Camping: Sam!

Sam is such a cutie (don't tell him I call him that....). He stopped right when we hit the sand at the beach and rolled his SHORTS up. Wouldn't want to get those things dirty. Too cute.

Jack and Jill??
We encouraged Jack head up the hill 15 times before we left the beach....to get his energy out, duh. :-)

Mmmm, marshmallows....mmmmm...

While Maggie was glued to Grandpa's binoculars, Sam was doing this.
Don't ask me what this is....but it sure was fun.

Camping: Maggie Style!

Maggie loves the ocean. She loves camping. She loves everything about it.
Here's the girl showing off the beginnings of her seashell collection.

Maggie and s'mores. Do you see the lack of sleep in her eyes? :-) She and Sam loved getting to stay up "late" - as in until it got dark. So fun...!

She's spying some crazy geological action, as well as some sea-lions. Oh, and she thinks she saw a whale. and a shark. and an octopus.

Isn't she just a cutie!?!
Maybe I'm just partial...

Camping: Miles edition

Miles did well camping (notice I didn't say good, great, or amazing...). We're thinking that for a kid who is pretty much officially in the Special Ed category, he did REALLY well. But this Mama has higher expectations for him than "well" or "okay". Miles' parents want to see Great! and Amazing! out of him. So, with that being said there is room for improvement in the camping category for Mi. BUT, he did sleep through the night every night, he did attempt a nap each day, and he did eat food outdoors and play in the sand without skipping a beat. Which for a child who (we've been told) has "Sensory Integration" issues, is a small miracle.

Now for the pics:
After adjusting to the sound of the ocean, Miles loved the beach. He would have stayed all day if we would have let him.

He spent his time around camp walking the perimeter of the picnic table, which worked out great for the rest of us- he stayed clean and got lots of practice walking without anyone else breaking their back. ;-)

Miles and Grandpa reading in the sun.

Okay, picture disclaimer: I try to avoid posting pics that show off Miles in his "special"-ness. But really, all his covered-in-sand-from-head-to-toe pictures were like this, so oh well. :-)

Priorities

Sam shared his favorite things to do with us this afternoon:

First: Cleaning.
Second: Fighting
Third: Racing

Seriously, cleaning?!?!  You're not even five, dude.  Settle it down a bit, eh?

Slugs and Swings.

It looks like our move to Troutdale has also meant a pretty big change in the kinds of critters we find in our yard...
We used to find earwigs, an occational dried up worm, and stray cats. Now we find ladybugs, dragonflies, and SLUGS. We have a ground level deck now, so the slugs of course live under there. The kids came running inside screaming with excitment that they found a slug "THIS BIG!!!" (insert little hands spaced about 6 inches apart in the air here). I thought, ya right it's that big. Turns out, it was! They loved that it was on the slider so they could run in and out checking out both the top and bottom side of the slug. Too cool when you are a four year old.

Miles has been attending some therapy sessions over last month for some "sensory integration services". Please don't ask me to explain that one, just google it. One think I know about it for sure, is that Miles hates it. He's acts like they are trying to tear him limb form limb when he is put on a piece of equipment. SO, in response to his fear, Eric's parents made him a platform swing for home use. He is a shakey, sweaty, tearful mess on this thing at the therapy center....he was all giggles (after the initial placement on it) at home. We're hoping that I will be able to do a lot (if not all) of the same things at home that they are doing there, and that this will work better for him.

So far, so good. Thanks G&G!!!

Where's Mi?

Here's a cute family pic from inside the lava tube I just ran across...so I had to post it.... and yes, we have a 3rd child....he's hidden on my back in the Beco.

Lava Butte (aka: heading home)

Because I am a dork who then married a dork (but as Eric says "Being a dork keeps you out of trouble"...to which Ryan added "...and they make more money"), we stopped by Lava Butte on the way home from vacation. Here we are, atop the Butte. Amazing views, 360 degrees. And although I wouldn't recommend it, it can be done in flip flops.

Here's what I call Eric's "teacher pic". I think he wanted me to take this one so he can use it in a geology lesson with his honors freshmen in the future. I think it's funny....and no, I don't know what mountin that is. Bachelor maybe?

they just keep on comin.....

Grandma does an amazing job of corral-ing all the kids at once. She brought some scholastic bug magazine things, bug catchers, and individual books for each grandkid (she actually had a whole rubbermaid tote full of stuff to keep them occupied in a pinch). Here is Grandma teaching them about the stuff in their magazines. Later they all went out and hunted for bugs using their catchers. If you're wondering: yes, they even caught some.

Kari, Maggie, and Ashlynn....in the backseat of a police car on the Fourth of July Picnic thing at one of the parks in Sunriver.

Sam. and a REALLY big thing of cotton candy.

The Annual Moffat Cousin Dance Party...hosted once again by Uncle Ryan and his iPod. I think the sprinkler was the dance of the moment at this point...
I have some video of it too, I'll try to get that up soon(ish).