Book Review

I just finished reading Three Cups of Tea. The book club I try to follow was reading it so I thought I'd give it a try. To be honest, when I first saw the book I almost put it back on the shelf. It didn't look like a book I'd be interested in (a biography) and, after reading the back I figured I'd probably only read one or two chapters (to give it a chance) and then abandon it.

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised! I had a hard time putting the book down & even though it took me about 2 weeks to read it, I was sad when it ended because I wanted to know more (it ends about 2003). After writing down some websites that I found in the back of the book, I got online. I am excited to learn that there is another book, Stones into Schools, that picks up where Three Cups of Tea leaves off. I'm hoping to find it at the library tomorrow! If I can't find it there, I think I might have to go buy it!

When I got on the http://www.threecupsoftea.com website, I jumped over to Pennies for Peace. This is another organization that Greg Mortensen founded. I am wondering if it might be something Canyon Elementary would be interested in, or at least Sam's teacher. I would love for my kids to get involved in this kind of philanthropic work. Obviously, I believe education is key (for all kids) and since this charity builds schools, it would be perfect for my family to support!

I have added 2 of the websites from this book to My Favorite Links list - http://www.threecupsoftea.com and Central Asia Institute. I'd highly suggest you check them out. And, if you can find the book - READ IT! I just passed the copy I checked out from the library to my mom!

Thanks Tannie!

Finally! Some good news!

It's about time, right? Nash has been so dad-gum loud all summer I was wondering if his tubes had come out or been clogged once again. That was the tell tale sign with Samantha. So, I scheduled him an appointment with the ENT. We went in today and I told our most favorite ENT Dr. Blotter what was going on. He told me he expected to find "tubes in the ear canal & an ear drum full of fluid." However, much to his surprise (and mine) his tubes are in and his ear drums are clear! After this nice surprise, Dr. Blotter had the audiologist come down and test his hearing. Come to find out, the little stinker, actually has "slightly better than normal hearing." What?! He has decidedly inherited his father's ability to tune me out?! When I told his dad that, he responded "Well, I can't really blame him." Brat. My official diagnosis then is that he must have more Reeder blood in him that I ever imagined! Thanks Great Grandma Ruth! He isn't deaf, he's just loud!

On a side note: Samantha went from 4 am until 1 pm with no Lortab today! Yay. I thought she was on the upswing of things. She was even asking if I'd take her to school. What? But, since 1 pm she's been pretty steadily needing the drugs again. Oh well. Some progress is better than no progress, right?

Now, if only I could get his little brother out of his "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad" Terrible 2 stage, we'd be set! HA!

1st day of school 2010

Today was the first day of school here in Cache County. Nash was super thrilled. Samantha on the other hand woke up at 2 am in extreme pain. She kept telling me that her split was too tight around her fingers. We unwrapped the ace bandage by her fingers and she told me it was still too tight. I got her ice and gave her Lortab and Ibuprofen which allowed her to sleep (sort of) for several hours.

At 9 am Caleb came skipping into my room and woke Samantha up. She immediately started crying about how badly her arm hurt because the split was too tight. I was worried that maybe the bone had slipped out of place again so I quickly got the boys and I dressed and dropped the boys at my moms and headed back to the ER with Samantha. So, this is how Samantha spent her first day of 2nd grade.

After 2+ hours sitting at the ER, they finally decided that by prying her split loose and re-wrapping it with just 1 ace bandage, in addition to doubling her dose of Lortab, that she'd be ok to send home. They never did re-xray it. I'm really hoping the bone hasn't moved still.

Like I said, Nash was thrilled about going to Kindergarten. Caleb wanted his hair just like Nash's and followed him around while I quickly got everyone ready to shoo out the door. Nash's shirt says 50% Ninja, 50% Rock star, 100% awesome!

He saw this backpack (Lego Star Wars) and HAD to have it. What a kid! I keep telling myself he WILL NOT be one of those weird kids that sits in the library and plays Dungeons & Dragons during lunch! Keep your fingers crossed for me! ;)

He said he had a great day. He made a few new friends but "can't remember their names". When my mom dropped him off she said he ran right in and shooed her away saying "Bye Grandma!" He was in quite the rush to get his school day started!

