Time Lapse: Mi-Ma's Backyard

Meli was funny with the squirt guns. She mostly just drank out of it.

This past April marked 5 years since we moved back to Oregon. Meli's first time seeing our beautiful state and (in my opinion) finding her home. I think Colin could fit in to either state, but Miss Mae definitely has a PNW (Pacific Northwest) spirit. 

My sweet, sweet boy

Good ol' Facebook provided me with a little walk down memory lane of that first month back home. What a fantastically, sweet time with my kiddos.  I was fortunate to be home with the kids for a few years before going back to work and I am so grateful for that period. I am so glad to be back to work now, but it was perfect timing to have that before school started and to help adjust to a new life.

That first summer, we spent a lot of time outside in MiMa's yard. Sprinklers was Meli's favorite thing. 

As the kids seem to be aging at such a rapid pace, I have been loving the memories from those first few years. We all have adapted to being in a new state. I think Colin took the longest since he had more bonds with East Coast family. Meli was not quite 2.

We also lived a block away from one of the local schools, which was a perfect place to take the kids. The air rocket launcher was an enormous hit!

Meli turned 7 this month, and I feel like it is closing a chapter. More about that in a future post. Mama is being emotional this month!

Charlie's New Love

I think that Char-Char was the biggest fan of all! I did not expect him to enjoy the snow, but he played outside forever!

Happy last days of winter!

 Love, Hugs & Kisses ~ The B Family

We Got Our Snow!!

"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one." - Dr. Seuss

I am glad the kids had a day of snow this season. It would be a bummer not to have at least one snowfall.

The whole family got out to enjoy the beautiful day! We were beginning to think that snow would not happen this year...but it did!!

Colin's first snowman

Snowman #2 that Colin, Mae, Daddy and I worked on

Mae's kitty. If you look closely you can see the ears, eyes, and nose. It also has a tail.

Happy winter!

       Love, Hugs & Kisses ~ The B Family

All the Pretty Animals

Some of the animals we saw...💖

This little guy was loving the water! It was such a hot day.

He gave everyone a little show with going number two in the water. The kids were amazed that he just did that. Also, with the size...of course. 

She seemed to be loving the sunshine and heat. The other hippo was hanging out in the water. 

I love giraffes!! I think they are so beautiful! 

Not scary whatsoever...

So cute! The baby turtles were so tiny.

Will apparently was excited for the penguins! I had no idea! I thought they would be too stinky for him. He did say how he forgotten that part! I think afterwards he was leaning more towards panda bears. 

She was just adorable! Another one of my favorite animals. 

This is Velda. She was in animal time-out (in a sense) not that she was misbehaving but was not enjoying human touch as much lately. Totally understandable. 

                                                         ~ Love, Hugs &  Kisses ~
                                                                    The B Family

The Zoo & Old Friends

Friends

We took the kids to the Oregon Zoo yesterday. I have said this before, but I am torn about how I feel about zoos. I want to like them, but at the same time I feel for the animals. I am imagine they just want to run free.  But, what if they were in the wild and did not live long. I know some of the animals at the Oregon Zoo are rescued from their natural habitat. There is an elephant that had her eye shot from a farmer that took over her rain forest. The made me like it more. Colin was so distraught over that story.

Silly

My shadow

Anyways, we went to the zoo to meet up with some of Will's old friends. His fire academy buddy, Joel and his wife, Bobbie. For the past 12 years or so, I have heard stories about some of Will's favorite people. It took us this long to finally meet up. We had tried in DC, but it did not work out. I am so glad it did! What a sweet and lovely couple! Their kids are adorable too! It was nice seeing Will in his element and get a glimpse to him in his Air Force days.  We talked about a few other meet ups this summer... I hope it works. Fingers-crossed for Leavenworth and Seattle.

My babies

She loves this thing

Alligator

Puppet show

Owl

                                                          ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                                 The B Family

A Day Getaway

The kids and I decided last weekend, that we were in a need of a roadtrip. It was Sunday, so it had to be a short one. Will decided to join us too. He was hoping for a day of learning his new music software, but the allure of the beach is just too much. We decided to go Heceta Lighthouse. This time we did not explore the lighthouse, but we like the beach access that is below it. The parking area is good, there are restrooms, and the beach is an area that I like for the kids. Plus, they have little caves and rocks for the kids to explore. 

It was actually a cool day, which I personally was thankful for. I think it was in the high 60's. Colin and Will tend to run a little colder than Meli and I. Meli was wearing a shirt and shorts. Both Colin and Will were wrapped up in sweatshirts. I thought it was a nice break from the recent warm days. 

Colin had a great time looking for wildlife and rocks. I love seeing how has blossomed when it comes to touching the sea creatures.

Meli loved running in the waves and exploring the caves.

Will managed to avoid the camera. Of course!

My grandpa's birthday (he passed away in '92) was the other day. He would have been 94. I thought a good celebration of him was to go to the Sea Lion Caves. That is somewhere that he used to take us grandkids a lot. 

The blue strip of sky was so beautiful! I had a wonderful time snapping pictures of it. 

Until next time...

~Hugs & Kisses~

A Sign You Live in Oregon

When a sunny day happens your kids instantly ask for the sprinklers, even though it is only 60 degrees. The day I finally said yes, it was warmer than 60 degrees but not by a lot. I could not believe that they wanted to get wet. They had a blast!

Sometimes, I have 3 Kids

The kids had a snow day yesterday. I am fairly sure their school year just got a little longer with all of the closed days.

Of course they wanted to go out and play in the snow. So did Will! He actually beat them to it and did this...

I do love his nerdy side.

I have to admit, that I thought I would leave all of the snow days behind in VA. I do not remember having too many snow days during my childhood. I am fairly certain the kids have already had more than I did my whole school career. Or I just blocked them from my memory. I do remember specific ones, and I feel that is partly because they were rare. I like snow, but prefer to go visit and leave. I hate driving to work in it. At least in DC they were experts at plowing and clearing the roads. Oregon...not so much. Actually not at all.

                                                       ~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~
                                                                 The B Family