father's day weekend camping trip

Rather than hang around town with the Henry family in San Diego (including Finn & Kenton) & the Hecht family camping at the coast, I decided to take on camping with Cedar. It may not have been easier than hanging around town, but it was more fun...even with the rain & the constant movement/exploring/running away from the 2 year old. :P

We followed the Ruddicks to the camp site & went for a walk after we set up camp & ate dinner. Memaw & Papa arrived as we were eating, but stayed behind to set up their site.

Running boy!

Friday was a beautiful day & I'm so glad we explored on the dunes that evening!

Lake Cleowox

Uncle Josh kept the kids entertained by pulling them on the sleds.

So much room to run & play!

Ronan & Griffin wore their sweatshirts backwards & put their hoods over their faces to keep the sand out of their eyes. :P

We climbed to the top of the dune! On the way up, Cedar yelled out to Ronan (who was struggling towards the end), "You can do it!" :)

Mama & Cedar

Cedar loved sliding back down the dune.

But he couldn't pass up another ride, along with Griffin.

Tate, Gretchen & Cedar

Later that evening, the Chases arrived & set up their site. Sleeping was a little rough on everyone & then we woke up to misty drizzle that lasted all day Saturday & resulted in big drips constantly falling from the trees. :\ Thankfully, Josh & Gretchen brought two canopies & we had some space to stay dry.

Me & the busy boy. I stayed pretty dry, but Cedar was constantly exploring in the bushes, falling on the ground & putting his hands in the dripping water. He did not stay dry. But it didn't seem to bother him!

The big kids, playing with the camp fire.

Aaron & Becca, playing a game called Blink, I think. :)

Sadie & Cedar with his blankie.

Memaw was brave & brought supplies for tie-dying!

Heavy umbrella!

My cousin Dan & his family came on Saturday afternoon.

Aaron & Tyler playing Carcassonne, while Dan & Papa played music.

Cedar spent a lot of time walking along the curb behind our car. He liked naming the letters he recognized from the back of the car & the license plate. :P

Memaw also brought the tools for making HUGE bubbles!
Kara, Summer & Dan seemed to have a lot of fun! ;)

Cedar did too & managed to soak his clothes again! But, he still did not mind. :P

The bubble master!

Cohen & Griffin were great sports & let Cedar pop SO many bubbles. :)

Huge bubble!

The boys using their tools, while everyone packed up.

Tyler & Aaron played another game of Carcassonne, while Brooke visited. I was happy that I had a chance to teach them on Saturday, while Memaw got Cedar down for a nap! :)

Yet again, Memaw provided supplies for another fun activity! The 2-year-olds loved painting with water colors!

The whole group!
Brooke & Dan were the first to depart, since they had to drive 4 hours to get home to Portland! Thanks so much for coming out, guys! We really enjoyed visiting & playing. :)

Cousins!

Silly faces!

Cedar & Mama

*Special thanks to Jesse & Carolyn for lending me their tent & sleeping pad & lantern & head lamp! :P I wouldn't have made it without your help! ;)

happy *early* father's day

On Wednesday, June 15th, we celebrated Father's day with Kenton. He & Finn had a trip to San Diego over Father's Day weekend, so we wanted to send him off prepared!

Finley made a cool plaque at preschool. He was so excited to tell us which rock represented each family member (the plaque says "My Family Rocks!"). Such a cute idea! :)

Watching Dad open some gifts.

We gave him some snacks for the road trip.

And new swim trunks! Also a few t-shirts & a new movie!

Happy Father's Day Kenton! Cedar & I sure missed you on the actual day & SO much throughout the whole weekend! It's not the same without you & we're ready to have our whole family back together. You are such a great dad, so creative, playful, fun & loving. I love parenting with you & am so thankful to have you by my side!

promotion & graduation

On Tuesday, June 14th, we attended the Grace Community Preschool Graduation & Promotion.

Finley completed his first year of preschool & will be moving up to the prekindergarten class in the fall!

We are so proud of how much Finley learned & grew this year! He is so creative & his new found love of letters, numbers & drawing has been so fun to witness.

He, of course, had his cousin Griffin by his side & they will continue into the next class together, as well! Miss Debby's class did a great job singing & they were all so fun to watch!

After they performed, Miss Debby said a little something about each child. She made an acrostic for each child's name & Finley's was :
F-Funny
I-Imaginative
N-Nutty
L-Laughs
E-Energy
Y-Yawns
:P

Up next was Ethan & Macey's class!

Miss Jenn also spoke about each child & talked about what she loved about each of them. :)

Cohen's class


I love Cohen's expression as Miss Deena talks about him. :)
Cohen graduated from preschool & will be moving on to Kindergarten in the fall!

My big boy!

We sure love Miss Chelsea & Miss Debby!
I know Finley will miss having Miss Debby as a teacher. We're excited to meet his new teacher & are thankful that Miss Chelsea will still come in to his class for snack & story time!

The Novemberists!

Gretchen, Griffin & Josh

Becca & Cohen
(Aaron was around, but in a meeting, I think)

Our family

Finn & Miss Debby!
Thanks for a great year - we've had so much fun!

small group work party

Our small group has decided to rotate houses this summer to do work parties! We started at our house on June 4th, with the goal of tearing out this invasive shrub. The guys hacked away at it & made some progress, but we still have some work to do!

Ava & Macey playing in the sand.
The kids did great & spent a lot of time playing computer games inside & swinging outside. :)

We also weeded the front yard flower beds & covered them with new bark mulch!

Looks so nice!

Stephanie power washed our front walk way & Colin blew all of the moss off of our roof. Overall, we got a ton of work done & I was so inspired that I weeded in the backyard, every day for the next week! Boy was I sore. :P But the yard is looking nice as we make our way into outdoor eating, entertaining, playing & general living season! I love Summer! Definitely my favorite season. :)

Thanks for all of the help, guys! What a wonderful idea! :) Can't wait to work on everyone else's projects!