After we picked Nash up we went down and Samantha got to see her classroom and meet her teacher. She seems like a nice lady. She's been really understanding about Sam not going to school until Tuesday. Let's hope we don't have any other extenuating circumstances this year! Sam's not excited about the fact that she needs help going to the bathroom and a friend will need to accompany her. I told her that maybe when she gets her cast on she'll be ok to go herself. She also had to miss her first day of dance class today too. What a bummer time to break a wrist!

At least she's double insured...

Make a digital slideshow

Today at 2:30 I was cleaning the house when I heard Samantha start to cry outside. My first thought was "Oh, great. Now what!" So, I ventured outside and found Samantha face down on the ground bawling like she was dying. I asked her what happened. She told me she slipped.

Some background knowledge for you: Samantha & Nash recently decided to convert the swing set into a makeshift gymnastics bar. They've pushed the little picnic table up to the swing set, stand on it and jump to grab the top of the swing set. Then, they swing forward once, backward once, and then let go and drop. Yesterday I told them to quit it before someone broke an arm. But, what do I know? I'm just the stupid mother.

I knelt down next to her and saw that her right hand was shaking something terrible. I asked where she was hurt and she said her left arm. I looked over at it and I was privileged enough to see her wrist sticking out about an inch from where it should have been. I told Nash to put his shoes on and run next door to get my girlfriend Amy as fast as he could. Samantha was still screaming. I told her not to move and ran into the house to get the sling they gave me when I had my car accident. I was able to slide her arm into the sling and get her into the house. Amy arrived with Nash at this point. I told her what happened and asked her if she'd be willing to keep my boys. Since she's such a superhero, she of course said yes. I called my sister and dropped her kids off to her at her work and then set out for insta care.

We were in insta care for 2 hours (from 3-5)! I told Sam we weren't going to make it to Back To School night. She was sorely disappointed. After about 3 xrays and all the wait time, we were told we were going to have to go to the ER where she would be sedated, have her fingers put into a finger traction and her wrist set back in place. Awesome! So, I called and got Amy to drop my boys off to my dad.

Once we got to the ER we actually didn't have to wait too long to go back. The wait was going to happen if we couldn't get the orthopedist to come down before he had to go to surgery. Luckily, he made it down fairly quickly and we were able to start. Samantha FREAKED out about getting an IV (big surprise). It took about 4 of us to hold her down to get it in her. They also put 3 monitors on her chest to keep track of her heart rate. Once they gave her the medicine to make her sleepy, the respiratory dr. told me that one of the medications they were giving her was Ketamine. Ketamine is also known as "Special K" on the streets. The dr. then proceeded to tell me that teens abuse it and how they abuse it. Great idea dr.! Tell a mother of the 7 yr. old you're sedating you're giving her Ketamine! Duh!!

Luckily they only had to set her wrist one time and they got it right on the money. The orthopedist gave us 2 "after" pictures of her wrist. He told me that she actually fractured it through the growth plate. Funny enough, when we got to the ER and were back in the room and were just waiting for the orthopedist to show up, the other dr.s there (anesthesia, respiratory, etc.) all asked me "Did you see her x-ray already?!" Yea, she broke it that good. Luckily it was an easy fix that didn't require surgery!

The orthopedist told me to call his office tomorrow and set up an appointment for Monday so we can go in and get a cast on it. She's already decided she wants pink with sparkles. She fell asleep pretty quick after we left Shopko (had to pick up her Lortab prescription). I told her she's lucky it's her left arm so she can still write and that it isn't a leg so she can still dance (class starts Thursday this week).

My sister kindly reminded me "It's like you wrote on your blog the other day. Nash got stung, something else happened to Caleb, and you didn't dare put that Samantha was injury free. Here you go, now she's not!" Gee, thanks! I guess I can tell Samantha "Happy 2nd to last day of summer vacation!"

When she finally woke up last night & we tried to put pjs on her, I realized that her arm wasn't going to make it through the sleeve of her dress. This is a dress my mom made her this spring that she absolutely loves. I told her we might have to cut it to get her arm out. She cried. I called my mom at nearly 11 and asked her to come up. We thought we could just cut the lower sleeve and turn it into a tank top top. Nope. We had to completely cut through the sleeve. Sam cried. She was really upset. My mom told her it was ok, she'd make her something new out of this blue paisley fabric Samantha loved (it's just like Brad Paisley's guitar ;) ). She seemed to feel better about cutting the dress after that. Plus, my mom told her maybe we could make something else out of her dress. Guess we'll see. If nothing else I can put it into a quilt for her, right?

