Missing Camera and Berry Picking

For a day I thought our camera was gone.  It was nowhere to be found.  I checked all the usual spots: each of my bags, the junk cabinet, sent out an e-mail, and even called the gym.  Man, I was bummed because I needed the camera to take pictures on our beach adventure.  In typical fashion, we were pulling out of the driveway when I screamed, "Wait!" and went inside to look for the camera.  It was then that I discovered it was lost somewhere in the great abyss.  I sulked the entire way to the beach.

And in typical me fashion I found the camera the next day, on the floor on my car, of all places.  It must have fallen out of my bag.  And so, although I could not find the camera to take to the beach, it was actually at the beach with us. Irony at its best.

Luckily I had our camera for berry picking the week before because I think these pictures are pretty darn cute.

I grew up picking berries on my grandparents' land in upstate NY.  Gram and Pa always had empty Cool Whip containers or such to toss the berries in.  We'd walk 3 minutes to the berry bushes and get to work. My Great Aunt Gertie would help too and she'd have her pants rolled up clam digger style.  I loved every minute of it.

Now, I must admit, we are new to the berry picking circuit in Oregon.  We drove 45 minutes to a local "Family Favorite Farm" (per the advertising) with hopes of pounds, and pounds of berries, tractor rides, and wholesome family fun.  We got the wholesome family fun part, but not much else.  In fact, we are so new to the berry picking circuit that we didn't even realize we should have brought berry containers. This farm had none.  Zero. Zip. Zilch.  Not even an empty Cool Whip container like Grandma and Pa.

One for me, one for you. 

Fred Meyer saved the day!  

Sunny blue skies. 

Family Favorite?  We were the only people there. 

Farm Girl 

Dandelion seeds. 

Yum 

Stay away from MY berries or else.

I guess I learned two things this past week.  Take better care of the camera and always bring your own berry containers.  Living and learning!

First and Last

Let's pretend this blog post was penned June 13.  That's when the pictures below were taken in honor of Ella's first true last day of pre-school.  And let me tell you, capturing this moment was not easy.  It involved some phrases like, "Just one more," and  "Smile wide and show me your teeth, but put your hands down away from your mouth," and  "PLEASE, Mommy really NEEDS to take a good one."  Okay, to be honest with you, it involved a lot more pleading.  34 pictures later, there were a few of decent ones.  

Goodness, they look so much alike here!

Such a lovely smile.  

A sweet and silly picture, but not what I had in mind. 

If you click HERE you will see Ella's first day of school pictures 2012, and the recap of her 2011 first day.  You will notice that Ella has matured a bit in appearance; her face thinned a bit, her hair grew longer, and she needs a bang trim.   Its Abby's appearance that stunned me.  She went from a baby to a toddler.  Amazing!

Just Around the Corner ... Summer

Summer vacation starts in just two days for Miss Ella.  That means I have two more mornings before our routine is thrown into chaos.  Obviously, I am looking forward to spending summer vacation with the girlies, but I also know that summertime is no break for me.  In fact, it might be my "busy season", as the hubs is usually busy with work, and the girls are home full time. As a result, I have been prepping my summertime to- do list.  It includes pin after pin after pin of arts, crafts,  pre-school skills, and an entire list of toddler excursions in the area.

Our summer isn't jam-packed, but we do have a few things going on.  I wanted to make sure we would have plenty of family time, biking riding, outside adventures, days lounging at the pool, and time chillaxing at home.

Gymnastics lessons.  We will see how that goes, but I have a feeling E's gymnastics career will be short lived. Neither Ryan nor I have the gymnastics gene, and I am sure that it is genetic trait. At least it promises to wear her out.

We will resume swim lessons.   I am hoping E will warm right up to her old swim teacher.  After all, we tried group lessons and that was a major fail. She refused to even consider swimming with another instructor other than Teacher Jessi, and Teacher Jessi's mom.  Lord knows, the only reason she worked with Teacher Jessi's mom is because she had some street credit. Crossing fingers she hops right back into the groove.

