I thought LAST month was busy. . .the end of July and August so far has been INSANE! Busy, but also fun as well. In between all the family time we have been doing a ton of work around the house. I think at this point, we are about done. Which is a good thing, cause we are going broke! :-) Noooo, it's been nice. We haven't done much to this house since we have lived here, and it's been almost six years. There was some definite wear and tear and some opportunity for some changes, so we kind of took advantage of the timing. We have also gotten rid of a lot of stuff and made many Goodwill runs. I just feel like things are cleaner and fresher and it has really cleared my head. I know I am crazy, but a clean and organized house is usually on the top of my To Do list and I feel like I am closer than ever. And yes, it is NEVER done, especially with a house of kids and pets, but it's closer than it has been in awhile! Anyway, the house has been our big "project" for the past couple months and I am feeling good that we've accomplished a good deal of things that we wanted to. . .now the yard and garage - those are a different story :-) This month I also celebrated my 34th Birthday. Yes, I said it! Maybe not next year, but. . .As usual I have my standard motivational talks with myself and this year is no different. I have been home for three months now and although I enjoy "most" of it, I feel like we are just running and running and thus, eating like crap. Here it is summer with the best fruits and veggies available and I hardly eat one a day lately. So, back on my usual kick. I'm hoping to at least stick with it for a bit. Last year I decided to run a 5K and I did that! :-) We shall see, sigh. . .
But, back to the fun stuff. Mark was off for a week of vacation over my birthday and once the stuff was done with the house we just played all week. I got taken out to breakfast and dinner and a movie. And the day of my birthday we all went to Enchanted Forest. I hadn't been there since I was way little, so it was pretty cool to take my kids back. It's not Disneyland, but it was great for my kids' age and we all had a great time. We also spent a day at Great Wolf Lodge, so we had some good times for sure. There are still a couple more weeks in the month and I still have a couple more birthday celebrations planned. I feel VERY spoiled! I'm soaking it all in though, it's nice to be pampered a bit every once in a while - NO?
We've been trying to keep the kids busy as well (and me out of the Crazy House), so we've been trying to keep them occupied during the week. Sometimes I wonder, Are we doing TOO much? My mom is always saying we are crazy and NO wonder we are tired, but I can't imagine it any other way. . .We've been to birthday parties and the County Fair and visited Mel's camp that she went to for a week that was in Newberg (BEAUTIFUL BTW). I've been learning of free and inexpensive things to do all over and taking advantage of all that I can. John and I love going to the library and feeding the ducks at the duck pond right next to it. It's so pretty and peaceful there and it's become something that we do special together. I've been meeting up with a neighbor/friend and taking our kids on play dates. It's been nice to meet up with someone who lives close, with kids that like each other and are similar ages and we just go and do things all together so easily, it doesn't hurt that she's pretty cool too. Thanks Laurie! We have been to the Sellwood Pool and The Children's Museum. Down the street to the park, indoor playgrounds and out for pizza. It's been pretty nice. I have been feeling pretty cut off from the world since not working, so it's been nice to have found that connection.
John enjoying a cupcake at Brooklyn's birthday party.
John and Mel sitting on the dock at Camp Tillicum in Newberg, Oregon
John keeping busy at The Children's Museum
Mel and Yaya at a City of Hillsboro function (gotta love those FREE events!)
Mel with some of her fellow Girl Scouts picking raspberries
At the Washington County Fair. I sure have some mixed feelings about that place, especially after this year's adventures - but I know Mel loves it and I am sure SOME DAY John will too, so alas, we will go back
More pictures from Family Night at Camp Tillicum. It was a gorgeous night and so peaceful out there. It's crazy that all that wilderness is just seconds from our house. We need to go exploring A LOT more often!
I love these types of pictures. . .
And then there was Great Wolf Lodge. Swimming and ice cream and hair extensions and coffee and pizza and souvies and the arcade. The place is a rip - bring your money! It's fun, but we realized after last time we went ONE night was plenty! Mel sure loves it there though. And this time she went on ALL the water slides, she was very proud of herself and had a blast.
John could skip the swimming and just eat!
Water time!
I REALLY wanted them to pose together, but sometimes, it just aint's gonna happen!
Enchanted Forest - ahhh, the memories!
I ALMOST had to go on this dinky roller coaster - thankfully John chickened out at the last second and Opps, sorry, I had to take him down. I am SUCH a wimp!