Oh, I remembered what else I was going to blog about earlier today. We went to The Treehouse Museum on Friday with my sister in law. The kids loved it and thought it was great!

Input please

I got a comment in my last post from someone that does a giveaway website telling me if I was interested I could add my blog and my giveaways. Not exactly sure if there's any interest from anyone that reads this for that sort of thing. If you'd give me some feedback about whether I should try it or not, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I've decided to start an etsy.com website. Nothing is up and running just yet, but it is fiercely in the works. So more info on that coming soon. Let me know if you have any great ideas about what I could put on it. I've already got some things started and lots of things waiting for me to get started on them. But, it's always nice for feedback from other people.

Tonight is back to school night for Samantha & Nash. Sam's pretty excited. Nash I don't think has had it sink in yet. I'm excited for them to go and meet their new teachers. That's always exciting. I'm thrilled this year that I can actually help in someone else's class too! How dorky is that?

You know, I had other thoughts running through my head about what I wanted to post and then Caleb came in crying -the other kids haven't been too inclusive today- and now I can't remember what else I wanted to post about! Oh well, it will come!

Job interview part 2

After all that stress....they offer the job to someone else.

Oh well. Now I can say I tried and feel better about staying home & enjoying my babies!

Job interview

I went to my job interview in south Ogden today. I got lost on my way there and had to call and have the secretary guide me to it! I made it, 24 minutes late, but I made it.
The interview itself went pretty well. He was quite understanding about the whole getting lost part. He asked several questions and I answered them to the best of my ability. Good interview practice! I had several questions ready for him as well.
What I know about the job is:
*They just posted the job Monday because it was an unexpected position.
*It is for a 5th/6th split class. 12 5th graders and 14 6th graders.
*The students in this class aren't "advanced" per se, but they are your higher end kids that can work independently.
*I would teach both the 5th & 6th grade curriculum. 6th grade doesn't worry me since I just did it, but I am unfamiliar with the 5th grade curriculum.
*I would have to teach all my own "specials" (pe, art, etc.). This doesn't bother me since I had to do it at the charter school. But, it is nice to get a break for part of a day to catch my breath and get ready for the next part of the day. Or, like I had last year - planning time with my colleagues.
*I would work with 2 women (5th grade) and 2 men (6th grade) to accomplish my grade level goals.
*The principal is a man. This would be a nice change after working for 2 women and dealing with all that drama.
*There are just under 500 kids in the school. Only 1/2 day kindergarten is offered.
*The position begins Monday and the kids start on Wednesday.
*Weber district starts their step 1 teachers out at just over $33,000/yr. + benefits. Last year I was either a step 3 or 4 (I can't remember). So, I would be looking at between $33,000 and $35,000/yr. + benefits.
*It isn't too far from the school I was at last year. About the same drive time but further south a bit. The population of kids ranges from "hill kids" to a few transient kids. Not a high turn over rate and lots of parent support.
*Weber district does NOT require their teachers to get their ESL endorsement. Which means even though I'm half way through, I wouldn't have to finish it. However, I don't know that if I do want to finish it if they'd pay for it.

So, now that I know a bit more about the job. I've decided I'd actually probably really, really like the job. Which is funny because I didn't want to apply for it (I almost didn't) and I really, really don't want to go back to work. They said they'd let me know today. So, guess we'll see & then go from there!

May the gods of fate not sneek out and bite you in the behind!

I hate karma

So 2 days ago I applied for about 10 different jobs. Eight of them were teaching jobs in Weber district and 2 of them were teacher's aide jobs at Sam & Nash's school. My rational was that I could list it on my unemployment paperwork because I seriously doubted that Weber school district really still needed 8 teachers with school starting just next week. I've been freaking out about the unemployment because my mother in law is going through it right now and she's had a hard time getting enough contacts for workforce services to be happy with. Hence my applications.

