Astoria

We had a great Memorial Day weekend in Astoria.  My mom came up with her new little camp trailer, which I can't believe I didn't get a picture of!  Jim, Julane, Jamison and Jayden came up on Friday night.We had so much fun!  The girls got mouths full of sand, but loved the beach.

I took this picture last week.  Libby loves olives, so I opened a can to put some on a quesadilla (sp?) She She skipped the rest and basically had olives for dinner.

Peyton is our little blonde.  I couldn't resist getting out the camera after I put Libby's bow in her hair.  What a girl!
Fun in the tub.
Oh. For. Cute.  Libby is so sweet to Peyton....most of the time.
This is our camp site in Astoria.  The girls loved playing in the rocks.  When you're camping you make your own fun right?  Rocks it is.
Libby loves to get in a snuggle with Peyton when she's having a bottle.  She can't resist.  I can almost hear Peytie, "Seriously, mom.  Can you get her off me?"

A quick hike with Grammy Jane.  We drove around Fort Stevens State Park where my mom and Julane's family camped.  Mom and Libby went and checked out this battery (huge cement structures left there from WWII.)  Then, on Memorial day we looked at some others that are right at the mouth of the Columbia river.  It's here that soldiers kept watch for Japanese ships that might try to come up the river. 

First day on the beach. It was windy, but still fun.  My mom brought sleds for the dunes (who's the biggest kid?).  They didn't go fast, but we had fun trying.

A trip into Seaside with all four kids.  They loved it.  It was warm and without much wind.  All four of them fell asleep in the car on the way back to Astoria.  That is, after a stop at Dairy Queen.


This kid is a junkie for pop.  We try not to let her near the stuff.

Family camp at Fort Stevens.


S'mores.

If you've never stopped at this fountain in Wilsonville you must.  Great spot for kids and we had it to ourselves on the way home.  Libby loved running through it, and Peyton would've gone swimming if we'd let her.

I got this picture out of order.  Favorite camp breakfast.  Bagels with cream cheese and Antone's raspberry jam.  Thanks Antone!
We were so glad to be home!  The girls were so excited to see their toys.  Here's Peytie with a little trick she picked up from Grunden.
Getting ready to swim.
Playtime in Libby's crib before bed.  They were all giggles tonight jumping like little monkeys. I can almost smell the clean on Peyton just by looking at her flyaway hair in this picture.  There is something so great about clean babies!

The Oregon Zoo

I'll start by saying we've been wanting to take the girls to the zoo for a long time.  Next, I know I might be in trouble for coming to Portland and not calling a few people.  But, this was an impromptu trip and we'll be back, I promise.  We loved it!

I was worried when first thing in the morning Libby said, "I don't like monkeys."  Well sister, we're going to see some monkeys.  First stop, bears.

We saw some real polar bears, but this poster really puts Libby's size into perspective.
Whenever we'd see a new animal Libby would say, "He lookin' at me." whether they were or not.  The monkeys however, were.  Shane was a little creeped out by the monkeys.
Peyton checks out the turtles and the fish.
We stopped for a picnic and some run around time for Peyton.  She was getting restless being held, or having to ride in the stroller.  She's ready to be independently mobile!
Lunch

Libby loved the sea lions and loved being right up against the glass where they were.  Shane stood in the back and swore at them under his breath for eating the salmon.

Watching a playful sea otter.
Libby says the "fishes" were her favorite.  She talks about the elephants and the giraffes a lot, so I think they must have been a close second.
We didn't ride the train, but waved at it a few times as it went by.  We decided we'll save something for the next trip.
Post zoo diaper changes and snacks before loading up and heading home.
Peyton has turned into quite the climber.  She can't walk yet, but that doesn't stop her from standing on the seat of this car.
It's hard to walk in a sleep sack.
Here is Peyton when she's mad.  She throws her head down and beats her forehead on the floor when things don't go her way.  She's given herself a few bruises.  I guess some things are learned the hard way.
Workin' on walkin'.

Sleep Training...

The girls play in their new kitchen.  We ordered it from costco.com.  It was supposed to take about two hours to put together.  Shane and I worked together and that may have been our downfall.  It only took us 3 1/2.

Grunny spends some time in the sun dreaming of when he was our #1.
Our first ER visit.  Shane holds Peytie and we wait for her temperature to drop.  Libby and I were laying on the gurney watching Dirty Dancing.  On a positive note...if you have to visit an ER a brand new hospital is a swanky way to do it.  We had a private room with a door, not a curtain, and a flat screen t.v.  Not reason to do it again, but still.....
We headed to over the hill to celebrate Jayden's eighth birthday.  Eight years?  Where did they go?  Jayden chose Sharis.  Great desserts!
Libby got invited to his birthday party too.  It was a Star Wars themed party.  Check out our little Jedi hanging  with the big boys.  In this game they had to keep their ballon in the air with their light saber.  She hung tough.  We were proud.
Peyton and I take in the festivities from the front yard.
Some grass time with Grammy Jane.
Love between sisters.
We've decided Peyton got a bit spoiled while she was sick.  She's been sleeping in four hour bits and wanting middle of the night bottles.  It's like having a newborn again.  Sigh.  So we decided to nip it in the bud.  No more middle of the night, sister.  We moved her back into her own room so she wouldn't keep Libby up with her crying and we put her to bed without swaddling her legs as we've been doing since she was born.  She slept for 10 1/2 hours without a peep.  It turns out she didn't much want to be swaddled anymore.  Problem solved......or so we thought.

At naptime I put her down without wrapping her up.  Then, I watched her on the monitor.  She pulled off her socks, kicked off her blanket, sat up and screamed for about ten minutes.  Then, she fell silent.  I looked at the monitor and she was still sitting up......completely still.  She was sound asleep sitting up.  We couldn't resist sneaking in with the camera to capture the moment.

Here's what we found......


Post nap face print.....
It was a gorgeous day here.  Libby blew bubbles, went down the slide and ran circles around the tree in the yard.  Peyton crawled around and gleefully watched her sister.  It's hard to tell if this is a hug or a tackle....
Libby is an expert at finding snails.  Yesterday, she brought me one, but called it a nut.  When I told her it wasn't a nut, but a snail she couldn't get away from it fast enough.  She pointed one out in the yard today, but only from the safety of the top of her slide.  Then, she told me that Grunden should eat it.
Peytie was happy with herself at dinner tonight.  She can drink water through a straw!  Check out the comb over.  Maybe we should call her The Donald.