This picture cracks me up! Mind you, this ride was in "Kiddie Land." Mark was able to go on, but a couple kids had to be booted to stay under the weight limit - hee hee - like I am one to talk! :-) (And dang it, one of John's favorite, well, his FAVORITE ride was the train, which he went on several times, deleted somehow, NOT going to start all over to put it back on. Regardless, John did really good at EF. He can be very timid and whiny at times, but he walked through everything and seemed to have a blast. At lunch time he had a bit of a moment, but after his churro snack he was happy as a clam. Especially once he saw that train. I will have to post a picture of him on it later...)
After a CRAZY BUSY week we still managed to eek out some outings over the weekend. Although compared to our usual activity lately, we did stay home more than usual. There was still come putting together of the house and some cleaning to do. We got some errands out of the way. Mark discovered a cash of (FREE) blackberries near our house and decided to can a ton of blackberry jam. My birthday present from the hubs was a swing for our yard and he put it together Saturday afternoon. This thing is huge! It's actually called a "Futon Swing." It's the size of a couch, but folds out to a bed! How awesome is that?! The kids have sat on it more than I have, but at least they are quiet when they do it! I have snuck a few moments as well, I can't lie and it is just lovely. Everyone should have one. I didn't realize what I was missing all these years :-)
Besides our swinging, we made it to ANOTHER FREE event - Big Truck Day. John was none too thrilled. He covered his ears most of the time and I think this is the only half-way smile I saw. Oh well, we tried. That boy points out every truck we drive by and says he wants to go on it and we take him to actually GO on them and he hates all the honking. That's my child! Oh well, Mel got to sit in a stretch hummer limo, so at least she was happy!
And as I mentioned, home three months now. I am almost breaching my longest time being home and not working (besides maternity leave) since I was 16 years old. It's been awesome and stressful and scary and full of changes. I think I have gone through every emotion there is. I haven't found a job, obviously, and go round and round constantly if I should be moving on to other things and how my family fits into all that. I honestly feel this time has just flown by, and I have been VERY fortunate, but I am just feeling like I am getting used to things the way they are. Kind of settling in to the fact that I'm not at work first of all. And second that I don't know if I want to go back into that crazy legal field. I am kind of looking forward to the next couple weeks of what's left of summer. Kind of looking forward to school starting again and getting into a routine. And really, just seeing what comes my way. I am hoping good things of course, but just going to continue to truck along and enjoy this time while I have it and hopefully everything will just fall into place. . .
After a CRAZY BUSY week we still managed to eek out some outings over the weekend. Although compared to our usual activity lately, we did stay home more than usual. There was still come putting together of the house and some cleaning to do. We got some errands out of the way. Mark discovered a cash of (FREE) blackberries near our house and decided to can a ton of blackberry jam. My birthday present from the hubs was a swing for our yard and he put it together Saturday afternoon. This thing is huge! It's actually called a "Futon Swing." It's the size of a couch, but folds out to a bed! How awesome is that?! The kids have sat on it more than I have, but at least they are quiet when they do it! I have snuck a few moments as well, I can't lie and it is just lovely. Everyone should have one. I didn't realize what I was missing all these years :-)
Besides our swinging, we made it to ANOTHER FREE event - Big Truck Day. John was none too thrilled. He covered his ears most of the time and I think this is the only half-way smile I saw. Oh well, we tried. That boy points out every truck we drive by and says he wants to go on it and we take him to actually GO on them and he hates all the honking. That's my child! Oh well, Mel got to sit in a stretch hummer limo, so at least she was happy!
And as I mentioned, home three months now. I am almost breaching my longest time being home and not working (besides maternity leave) since I was 16 years old. It's been awesome and stressful and scary and full of changes. I think I have gone through every emotion there is. I haven't found a job, obviously, and go round and round constantly if I should be moving on to other things and how my family fits into all that. I honestly feel this time has just flown by, and I have been VERY fortunate, but I am just feeling like I am getting used to things the way they are. Kind of settling in to the fact that I'm not at work first of all. And second that I don't know if I want to go back into that crazy legal field. I am kind of looking forward to the next couple weeks of what's left of summer. Kind of looking forward to school starting again and getting into a routine. And really, just seeing what comes my way. I am hoping good things of course, but just going to continue to truck along and enjoy this time while I have it and hopefully everything will just fall into place. . .
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