Ireland. We hiked around the cliffs and explored the visitor center. This took most of the morning. Afterwards, we drove just a few minutes down the road to Lahinch, which is a beach town. Since the day was so sunny and hot, we let the kids play on the beach. Unfortunately, we weren't really prepared for an afternoon at the beach. ie; swimsuits, towels, even spare clothes. The girls really wanted to go into the water, so I hiked up their pants and told them to only get their lower legs wet. I don't know why I even bothered. Within minutes they were both soaking wet head to toe. We ended up eating lunch at a small place right next to the beach so we could sit outside and let the kids dry off a little. They ended up riding back to the B&B in their undies.

Once we were changed into some clean clothes we drove just down the street to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. It was a pretty fun place to explore. They have a "town" full of replica houses and stores from different parts and times of Ireland. It was neat to see all the traditional style farmhouses. There were also animals there like sheep, donkeys, and chickens. We were able to have a really great tour of the castle itself. They use it still for big banquets. There were tons of winding staircases. It seems to me that castle life would be a huge pain. Lots of stairs everywhere! The kids were happy to explore and wonder which room the princess slept in.

After a tasty dinner in a local pub, we went to bed for the last time in Ireland. We woke up at a decent time, around 8am and enjoyed a traditional Irish breakfast before driving 10 minutes down the road to the Shannon Airport. We had to wait a really long time as we turned in our rental car. Thankfully, it all checked out intact (we only had one run in with a rubber pole, but no scratch ). We made it over to the airport in time to check in and walk right up to our plane and board without waiting. It was a little flustering, but we made it!

The flight across the ocean was uneventful. The kids were again fabulous! Everyone around us remarked at how well behaved they were. I was crossing my fingers because on this flight there was no video monitors for them to watch cartoons on. We made it to JFK and only had a nice 2 hour layover. It was perfect really. We had time to get some food and then get on our second flight. It was a little frustrating as we sat on the plane on the tarmac just waiting. Apparently some back up at JFK. So we waited almost an hour on the plane before actually taking off. We were all so tired by this time. Thankfully, the kids were great! Eventually they were all able to fall asleep. We made it to PDX and were greeted by Grandma and Grandpa. It was great to see them!

Overall, we had a really great trip, full of new foods, new experiences, and fun sights. We visited nearly every playground that we could find, and we became regulars at the chipper. It was great to visit with family that we hardly ever get to see, and it was nice to stay in my grandparents house that is now for sale. I will probably never again get to stay there. It was a trip that will have to last us a really long time. Who knows when or if we will ever go back. Thanks to everyone who helped us make it possible.