When I first found out that my contract wasn't being renewed I was happy to get out of the school. My principal and I just weren't a good fit together it seemed. As the days went by, I was angry and bitter about being let go...again. I felt like I'd wasted the last 10 years of my life! I finally came to the decision that I was done teaching and was going to do something else with my life. I hadn't moved any of my school stuff that sat in the middle of the garage because I didn't know what to do with it. Yesterday, YESTERDAY, I finally cleaned out the garage and moved all my stuff to the back of the garage and sat it at the top of the stairs (getting it ready to haul down and store). I had unpacked my classroom library about as soon as I got all my stuff home. The kids have gone through it fairly regularly. Not quite as much as I had thought, but still, enough to make me happy.

I have always told Samantha to NEVER, NEVER answer the house phone. It's ALWAYS telemarketers and never anyone I want to talk to. I put my cell number on everything and anyone that knows me knows if they want to talk to me to call my cell.

My brother in law came over this morning and worked on the boys' bedroom (more mud) since he got rained out at work. He had just finished and we were outside talking when Samantha comes outside with the house phone in her hand and announces, "Here mom. It's for you." Before I could say anything she said, "It ISN'T someone selling something. I asked." Great. I gave her my dirtiest mother look and took the phone.

Much, MUCH, to my surprise, it was a principal at one of the schools I had applied for a job at. One from Weber District. One from the district that I got an automated email with my application telling me I must have a letter of recommendation from my previous principal included with all my paperwork before my application would be further considered. I didn't have a letter of recommendation from my previous principal. I asked for one this past spring but never got one. So, with the automated email I sent an email of my own to my previous principal and bluntly asked for one so I could apply for other teaching jobs. A letter of recommendation I have yet to receive and send to Weber District.

So, here I sit in irritated contemplation. Wondering...Why? Why? Why did I apply for that particular job? It's for a 5th/6th split in south Ogden and I had finally accepted & was looking forward to the fact that I was going to be home with my not so little baby this year. I had finally accepted that it was going to be just me and Duleb and I was going to finally have time to do all my projects that are half started. I had finally accepted that Nash was in Kindergarten and Samantha was in 2nd grade and for once, for ONCE, I was going to be able to be a mom that went and helped in my child's class.

Tomorrow I will leave my house at 8:30 am and drive to Syracuse to drop my children off at my sister in law's house. I will then turn around and drive another 30 minutes to south Ogden to find this new school. I will then sit through a 15 minute interview and wonder whether or not I should sabotage this interview because I really don't want to go back to work. I will then drive the 30 minutes back to my sister in law's house and wonder if I did subconsciously sabotage that interview and whether or not I really should have done that. I will worry again about unemployment and that we might not get enough money for all our payments. And if, IF, I am offered this 5th/6th split position, I will call my husband and rationalize why I should and shouldn't take the job. Of course, there is this irritating reminder in the back of my mind that if I teach for just 1 more year, just 1 more, then I will finally, FINALLY, have my level 2 license and won't have to renew my license for 5 years rather than renew my level 1 for a second time.

Did I mention that I hate karma?

Bown Family Reunion

While Trav was home we took our kids and my sister's kids to the Logan Aquatic Center. They had so much fun. They even got to play with another friend of ours that was there at the same time. Nash and Caleb both went down the water slide and loved every second of it. Poor Caleb screamed and screamed when we left. That boy should have been born with fins! I thought I had my camera in my expedition, but when we got there there was no camera so, no pictures! We also took the kids down to the park while Trav was home. They love going to the park and I don't take them nearly enough. It's just been too stinkin' hot during the day and then we're busy at night. I keep thinking I should take them to Merlin Olsen and let them play in the stream. They would think they'd died and gone to heaven! This weekend we headed down to Manti for the Bown reunion. Just before Travis came home his grandparents were in a nasty car accident so they weren't able to come up to the mountain with us. Grandpa Butter has a broken sternum and Grandma Butter was in the hospital until Saturday. We did get to stop in Nephi on our way down Friday morning and see Grandma. They are pretty bruised and battered, but they have high spirits. I don't know how Grandma persists, but she is a pretty dang amazing woman! She has GOT to have something important here to do! We took our trailer and the kids were super excited to get to go camping with their dad again. They didn't even whine about the ride (which I feared would be terrible!). On Saturday Aunt Jamie and Uncle Robbie showed up with Clayton & our new cousin Jaxton. We also had Uncle Chad and his family show up Saturday night. Samantha was in seventh heaven though because Uncle Glade and Aunt Lori were there with their brand new baby GIRL! I asked Sam if she wanted me to leave her at their house (that's 11 kids now) so she could have a sister finally. She said "No, let's just take this sister home!" She sure was a cutie and I was more than happy to snuggle her for a good part of the weekend! We did lots of 4 wheeling and playing with cousins. I even got 3 books read! Yep, according to my husband, I was "completely worthless" this weekend. I told him I'm okay with that though! ;) Since I was so busy being worthless and my husband isn't much of a photo man, I only got 2 pictures of the entire weekend! It's okay though because they are the of the most important thing - Nash and the fish he caught (he out fished his dad!).

