Day trips, Herman the sturgeon, and Doozer Days

We've taken a day during each of the past two weekends to get out of town for a drive.  On Mother's Day, after a lovely solo bike ride early in the morning, we headed out to the coast for the day.  We had lunch at Warren House Pub, as per usual, with two oyster shooters each...as per usual.  We're nothing if not creatures of habit.  After lunch we ventured over to Ecola Park for quick hike.  It was cold and windy when we arrived so we intended to just get out and enjoy the view for 5 minutes.  Hayes and Parker were both being extra adventurous so we kind of let them lead the way, which meant down the hill and toward the beach they went.  Before we knew it we were half way down a the cliff when we realized that it was a little too dangerous for one of us to try to make it down to the beach while carrying Hayes.  It was an all-hands-on-deck kind of hike and carrying Hayes just wasn't an option.  So we retreated to the car and headed to a bakery for warm drinks and a couple cookies.  This was my first Mother's Day since having the boys that I didn't get to spend with mom.  It was a little bittersweet but the boys were so good to me.  I felt like I was glowing when I returned to work on Monday.  I just felt so loved and lucky after our weekend. 

This weekend we were invited to join a couple families at Doozer Days.  Its an annual charity event in Vancouver that is essentially every little boys dream...dirt, construction vehicles, tools, more dirt, hard hats, more dirt, rocks, and more dirt.  It started raining about an hour into the day.  Old Laura and Old Parker would have quickly said our goodbyes and headed home.  But we've learned, ya just gotta put your hood up and keep going.  So we continued to enjoy the day, in the rain.  I should say, Parker was enjoying himself thoroughly while I just tried to appear as pleasant as possible.  Cold and rainy aren't my favorite conditions. 

On Sunday we drove out to the Gorge to visit a fish hatchery just outside of Cascade Locks.  Its a salmon and trout fishery.  They release close to 15 million salmon every year.  But the thing they are known for is their sturgeon exhibit.  There is one sturgeon living at the hatchery named Herman that is 75 years old, 10 feet long and weighs over 450 pounds.  It was actually a very charming place and both boys had a good time exploring the grounds and feeding the trout. We left the hatchery and headed into Cascade Locks and discovered a cute little road side burger stand where we got a bag of fries and three, $2 soft serve ice cream cones that were at least 4 inches tall.  Next, we crossed the Columbia on the Bridge of the Gods and then headed back home on the Washington side of the river just for a different point of view.   

Parker is still busy with t-ball.  He's getting better but I think he's starting to get a little bored with it.  All the boys seem to be a little less enthused.  He gets so excited when he knows its "a t-ball day" but then becomes easily distracted during the games.  I remember how boring it was to play outfield and to wait in line for your turn at bat.  I caught him chewing on the strings of his glove last game while he was bored in the outfield.  Seeing that immediately took me back to when I did the same thing.  I remember that salty, earthy taste very vividly.  I'm just glad he's enjoying it, even if he seems a little bored from time to time.

Hayes is doing great.  He's still a little spit fire.  During drop off one morning, Hayes' teacher said to Parker, "Parker, you are so sweet and quiet and well mannered.  Hayes, why cant you be more like your big brother?"  She was joking when she said it, but there's definitely truth to it.  He's just got a feistyness to him.  His teachers are working to teach him how to have soft hands and a quiet voice, if that tells you anything.  He's talking more and more every day, repeating the words we say to him.  He's also started mimicking animal sounds.  Just like his older brother, he loves puzzles.  He's already doing ones that Parker was doing when he was 2.  Since Parker loved puzzles so much when he was younger we unpacked his old ones just to let Hayes play with the pieces.  He pretty quickly figured out how they worked and will now sit and go through 5 or more with almost no assistance from us. 

