Fishing at the Rainbow Trout Farm

The girls got their first fishing experience at the Rainbow Trout Farm on Mt. Hood.  We packed up the car and headed to Mt. Hood with Brian's parents and Brandon's family.  It was so much fun!  There are several different shallow ponds each with different sized fish, there is no catch and release, so if you catch it they measure it and you pay based on the length of the fish.  It was very easy to snag a fish, sometimes too easy!  Addison thought it was pretty cool, but when the fish was out of the water and daddy wanted her to touch it she was not going to have it!  We were lucky to get her to hold the fishing line with the fish still attached for a picture.  Kennedy didn't get to reel in a fish, as she was a bit too young for that.  However, she loved watching, and seeing the fish swim around the bucket.  I think we will definitely go to the Rainbow Trout Farm again!

Burleigh Family Camping Trip 2010

This was the second year that the Burleigh family (along w/ the Stahl family) took a weekend off and went to Beverly Beach, off the Oregon Coast, to go camping.  However, this year we were joined by a few more families, the Fast family and the Wells.  The weather was much more conducive this year, as it was not nearly as rainy and cold.  The girls had a great time playing on the beach, Kennedy especially liked filling up the buckets with sand.  Addison and Cooper had fun running and chasing each other on the beach.  Will we do it again next year?  I guess we will see!

The Many Faces of Kennedy

Here are a few pictures of Kennedy goofing around, with a few serious shots mixed in :)  She is seriously one of the happiest kids I know!  Oh, and my favorite is her "cheese" face!

Addison & Kennedy visit PD Farms

Addison & Kennedy spent 1 week with their Papa Phil & Mama Dianne on their farm, PD Farms, & had a wonderful time! Brian & I sure missed them, but managed to get along without them. The girls helped pick berries, went to a few farmer's markets, played with their cousins and much more. Here is a message I received from Mama Dianne during their visit:

"Sorry no pictures last night. We had a great day though, helped outside a bit. Then we went to the market in Enterprise. The kids were really good, and enjoyed the live music in the park. We sat and ate popcorn, pet puppies, and danced to the music. Okay well the kids danced, Kennedy was hearing a different tune than I was but she was a dancing fool!!

At one point in the evening we lost them both!! Okay we didn't really loose them because we were right there with them, but they were hiding under the table, which has rather long clothes on it. But they could both reach from under the table to the top...........where the bowls of peaches were. Yep, that's right they were snitching peaches from the table, on the other side from where we were standing. So, when we lifted the cloth up there were girls, peach pits, and juice running down their arms. What a juicy mess, but it was all good and washed off.

We went to a mexican diner that Phil and I often enjoy when we are up that way for dinner after the market. We knew they wouldn't be to hungry after multiple peaches, carrots, popcorn, berries, and yeah I bought them a homemade oatmeal cookie. That's all pretty healthy. So, the special of the day was a banana smoothie. Which of course we ordered to share. It came in a very pretty margarita glass, so I had to of course test it to make sure it was alcohol free. The glass had me fooled. It was delicious, so I poured some in each of the girls glasses to which Addison said, "I don't like that". Papa asked her if she had ever had one and she said no. I told her she had to take one taste, if she didn't like it she didn't have to drink it. That is the right Grandma response isn't it? Well Kennedy loved hers, Addison said she didn't. However when the possibility of Kennedy drinking hers as well as her own, Addison asked if she could try it again.

Now, she loves it! She said it just had to wait for her to learn about it. Learn about it? I do not know what she learned except that Kennedy loved it, but then Addison loved hers. I was sure Addison needed to stretch her legs so she and I ran/walked the 4 blocks to the store, (I forgot to bring a diaper bag) to buy diapers. But, Grandpa drove to fast and beat us. She informed him he was supposed to let us win, but it was okay we could all be winners.

We got our diapers........do you have any idea how many sizes and varieties of diapers there are in the store. It is enough to make any Grandmother shake her head. Back in my day, NOPE we did not use cloth, but there was only one variety....LOL. We loaded back in the truck and headed home. Addison asked how far it was, while Kennedy sang, and we told her just a short ways. Addison began to sing also, her ABC song. She does a very good job by the way. After she had sung it several times she counted to 100, well it was a shortened version of 100. She then told us, it really isn't that short of a ways. She and I continued to talk all the way home, it was a rather random conversation. But it was her best effort to stay awake, which she did. She asked if she could watch one show before we went to bed.

How could that go wrong? Well let me tell you the cartoons on TV at 9:30 are NOT appropriate for kids. First thing we changed to iCarly. Wow, I did not know cartoons had cuss words and inappropriate stuff. Wow!! So, she watched iCarly and went right to bed as she promised. Kennedy during this process just cuddled with Grandma, which is a welcome end to any evening. Sorry for no pictures, but a rundown of the evening.

We are having a good time!!!! "

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Addison is quite the character, she is always thinking and always saying things that surprise me. Here are a few of the things:

The other day Addison and I made homemade cake batter ice cream and there was only a little bit left and she really wanted it. I told her she had to wait until her sister went to bed, since there wasn't enough to share and Kennedy had some the night before when Addison didn't get any (she didn't eat her dinner). That same night I made chocolate chip cookies and Addison kept asking for one. I told her she could only have one or the other. So, she stuck with the ice cream, but proceeded to ask for a cookie. Again, I told her she could only have one. About 30 minutes after the last time we had this discussion, Addison looks as me straight faced and says "Mom, I really like cookies on my ice cream!" It was so cute, but I told her nice try, she could still only have ice cream OR a cookie. Hahahaha

Addison and I were being silly and I don't even remember the conversation we were having, but I said to her "awwww you break my heart", to which Addison responded "No, I MAKE your heart!". So sweet!

When ever we say "I love you", I always tell Addison "I love you the mostest" to which she responds "No, no, no, I love you the mostest" and we keep going back and forth. She is such a sweetie!

There are many more cute things Addison has said, but these are the ones that have recently stuck in my head that I wanted to share :)

Lavender Festival!

This past weekend we took the girls to Hood River and went to the Lavender Festival on the Fruit Loop. It was very hot out, so we didn't stay too long, but it was beautiful! The lavender smelled amazing, the views on the ride were great, and the wind surfers were out in full force!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend surrounded by friends and some family! Brian was very excited to BBQ his first pork shoulder to make yummy pulled pork sandwiches and his own BBQ sauce! It turned out great and Brian is looking forward to creating another BBQ masterpiece in the near future.

We started our weekend on Saturday by having my dad, Dianna, my sister and Chad over to a BBQ. We enjoyed relaxing the the backyard, watching the kids play on their play structure, and visiting.

Sunday Brian was up bright and early preparing his masterpiece. We had Mat, Shannon, Jeff, Hazel, Mike, Jenapher, Mason and Morgan over for dinner, drinks and fireworks. A good time was had by all :)