2 year well check

Today I took Caleb to the dr. for his 2 year well check. Everything went well and much to my surprise, he didn't need shots and won't until his kindergarten shots!

He weighs 25 lbs 7 oz and is 33 inches tall. That puts him in the 17% for weight and 20% for height. He sure is my little shrimp!

Things Caleb loves:

Buffalo (thank you trip to Yellowstone - he considers elephants to be buffalo too!)

Dogs

Water - this is his ultimate favorite thing in the world. I think he must've been a fish in another life!

Dirt and mud - he really only likes these when someone else is digging in it with him.

Helping mom - doesn't matter what I'm doing, but he really loves standing right in front of me and sticking his head between my knees and then holding on. He just giggles and giggles when I walk with him like this.

His dad - he is definitely a momma's boy, but he still loves his dad.

His brother and sister - he wants to be just like them so much! Samantha is such a great sister and just loves to mother him. Who knew after the week of tears she cried when she found out "Sparklie" was a boy!

Things we love about Caleb -

How he says his own name - "Taleb"

His puppy dog eyes when he says "peas (please)?"

The way he says thank you "tank you!"

His big gorgeous smile and bright blue eyes.

How much he loves us!

Bottles, naps, and potty training!

I've been slowly throwing away Caleb's bottles for several days. On Saturday I finally threw the last one in the recycle bin. When Caleb asks for a "ba ba" I have told him that bottles are for babies and he's a big boy now. Since we have a new cousin (Jaxton), I've told him that we sent all his "ba bas" to baby Jaxton. As the days have gone by, he seems to be a little bit more accepting of this idea. Now when he asks for a "ba ba" I tell him they're "all gone". He just tilts his head and looks at me and says "baby Jaxton?" At least I know he understands what I've told him!

Bed time has been the toughest without the bottles. He refuses to drink milk out of a sippy cup for some reason. I've told him he could have milk or water or go without. He finally decided that he would have water in one and he's been content with that - lucky for me! Since he doesn't have his bottle to go to bed with, he hasn't been going to bed (and staying there) until around 1 am for about the last 3 days!

Taking into consideration that he's not going to bed until 1 am and he's getting up around 9, you'd think (or at least I think) he'd need an afternoon nap still. Well, take what you think and throw it out the window. He's also been refusing to nap! Today I did finally get him to take an afternoon nap, but that was only after 30 minutes of repeatedly putting him back in his bed, giving him a sippy cup with a little bit of orange juice, and me laying by him for nearly an hour! Maybe tomorrow will be easier??

I finally decided I should probably start potty training Caleb since my cousin's daughter (who is a month younger) has been potty trained since last fall. Today marks day 3.

On Saturday I decided I would try putting a pull up on him just to see how he would do. Caleb wore the same pull up for nearly 9 hours and stayed dry - using the potty about 5 times.

On Sunday we weren't too successful. He wore the pull up just fine, but every time I put him on the potty he just tried to jump off. He wanted to stand up like his brother, but he isn't tall enough. When I put him on the stool, he just wanted to play. When I finally sat him back on the potty, he refused to put his feet down and stood on the toilet seat to potty (still never going potty)! We also went to WalMart on Sunday and bought him his first package of real big boy pants. He's thrilled that they are Spongebob. He's tried each of the 3 pair on and snuggled with them as well. ;) He also insisted on taking Bob to grandma's house today to show them to her!

Today has been better than yesterday but not quite as good as Saturday. He's wearing the pull ups and he's gone potty for me, but he refused to go potty for my mom while she had him so I could go to the dentist. Only 2 accidents today though, so I think it's progress!

