Summer Ain't Over Yet...

Well, technically there are only 2 more days of it, so here's a little bit more of the fun we squeezed in!

The Calles!
My best friend and her family came for their annual visit and we got to share some fun times together: Pink Martini concert at the zoo, visiting the Rose Garden with the kids, swimming at my parents' house, and having a BBQ lunch at our place and watching the kids play in the smallest water park ever (a hose + baby pool + slide).

Ron's Car Show
Papa Ron hosted his annual Cruise-In car show in August, so the girls just insisted on bringing their own cars to show off!  The big highlights for Morgan and Sasha was the "short bus" that was decked out with a flat screen and the amazing recreated 50s diner where the cruise in was located!

Beach Labor Day
We made it down tot the beach for our annual Labor Day weekend, where, as usually, we were treated to some amazing weather.  It was fun spending time with Erica, Roger, and the kids, and Sasha took a special liking to Noah's friend!  It was great watching the kids play, cooking yummy dinners, spending an afternoon at Pacific City, and enjoying the beautiful (early!) mornings on the beach with Sasha (to keep her quiet.  

Summertime is here!

We recently spent an entire week at the beach house, something we have never done before.  We had two different couples down with their kids and were able to settle in and relax.  We had nice weather most of the week and only a couple days of rain. 


Morgan had a lot of fun playing with her friend, Liam, who is the same age.  We went to the beach with his family a year ago and the kids didn't play that well together.  But now that they are a bit older, they kept themselves busy and got along great! They had fun throwing rocks into the ocean and spinning in the rocking chair.  We also made a visit to the Octopus tree, which Morgan can now correctly say (last summer is was "ocapus" - always a little sad when they leave those cute little words behind).


Sasha also had a "friend" come visit later in the week.  Baby Bella is only two days older than Sasha, but was born in Myanmar (Burma) to some international teacher friends of ours.  It was fun comparing the girls and seeing how similar they are. 

On the beach, Morgan loved writing letters in the sand and walking the balance beam on the logs.  Sam helped Morgan fly a kite for the first time.  It must have been her older cousin's kite because it was a war plane with shark teeth, but Morgan didn't mind.  I think Sam had more fun with it, but seeing Morgan jump up and down after it was pretty priceless.  The last day on the beach, the weather couldn't have been better - except that there was no wind to actually fly the kite - pretty rare on the Oregon coast.  Sam took Morgan to wade in the surf (she was in her undies because her pants were wet), Sasha was sitting on the blanket chewing on a sand toy, and I looked around thinking how happy I was at that very beautiful moment. 

After we were home, we had a fun 4th of July weekend filled with a trip downtown on MAX, a cute little 4th of July parade in our friends' neighborhood, and several barbecues with family and friends.  On the 4th, Morgan got to throw some "pop-its" and we lit a few little fireworks for her.  She was much more interested this year (last year she was scared of the sparklers I got her), but she put more of her efforts into a dance show to the tune of "Yankee Doodle," while her family sang. Sasha enjoyed her first 4th of July by napping very little all day and doing back bends out of the baby carrier.  Both girls are quite acrobatic!

We were so exhausted the night of the 4th that we were all asleep before 9:00.  Of course the fireworks woke Sam and me up, but fortunately the girls' slept through it all.  We are lucky to have good friends, a great beach house to escape to, and fun times as a family.  Hopefully the good times this summer will keep coming!

Ahh....September

I can't believe we are already near the end of September and Morgan's third birthday is nearly here. This has been a mellower month, after a summer of busyness, but I am tired! I guess it has to do with the little one in my belly more than the little one I chase after every day. But it's also been a fun month. Morgan and I had a relaxing Labor Day weekend at the beach house with my parents and Auntie Erica. We were blessed with beautiful weather - if I wasn't in this odd, misshapen state I could have been in a swim suit laying in the sun, it was that warm. Morgan also got her first visit to the Octopus Tree and Lighthouse at Cape Meares. Now she likes to tell me, "Mommy, when you were my age you used to go to the Ockapus Tree just like ME!!!"

That weekend was followed by a fun weekend in Seattle, staying with our newlywed friends, Sue and Joe, in their new home at Alki Beach. It was a part of Seattle I had never experienced and it was awesome! We played with Morgan in the sand, Sue and I rode along the beach on their new cruiser bikes, and we had the best cinnamon rolls on the planet at a nearby bakery (cinnamon rolls have become a recent obsession of mine). We were also in Seattle to attend a wedding of a college friend, so it was a good reunion of old friends (and mainly a chance to hang out without our kids!) The wedding was on this rooftop along the waterfront and we were treated to sunny skies, a view of downtown Seattle, and Mt. Rainer peeking through the clouds at sunset. We were so lucky that our friends, Candice and Cameron, could watch Morgan while we were at the wedding. They adore her and she loved being with them, and their new puppy, Kingston. Morgan had them wrapped around her finger, because she got them to swing her between them forever as they walked down then sidewalk. So cute! The weekend was fun for many reasons, but mostly because it reminded us how lucky we are to have such wonderful friends.


For me, September has also been about spending even more time with Morgan since she hasn't gone to preschool this month. I've been trying to keep us both busy and the change of routine has been nice. We are doing a "tumblebugs" movement class, rejoining the Spanish play group after many months, and going the library story time a lot. We have also spent more time at our park with new friends. I met a new mom recently who has a daughter just one week younger than Morgan. She is not only very nice and easy to talk to, but seems to know every other parent at the park. Yeah! Just what I have been looking for. It is so nice for both Morgan and I to have someone to "play" with on a regular basis, as well as connect with other people in the neighborhood.

Morgan's birthday is next week and we are having a party for her this weekend. Once she turns three she will start two full days a week at her new Spanish immersion preschool. Sam and I are very excited about this, and Morgan has been itching to go to her new school for weeks. I am looking forward to having more time to myself - such a luxury! But then I realize that this will really only last a couple of months. After December, I won't be alone....ever!

Summer is Here!

Ahh, it finally feels like summer has arrived....for many reasons. First, the cold rainy weather has left us and brought back dry, warm days. Second, Sam finished up a hectic round of teaching summer school that was a bit more work than he bargained for. But now he has the next 6 weeks or so off! (Well, he won't ever stop working but he is technically on vacation now.) And third, we left town for four nights for a mini vacation in Oceanside.We finally had good (amazing, really) weather. It wasn't since Labor Day weekend last year that we were at the beach and were able to sit out on the deck - usually we were dodging rain storms and waiting for the wind to knock the power out! So we were due for a wonderful beach weekend and that is what we got!
My parents joined us and they brought Avery with them, so it was even nicer that Morgan had her fabulous cousin to play with. Avery was a patient companion and sand castle-builder extraordinaire! A couple days later, my sister Diane and niece, Marissa, came to visit after just having flown in from Maui. It was so great to spend family time together at the beach.And with the nice weather, there was plenty of time to walk on the beach, enjoy the tide pools around the point during the low tides, and even go to the June Dairy Parade in Tillamook. I remember going as a kid and it is definitely a cute, small town tradition. Their theme this year was "Butter Than the Rest," and there was lots of butter decor. They passed out the usual candy, but not many parades also pass out cheese and pepperoni sticks! It was Morgan's first parade and she had been excited for it for the entire week. She was especially thrilled by the clowns and kept calling for them to come over - no fears there!I know I have said it before, but the older I get the more and more grateful I am that our family has this house in Oceanside. The little town hasn't changed much since I was a kid, and every time I go I am reminded of happy childhood memories at the beach with my family. I love sharing that with Morgan as she grows and seeing her fall in love with Oceanside too.