springy stuff

I know I mentioned earlier how I feel like we lucked out this winter since it was much less gray and rainy than last year and at the risk of "putting the mouth on it" again I have to note how amazing this spring has been so far.  I remember being very homesick last spring, especially when I saw so many pictures of my friends back home frolicking in the beautiful sunshine while we felt like we in a constant state of sogginess.  Not this year, thank goodness.  Of course I still miss home, probably always will since spring is my favorite time in AR, but we're really loving our unusually lovely spring here.  I'm not sure what this might mean about the upcoming summer but for right now, I'm loving it.  I recently got a new bike and had my co-pilot transferred to the new bike so I've been enjoying riding with both the boys.  There's no shortage of trails and greenways around here so we've been exploring those.  It takes some "encouragement/bribing" to get Parker to push himself up hills (there's also no shortage of those) but he really seems to enjoy biking.  Its one of my favorite forms of exercise so I'm hoping to groom him into being my riding buddy.  Hayes seems to enjoy riding in the co-pilot seat behind mine but he has about a 25 minute cap, after which he uses both his feet and his hands to try to push me off the bike.  Its hard not to laugh when he does this...I mean does he really think he can push me off the bike?  And if he is successful, does he realize that would result in certain injury for him? 

Other than biking, another recent development in our family is T-BALL!  Parker started a few weeks ago and absolutely loves it!  As in, he asks every morning if today is a t-ball day.  He plays with two boys from his school and about 10 other boys and one girl.  They are the Cedar Mill White Sox.  We love the coaches.  I know Nate and I both really appreciate that their focus is on teaching fundamental skills, making sure the kids are safe and have fun, and also teaching the kids the importance of listening to their coaches.  Every kid gets on base, they don't keep score, and the split each team up during games so that half the team plays on the field and the other half plays a game in the outfield.  Parker is a good little fielder.  They change positions every inning and he's done really well when he's had the opportunity to play 1st, pitcher, 2nd and shortstop. 

Mom came for a visit over Easter.  We loved having her here!  It just so nice to be able to share our new life with her.  I feel like we did a good job of exploring and just every day stuff.  I have other pictures from her visit on my camera that I will upload soon.  But here are some randoms that have been living on my phone.

Parker's first "sleepover"

 Bloomfest in Hood River

chatterbox

Almost as if a switch was just flipped, suddenly its really clear that Hayes understands just about everything we say to him.  It kind of blows my mind how all of a sudden he'll do what we ask him to do and he clearly comprehends what we are saying to him.  This is great in so many ways, especially given his nature to be a bit of a daredevil.  He's been known to plunge face first off of furniture and down slides at the park.  Its not uncommon for him to have a scab or at the very least a bruise somewhere on his face.  He's a bit of a bruiser.  But now that he understands what we are saying to him, we can at least warn him when he's clearly about to hurt himself.  =)  We've started doing timeouts with him when he stands up in his high chair and it takes all the self control I can muster not to laugh at him when I go to get him out of the timeout.  He cries and cries when we first sit him down in the time out spot, but that usually only lasts about 15 seconds.  When I go over to get him out about a minute later, he just smiles and giggles and tries to talk to me.  Its so hard to be stern and try to make a point with a baby that cute.  I have some videos of the boys that I'll post this weekend when they are finished uploading to our vimeo site.  Here a few recent pics until then.

Wearing Parker's headphones around his neck

Recent hike at Silver Falls

Proof of his "bruiser" tendencies

St. Patrick's Day at Edgefield

February Fotos

Since the last post was just a whole bunch of words, this one will be a nice compliment:  just a whole bunch of pics.  I hate to put the mouth on it, but this winter hasn't felt nearly as rainy as last year's.  I have a feeling its probably the same but I think my perspective is much different.  Life feels more comfortable now.  This place feels a little more like home.  And most importantly, we've learned to get out regardless of the weather.   Cabin fever isn't good for the soul.  So here's some pics of what we've been up to lately:  trips to the zoo, McMenamin's Edgefield, and the forestry center, a Alabama Shakes show (this was my birthday present from Nate) and lots of just random pics of the boys.

This might just seem like a random pic of Parker but this is actually a big deal.  He never wants to play alone.  Its always a challenge to get him to entertain himself in a productive (i.e. not TV) way but he's really gotten into legos lately.  While he finds the most joy in just building the sets (he wants to tear them apart almost immediately after building them just to rebuild them), he will from time to time go in and play with them by himself.  Hence the pic.  Its a pretty big deal....to us.