I'm hoping we'll have the no bottles and the potty training whipped into shape before too many days go by!

And, on a side note, I thought for sure I had at least one cavity - which is part of the reason I broke down and made my first appointment since 2006! Much to my delight, NO CAVITIES (still! ;) ).

We made it!

We made it home after 17 hours and 748 miles! We didn't get home until 2:30 am on Tuesday, but we did make it home!

Tuesday was a busy day since I had my sister's kids again. My kids were just thrilled they didn't have to ride in the expedition again and that they got to play with cousins. I have been trying to catch up on laundry and 47 other things!

I can't believe that school starts in just 3 weeks!! It kind of makes me sad to think I won't be teaching this year. On the other hand, I'm really glad too. I was bummed out that I missed out on all the school things that Sam did during Kindergarten and 1st grade. We'll see how much I really missed it when they start asking for parent volunteers as chaperons on field trips! Praise the kindergarten teachers - I for one no longer believe I could do it! ;)

Samantha was bummed out to learn that her bff was leaving for Maryland and Ohio the day we got home. By a random chance, she got to spend one day with her before she left for real. They ended up getting to have a sleepover so I think Sam will survive a few more days without her dear Jolie!

While I was in Oregon my cousin showed me how she does her digital scrapbooking. Scott, my brothers friend, has Photo Shop Elements on his computer and is going to hook me up. Now I can finally learn to digital scrapbook. Travis will be thrilled on all the space and money this habit will save! Before I get too into it though, I have to get some school clothes made for the kids that I bought fabric for while it was on sale just before we left on our trip. I also want to get an etsy website up and running by October. I somehow just keep managing to find all these fun things I want to do but have never had time to do because of my job. I think I might enjoy staying home more than I originally anticipated! Bring on the school year! :)

Oregon or bust!

We got home from Yellowstone on Monday, July 26th. We left for Oregon (minus Travis) on Tuesday, July 27th. Yes, we are beginning to love our expedition and each other! I have no idea how Sam slept like this in the car. In fact, after I pulled her out of this crevice, she ended back up in the exact same location! It must have been comfy!Approximately 13 hours and 800 miles after we left, we arrive at Multnomah Falls in Oregon. We did hike up to the bridge in the picture. Nash ran nearly the entire way. I think he need to stretch!

On our way up to the bridge, we saw this on the trash can. I thought it was a poop at first. Then I got closer and realized it had antenna. After seeing the antenna, I thought it was fake. And then I saw it move! It completely creeped me out! I thought the slugs in my flowerbed were bad! Holy cow!! Part way up the trail I actually stepped on one that was a bit smaller than this. I told Zack it was like stepping in dog poop but it rolled instead of squished! Grosses me out remembering it!
After stopping in Portland and visiting Powell's City of Books (the COOLEST book store EVER), we headed for Mt. St. Helen's. Apparently we hadn't been in the expedition long enough! :) This big foot statue is made out of ash and cement. It is the second version because someone burned the first one (made of carpet and other flammable materials) down. The kids thought he was pretty cool. The reason we stopped at this site on the way up the mtn is that there is a house that was 3 days shy of being moved into when the volcano went off. It's now 5 ft lower in the ground, water is still inside it (as well as all the furniture) and the log that went through the front door is sitting just outside it. I didn't get pics of the kids with it so I'm not posting a pic of the house unless there are requests!
You have to cross this bridge on your way up the mtn. This bridge is something else. It's so long and it's a long way down too!
This stop is a bit closer up the mtn. You can't see the volcano because it was overcast that day and hard to capture in pictures unless I zoomed way in. the kids were looking at the volcano through the telescopes.
This is the last stop on the mtn before you get to the observatory that is 5 miles from the crater. I was able to get a good pic of the volcano here because we were lots closer. The trees here were insane. I'm sure they're petrified because of the ash. I can't believe how they look like they were just exploded by dynamite and still look just like that 30 years after the explosion!
This is at the observatory that is 5 miles from the crater. I wish we would have had more time here but we got there just in time to watch the last video they were showing and then they were closing. It was really cool inside and had an actual tree that was destroyed in the blast that they carried off the mtn and set up in the lobby.
We have visited the rose gardens at Avery Park.

We visited Avery park itself. Caleb absolutely loved climbing all over the train.