Also, we have Vacation Bible School for a week.  E is dragging her feet about it already and I will be one of her teachers!  At least it will get us all out of the house for a few mornings, provide some socialization oppurtunities, and root us deeper within our church.  I know I will enjoy getting back into a classroom type situation even if it is pre-schoolers.

Lastly, E will be attending a short camp at our local club.  I don't know much about it, but I am sure Abby will appreciate the opportunity to have some one on one momma time.

We might not have a daily routine set in place like we do during the school year, but I know this summer will be a blast.  I am also sure I will be ready for school to start in September. ; )

Lazy days of summer are almost here!

Boaters in the Making...

Ella was not so happy on her first boat ride. 

But Abby could not care less.

Why You Don't Share Water With a Two Year Old

This glass of water looks so good to me...

 Today was the perfect summer day.  So, after naps Ella, Abby, and I packed our necessities and headed into the backyard for a little summer fun.  Ella was equipped with her sunblock, bathing suit, Goldfish snack, towel, and water shoes.  Abby had her swing and sootah (pacifier) and I had the camera, my cold bottle of water, sunglasses, and cell phone.  We were settling in for a day at the beach... um, backyard (the beach here is too cold to actually swim and I don't have the courage yet to venture on any big trips with the girls by myself).

Ella, of course, was amused by her pool for about .5 seconds before she started drinking the pool water.  Normally I would not care too much, but I had filled the pool when she was napping so it could get a little sun and warm up.  By the time our adventure started a fair amount of dirt was floating on top of the water, plus the pool had been hanging out in the garage for weeks.  So I did what any mom would do, I diverted her attention to MY water.

 But, I forgot to take into account that Missy Moo also had a snack of Goldfish that she was working on.  And as you know, those cheese flavored little fish make you thirsty!

Finally Ella had had enough and returned the water back to me. However, I lost all interest in the refreshing drink due to the school of goldfish floating around in my water.  Lesson learned: don't share water with a two-year old unless you want a little extra flavoring in your drink!

Two Bath Day

Yesterday was a two-bath day.

First, Ella had to bathe to look presentable for her friends: Georgia, Ruby, and Pitt.
This occurred at approximately 8 am.
Said friends arrived at 9:30 ish and by 10:15 they were outside doing what little ones do.
My little one was all over and into everything.  She no longer looked so fresh and clean.

By lunch she had peanut butter and jelly twirled into her piggies.  Her hair looked like it had mousse in it, smelled like a pb & j sandwich, and was crunchy.

And to seal the deal that it was going to be a two-bath day, I gave her an ice pop after dinner.

Too cute

Crazy, sticky, smelly hair

Dirty Mush 

Purple water=  a REALLY, REALLY fun time 

Looks Like Summer

Swing, Ella 

Look at those white legs!

Report Card~ Summer To- DO List

Now that summer vacation is over, it is time for my Summer Report Card


The countdown is officially on! Well, to be honest with you, the countdown has been on for a long time, but now we are down to only F-O-U-R more days of school until SUMMER VACATION! And I am stoked. Students don't realize that teachers are just as excited, if not more excited about vacation than they are, this teacher especially.

With summer vacation lurking around the corner, I thought we should make a to-do list. After all, we want to make the most of summer!

1. Pick strawberries.  Never happened.  I did, however, EAT strawberries.  
2. Use the strawberries to make jam.  Nope.  No jam.  Although that might be a good thing.  Do you know how much sugar is in jam?  Because if I made the jam, then I would eat the jam and the jam would end up on my waist and that would be bad. 
3. Take early morning walk(s) Yes!  And I am going to try to keep this up when Ry is home before work.  We shall see. 
4. Play barefoot outside  Easy when your backyard is fake grass.  
5. Be a regular at the ZOO  We went weekly.  In fact, we went today.  Ella and I ROCKED the zoo. 
6. Blow bubbles with Ella  I blew bubbles AT Ella.  She was amused for .5 seconds. 
7. Find the best Farmer's Market We went to one Farmer's Markets several times.  Therefor, it won my "BEST FARMER'S MARKET AWARD". 
8. Hike at least 4 new- to- us trails  We failed miserably at this.  
9. Go on a picnic  Yes.  We had a picnic at the beach with Grandma and Grandpa.  Ella had her first hot dog. 
10. Attend at least one music in the park event  Nope and I am sad about this. 
11. Make s'mores on the beach  Does in a house ON the beach count? 
12. Take Ella on the train at Seaside Yuppers!  She actually went on twice~ once with me, and once with Uncle Brett, Grandma and her dad. 
13. Walk the water loop downtown  Yes, we even had pizza. 
14. Take Ella to the wading pool at the park Three times, although she is a little young for it. 
15. Drink sangria at happy hour With Jeff and Erica at Manzana
16. Find my cooking groove more than normal... just made baked ziti
17. Run for fun... (will this ever happen) once and it really was not fun
18. Go out for ice cream we are THE BEST at this...
19. Take Ella to Friendly's Sad.  I wanted her to have an upside down cone face.  We never made it there while in NY
20. Enjoy the sounds of the crickets Gosh, they are loud.  
21. Cook out  Of course. 
22. Visit OAKS Park  ANd rode the Merry-Go-Round with Daddy

