First Day of School

Hyrum's first Day of kindergarten and Gabby's first day of second grade.  We walk to school everyday.  But both wanted to ride their bikes the first day.

Kill it and Grill it! Hood to Coast!

Decorating my big red beast for the driving.  Destination Timberline Lodge, Mt. Hood.  Too bad when we got there thunder storms had rolled in and it was HAILING!  We had to re-do most of the deco at the first exchange in Sandy.

Finishing my first leg (3.93 miles) I barely beat the rain. It was by far the easiest since it was down hill through the little mountain town of Rhododendron.

Handing off the torch to van 2 in Sandy, Oregon.  Here is my friend, Tammy who rocked it for Van 2.

Here is Van 1 from right to left: me, Kristina, Heather, Jodi, Alicia, and Brandy.  In front of the Willamette River and downtown behind us.  We should be sleeping, but it was getting really HOT.  My second leg was just around the bend near Sauvie's Island.  Gorgeous rolling hills, but an unbearably hot 7.25 miles.

  

Van 1: We made it to Seaside!  My last leg was by far the best.  It was exhilarating running in the middle of the night through nowhere Oregon on almost no energy (5.79 miles).  Adrenaline helps.  Here we are awaiting the arrival of the other van for our finish.  Total miles: 17.

Hood to Coast has been on my bucket list since my dad ran it about when I was a kid.  It was a blast and I will definitely be doing it again.  Hopefully next year!  Anyone up for it?

Goodies

Just enjoying some ice cream at Goodies.  Mmmmm.

  

I loved these pictures of Eloise eating her cone.  She was so happy!

Bike Ride

One of our favorite things to do in the summer is ride bikes as a family.  We found a trail to a waterfall near Sunriver and took the kids out.  Scott and Clarissa kept us company. The waterfall was gorgeous, but the trail turned out to be longer than anticipated and too much for little LaurieAnn who couldn't keep going on all the bumps.  Doug and I took turns giving her pushes from the back as we rode by.  The kids screamed as they rode over the bridge.  They thought that was cool.  Doug and Scott rode back and brought the car to us.  Hooray for rescue!

Reunion Dance

This was one of my favorite parts of the family reunion.  Can't wait to do it again!

Rock Climbing at the fair

The kids wanted to try the climbing wall at the fair.  It was no surprise when Gabby and Hyrum made it to the top and rang the bell.  All my kids are monkeys.  Even LaurieAnn got pretty high for a 3 year old.

Facepainting and the Fair

The Clark County Fair is something we look forward to every year.  Some of our favorite things are the elephant ears, fresh corn on the cob and all the farm animals.  The kids all wondered why we didn't bring our chickens to show at the fair.  I will have to look into 4H next year for them.

They always want their faces painted.  LaurieAnn is a cat.

The airbrushing is new this year!  Hyrum chose a gecko.

Beach scene for G.  She had lots of sparkles.

A fun way to walk around the fair.

Collecting Eggs

We love fresh eggs!

Les Mis

Doug and I have been wanting to go see Les Mis for a while.  It finally came to Portland and we got Saturday matinee tickets and invited my parents to go with us.  I loved it!  I could have watched it again right after! 

Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun night out!

It is always fun to try a new restaurant on a fun night out.  So afterwards we went to Oba in the Pearl District.  It was Peruvian food and other high end Latin type food.  I wish we would have taken pictures of everything we had.  It was all so delicious.  But what I ordered was definitely best.

It is steak garnished with bananas and bacon in a Dijon sauce.  Sooo Gooood!

Doug ordered some sort of fish with a mango vinaigrette sauce.  So fun to go to a new place downtown.  Nothing like red robin with the kids ha ha!

Cheer Camp

I finally figured out how to work around blogger system not liking the format of my photos.  It adds an extra step but now they are clear.  The girls spent a few hours everyday for week at cheer camp this summer.  They loved every minute.  In fact, Gabby carries LaurieAnn around the house doing "high v."  Everybody made a pennant and they got to bring a spirit stick home some days too.  Very fun!