We went down to the waterfront park where the kids were the happiest I've seen them in days! Who am I kidding - they were in the water and not in the truck. It was the happiest they've been since before we left for Yellowstone!
My brother got his new tattoo. He got it done while we were at Avery Park and the waterfront. I think it turned out really good and actually quite like it.
We went down to feed the ducks and stopped at the park along the way.
It was funny when we got there. The ducks saw us coming and knew we had some bread and we were swarmed! Caleb kept chasing the ducks saying "Duck, mere!" He just wanted to pet one so badly!

We've been to dinner at a place that is a parent's nightmare and a child's heaven. Think Chuck E Cheese meets Hardy's. Yes, Caleb is saying, "Cannonball!" as he jumps into the balls. The boy cried and cried when he had to leave. When they came out to eat their pizza they only lasted all of 5 minutes. I think they might have eaten 2 bites of their pizza. Sure glad I ordered that!
We've invaded Ashlee's apartment and made ourselves quite comfortable here.
On the 30th we headed to Newport. The 30th was Travis and I's 11th wedding anniversary. I figured we spent it 976 miles apart. It's the first anniversary we've spent apart. I guess I'm glad I could do it in style. Too bad he had to work!

We've visited a few covered bridges.
We went to the aquarium and the Hatfield Marine Center. The kids were in heaven here. They didn't want to leave!

Sam & Caleb are inside the fish tank in this picture. Caleb thought it was so cool that he could get so close to the fishes.
Samantha inside a giant shark.
Caleb at the touching tank. The kids got to touch star fish and anemones, an eel, and a fish that looked like a halibut (flat with its eyes on the side of it's head).
We've been to the bay front and seen sea lions (which smell not so nicely for all the water they "bathe" in!)

We went to the Yaquina light house.
We went to the ocean where we could have stayed forever. Caleb did somersaults in the sand after watching his brother do them. Samantha apparently joined in later because her hair is chuck full of sand. We put together a piece of the beach to take back home to grandma Terri. We even found a few pieces of coral and crab shells.

The water was SO cold!

I told you he did somersaults!
We've been hiking at Silver Falls and made a 3 mile loop.
Ashlee was nice enough to take turns packing Caleb with me.

And today we also went shopping at the outlets. We timed it perfectly because this weekend was their sidewalk sale.

Tomorrow we're off to the zoo. Monday morning however, we must head back to reality. We haven't decided if we'll detour to Crater Lake on our way home yet. Guess we'll see how much we like the expedition and each other by then!

Days 2-4: Yellowstone

We stopped at Old Faithful on our way to our campground in Island Park. We came back and hit it again on our second to last day.They are happy because they had ice cream! ;)
Checking out some geysers.
Mammoth Springs and the dormant cone geyser.
More often than not someone other than Caleb was in the stroller!
We had to stop and see the petrified tree.
Upper Falls in the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone." Caleb LOVED the "big water."
Spasm Geyser with the spaz himself!
This elk was HUGE and people were getting way to close for my comfort!
My boys checking out another geyser. Caleb just couldn't get enough of the water. He screamed every time we pulled him away from a geyser - even though we told him we were going to go see more!
The Dragon's Mouth geyser.
The Lower Falls in the "Grand Canyon of Yellowstone."
My view for most of the trip!
Couldn't help but catch this one.
A big buffalo in West Yellowstone the day we were leaving.

We saw lots of buffalo and elk. We even saw 3 bears & 2 cubs. Much to Trav's disappointment, we didn't see any moose. I couldn't catch any of the bears on my camera. I was told a few days after we left a Griz attacked 3 tents and killed 1 person in the Montana part of Yellowstone. That is why I slept in a trailer thank you very much! The kids had a blast at Yellowstone and it was sad when it was time for us to leave. We didn't end up getting home until just after midnight since we stopped in Jackson on our way home. We didn't even have any major fiascoes! I guess that only happens when we travel with Trav's parents! ;) I took over 100 pictures while we were in Yellowstone but I tried to just post some of the ones with us in them. I have pictures of just about everything though! Perhaps when I get home (still in Oregon) I will put them in a smilebox slideshow. The only bad thing about our trip was that they were doing road construction from Madison to Norris and there were 30 minute delays on the road. That was a good time, let me tell you!