PHEW! We have a lot to do this summer and I can't wait!

Mommy And Me

Sweet, Sweet Summer

Bridal Tea

Today was a very special day. It was Aunt Gillian's bridal shower and I got to go! It was lovely. I especially loved all the pillows that I could romp around on. Plus, there were all types of delicious treats that mommy let me have. She even let me have some cupcake (SHHHHH!!! DON'T tell daddy), tea sandwiches, and fruit. And since the theme of the shower was "English/ Colonial Indian Tea Party", I wore my finest and sweetest dress. I was on my best behavior because I love social functions. And as Aunt Lucille says, I am a party girl!

Ahhh Friday....

Today I woke up and did not know what day it was. I love that about summer vacation. Days mingle and blend, schedules become a little less important and life is lived. The only big decisions become what is for dinner?, what do you want to do today?, or honey, would you like some coffee? LOVE THAT! And today the sun gods blessed us again.



Ella's new love affair~ ELMO

Ella had an especially fun day as she is still loving' the ELMO doll she stole/borrowed from her buddy, Grafton. Seriously, she will not put the doll down. Thanks, Grafton. I think you prevented us from having a major meltdown in the car.


Ella and I ran a few errands today. We went to REI to return a pair of shoes for daddy. But, little miss Ella, fashionista in training, could not leave the store without some sensible shoes of her own. She got the cutest pair of bubblegum Crocs and plaid Keen shoes. Precious. And let me clarify, CROCS are not cute, unless you are a tot.


Sportin' my new shoes.


Here they are up close and personal.


Cute Crocs?

And before we knew it, the day was practically over. Grandma brought Nancy and Caitlin over since they were in town visiting. They oohed over baby girl and she hammed it up. We toasted the day with pasta and VEGGIE meatballs (much to grampy's dismay). Hey, Ella certainly looks as though she enjoyed them!


As Ella says," MMMMMMM!"

Summer Fun

My first official day of summer vacation included a dental visit (yuck), a trip to the grocery store, and allergy shots. And the allergy shots left me down and out for the rest of the day. I sneezed no less than 43 times and was in bed by 8:00. I was miserable. Even as I type this, more than 24 hours later, I have a red snot box, itchy eyes, and fat, swollen arms. And as miserable as these shots are, they are 1,578 times better than the alternative. The trade off of three painfully miserable days is up to SIX WEEKS of allergy-free bliss. I will take it.


Black and white photos hide red noses.

So, in my eyes, Summer Vacation really began today. And, we rejoiced with the summer weather. Finally. We celebrated Ryan's second Father's Day at the Original Pancake House with banana pancakes and blueberry pancakes. YUMMM! A certain Missy Moo really loved then.

After nap number one we took Ella to the park, where she swung on swings, tottered on the see-saw, and ran around the sprinkler fountain. And to really celebrate the summer love, we indulged ourselves ice cream. Missy Moo quite enjoyed the sweet treat; she certainly has her mother's sweet tooth.

To top off the day, we ate dinner outside for the first time in our new house. I swear since we have purchased the patio set, the weather has been March-like.




So my summer vacation has just begin, but I am already diving in head first. Dinner was delicious.... and made by me!