Good People/ Good Times

I can hardly believe it's almost September. Despite the lack of summer weather, it feels like Summer has just flown by. In the last few months we have been really blessed with visits from many of our favorite people. We love these folks and are so glad we got to spend time with them all.
The boys with both Grandpas.

Uncle Jim and Aunt Enid

Aunt Heather and Uncle Forrest

My cousin Suzanne and Grandma and Grandpa Axtell

Alyssa and Noah

Gabe and Elsie


Uncle Jason and Aunt Barbara

My Uncle Bob and Aunt Lady.

It was wonderful seeing you all! Hope you all come back next Summer!

My husband ROCKS!

This Summer Paul spent some time over at my parent's house helping my dad tear down his old deck and build a new one. The wood from the old deck was still in good shape, so we hauled it to our house. For years I have been wanting a "bigger and better" outdoor table, with more seating. Paul got his creative juices flowing and came up with a great design plan.



He also included any kids that were interested in the building process. He is so much more patient when they help with projects than I am.


Grayson really likes power tools!

Paul originally built a very simple table, but then got an idea for some fancier benches. Once the benches were done it was obvious that they really outshone the table, so Paul took apart the table and built one to match the beauty of the benches.

One of the great things about this project was that it cost very little. The wood was free, we (and by we I mean Paul) just had to clean it up. So all we had to buy was a box of screws and I board, about $50 total.

And it turned out SO amazing! It's even better than what I was imagining!

We have been enjoying many nice Summer meals on it!

?Questions?

Right now I'm at the point in Summer vacation where I am alternately longing for more fun,schedule free days, and giddy with excitement about the boys going back to school. One of the things I will truly miss about Summer is the endless flow of random questions, that give such an interesting glimpse into the inner workings of my childrens' brains. How they try to figure out the world seems to make no sense sometimes, and at other times they are deeply profound. Like when we talk about the past and Rowan has to constantly check on if he was alive when that event happened, and are the other people from that event still alive, and does he know them. Or how Grayson wants to know if we had certain things when Paul and I were kids. His questions have me convinced that he thinks we grew up with cavemen for neighbors, but I think he's starting to make sense of it. And then there are the just plain silly questions, like Rowan's urgent need to know if you can milk a pig.

Yes, as much as I might get tired of answering their questions, I will miss getting to hear them all day long.

The Oregon Zoo

Cousins, Camping, and Cannon Beach

What fun we had with our favorite Montana cousins! The Summer just seemed to drag as the boys "patiently" waited for their cousins to get here.

We spent lots of time playing in the water.

Even though it was frigidly cold!

And I got to hang out with my girl Elsie!

These kids just belong together. It's so fun to watch them be shy when we get together, and them quickly warm up and pick up right where they left last time we saw each other.

These guys really are meant to be Oregonians. We so very much wish that that could happen!

Then we could spend many more carefree days hanging out at the beach.

And digging in the sand.

Paul would cook us more yummy camp meals.

And Grandpa could tell us more funny stories.

Rowan would think it was a really great idea if you guys moved here.

So we could take more bike rides on the beach, and climb on rocks.

What do you say?

Swimming Lessons

Somehow it just wouldn't feel like Summer if we didn't have swimming lessons. Fuller has graduated out of swimming lessons, so it was just these two this year.

Grayson has always swam like a fish, but Rowan is never quite as certain about getting in the pool.

He had a really nice teacher who helped him improve his front crawl quite a bit. Side breathing has been kind of hard for him to do, but by the end of lessons he was really getting it.

He much prefers to swim on his back and keep his face out of the water.

Grayson has reached the point in swimming lessons where they're working on perfecting the different strokes. This Summer he actually got his butterfly looking pretty good.

Diving continues to be a struggle for him though. His teacher had him start out trying a standing dive. But after some major belly flops she changed and had him try kneeling dives.

And after that didn't work, sitting dives. Poor kid just can't get his head around going head first in the water. I think it might be genetic, I'm the exact same way. On the last day of lessons he did finally get one halfway decent kneeling dive.

Thankfully Rowan didn't have to try diving. He's content to just jump in.

Bridge Pedal

On a chilly August morning our family headed into Portland to participate in the 15th Annual Bridge Pedal. We were joined by over 18,500 other riders. Grayson was very excited and unfortunately a little "too comfortable" with riding in the city and being around big crowds.

The plan was that Paul and Fuller would ride the 11.5 mile, 5 bridge ride, while Grayson, Rowan and I would ride the 3 mile, 2 bridge Kid's Pedal route.

I realized fairly early on that my ride would end up being the more challenging of the two. Rowan, we've discovered, is quite afraid of heights. Especially when those heights involve water beneath them. Our ride started with a crossing over the Hawthorne bridge, which Rowan now proclaims "the worst place on earth". He made it to about the middle of the bridge before deciding to melt down. Tears were shed, as he planted himself and refused to pedal. Meanwhile, Grayson decided NOT to wait for us, and had taken off across the bridge where I could no longer see him. Listening skills were not in working order. So, while I worried about Grayson alone in the big city, I tried my hardest to get Rowan to move. Thankfully Paul and Fuller were done with their ride by this time, so I was able to call them and tell them to keep an eye out for Grayson at the finish. (I LOVE cell phones!). Eventually I was able to get Rowan going (although not very happily) and Paul called me back to let me know he had Grayson with him. Rowan and I arrived at the finish line emotionally exhausted.

(Didn't we look happy before the ride started though?)

Paul and Fuller had a very different ride. This is the sea of riders working their way to the starting line.

I think Fuller may have been a little intimidated by all of bikes and riders. Not quite like riding around our little town.

What a fun experience for them to share together! And what an accomplishment!

Some of the bridges they crossed had some mighty steep inclines leading up to them.

I was so happy for Paul that he was finally able to do this. He has been talking about this, and wanting to participate for at least 10 years.

In the end Paul and Fuller pronounced it a great day and walked away with plans to do a more challenging route, either the 7 bridge or 10 bridge ride, next year. Grayson decided the kids ride was too easy and he wants to do the 5 bridge ride next year. Rowan decided he's NEVER DOING THAT AGAIN!


I guess I'll have to start training for the 5 bridge so I can keep track of Grayson. Lucky for Rowan that after hearing his plight, Grandma and Grandpa have already volunteered to babysit him next year.