Beachy

Big news first.... I have a job! I'm going to be teaching 5th grade here. I'm going back to Howard Elementary and it feels great to be going back to a familiar place. I'll be working with my friend Suzy and that's a huge bonus! Now, if I can figure out how to balance this working mom gig, I'll write the how-to book and make my millions.

My dad and Margie came last weekend and we celebrated my dad's birthday. I intended to make cupcakes, but never got around to it. My dad settled for a candle placed on his half eaten bagel. Cupcakes to come later. Happy Birthday Dad!

Monday we headed to Astoria where sturgeon season is under way. The girls are bunking together now and loving it. The first night I think they were still wrestling around two hours after we put them in bed. Luckily, the novelty seemed to wear off and the next nights weren't quite so rowdy.

Ice cream (after riding the carousel) in Seaside.

Beach time! We played on the beach in Gearhart because you can drive your car right onto the beach. That means when you open the car doors, you're there. That's priceless when you're packing around little people who are not fans of walking while carrying things.

Peyton loved throwing the ball for Grunny, but we need to work a bit on her technique. She totally throws like a girl.

Action shot....

Beautiful Oregon.

Beautiful girl.

When we got home the girls found (and played with) their umbrellas. I jumped up and grabbed my camera to get this shot of Peyton trying to bring hers inside. She was so frustrated.

My little wicked one. She was so sad that Peyton didn't want to dance with her.....

Then, I told her I'd dance with her......

I think I've mentioned that Peyton loves doing everything her sister can do? Well, now Libby can open her car door all by herself. So, naturally Peyton thinks she can too. This morning it took us forever to get out of the driveway. She insisted on opening her own door and wouldn't let me come within ten feet of it for fear that I'd open it for her. If I even thought about making a move in her direction, she'd scream at a volume worthy of calling child protective services. Heck, I almost called them myself. The problem is that she can't do it. So, after letting her struggle with it for awhile, I managed to stand in my open doorway and reach through to open her door from the inside, all the while letting her believe she'd done it herself. It's a win win. Victory for all involved. I'm hoping she'll build some strength though, so we don't have to go on with this little charade for too long. If only I had a minivan, then I could open her door with the push of a button. But the problem with that is, well, I'd be driving a minivan.

Our last stop today was the grocery store. Peyton was tired, unopen to any redirection from me and insisted on standing in the big part of the cart. Every once in a while she'd sit on the edge and balance her little tush on the 1/2" lip. Rather than fight her on it (or take her to the ER), I took both girls out of the cart and let them run like wild boars through the store. Grunting, snorting and squealing. I'd like to think the other shoppers thought it was adorable, and frankly they were. Make no mistake, little girls can get away with things toddler boys cannot. It's true. Unfair, but true. Just as cute as my devilish little Peyton, was her big sister who walked beside her and said, "Excuse us." to the other shoppers. No joke. She's already learned to apologize for her sister.

Peyton walked up to this display of peppers and just before she could pull out the one on the bottom, toppling the entire display, I tackled her to the ground. No, not really. But I do think that happened to some other poor mother of toddlers today, because if you look closely at the green ones, they've been re-stacked. Luckily, mine didn't do it. I should've let you think they did.