Pumpkin Patch

We had our first field trip with Cooper's preschool this morning. We went to Farmer Anne's, Gales Creek Meadow Farm to pick pumpkins. The preschool goes to Farmer Anne's every May and plants pumpkin seeds and then in the fall they come to pick the pumpkins. It's pretty awesome, we had a great time tooling around the farm and then had a potluck with the preschool families from both the two-day and three-day class.

We found lots of snakes in the compost piles, three gardener snakes and one rubber boa snake. There were grasshoppers, woolly caterpillars, a rescued goose and roosters. Cooper loved the snakes, he and another girl took turns holding them and she actually caught one and was so proud. Sharon was also catching them for the kids.

It was great fun and the weather was awesome, sunny skies.

More Pictures

Alexander and Adam loved the sandbox in the backyard. Alexander asked to "go outside and play in sandbox" at least three times a day. He loved it!

 Kristen and Sonya

 Adam playing in the house.

Visit Recap

Here are some more pictures of our visit with Auntie Sonya, Auntie (CuzAunt) Kristen, Cousin Alexander and Adam. Sonya, Kristen and I love to shop, especially together so we went to the Outlet Mall and Sharon watched the two older boys. We did all of the kids shopping and were exhausted by the time we could do adult shopping. Next time we are going to get babysitters.

We went to the Zoo on Saturday and had an excellent time. It was pretty crowded because it was a nice, sunny day. We took the zoo train first and then looked at the animals.

We saw the baby caracals, so cute!

Adam walking with Grandma

Cooper and Alexander on the tractor.

Mountain lion hanging out.

Cooper and Alexander running around mall chasing each other.

 Sharon with the two boys.

Sharon with all three.

The end of the shopping trip, everyone is exhausted!

Those boys ran us ragged, we were all wiped out by the end of the visit.

Wrestling

The cousins also enjoy wrestling with each other.

Dancing Cousins

We had early movie night tonight and Cooper and Alexander did some dancing. It is hard to get them to stand still.

Full House

We have Auntie Sonya, Auntie Kristen, Cousins Alexander (2.5) and Adam (1) visiting this week. They have been here two days and we are having a blast. Yesterday, Cooper had preschool and then we hit one of Portland's many play cafes. Today we went to the Children's Museum. It was fun and exhausting to keep track of everybody! Tomorrow is supposed to be nice so we are going to the Zoo and Sunday we are hitting the outlet mall. Cooper and Alexander are playing well together with a few physical altercations here and there.
Here are some pictures of the last two days.

Drawing

The picture on the left is what Cooper drew recently. This is Cooper, the bottom circle is his belly button and the top is his special spot. The picture on the right Cooper also drew and Sharon helped finish with the eye and other effects.

One year photos

I finally finished Cooper's photo frame of his first year.

Third Week of Preschool

It was my day to parent help at Cooper's preschool today. Cooper woke up and the first thing he asked, "is it your day to wear the blue mask at preschool Mommy?" Parent helpers wear a blue apron and he has been asking me for two weeks when it will be my turn. He was so excited to have me there and help us set up the school this morning.
As a parent helper you are basically a teacher that day. Everyday there are three parent helpers and Teacher Anette. Right now we have one extra in the class to learn the ropes with their mentor family. We rotate positions so I helped in the morning with the art project and finished the day outside.
I had a lot of fun watching how the day goes and watching Cooper. He didn't hang out near me the whole day but did spend some time with me doing art and playing outside. I was impressed with his independence, I wasn't sure how he would be.
Cooper got to wear a blue apron also because his mom was a parent helper and he was super excited about that too.
It was a great day, I loved being there!


Here's a picture of Cooper this afternoon after his haircut.

Steam Train

Sunday we went up to Washington and took a steam train ride. It was a fun outing, Cooper loved the train, brought his train hat too. The weather was hot and sunny and we had a nice breeze coming in through thewindow (Cooper wanted to sit inside). The train ride was about an hour roundtrip.

Here is a video I took with Sharon and Cooper talking and the train whistle in the background.

The Beach

Libby and I took the kids and dogs to a nice beach on the river last Friday. The kids had a great time playing in the water, splashing, swimming, running, and playing in the sand. Luke and Riley also had a blast playing together on the beach, running like crazy dogs and cooling off in the water. They took a nice shaded nap after playing for an hour.

 Larkin having a timeout and then choosing to stay on the beach and talk/play by herself.

First Day of Preschool

Here he is ready for his first day of preschool.





He had a great day, played outside, did some paint and play-doh. We took him for ice cream when we picked him up.
Sharon and I did pretty well too, only a few tears when we left!

More Camping

Labor Day weekend we camped with our friends Pam and Julie and Dory at Paradise Creek in the Gifford Pinchot Forest, outside of Carson, WA. Sharon and I haven't been to this campground since 2004, so it was nice to be back. Our site was right on the creek so Cooper asked Dory and Pam to go to the creek and collect rocks or play with him.

It was Dory's birthday weekend and we celebrated each night he was there. Holly and Angie came up Sunday evening to celebrate as a surprise too. Sunday we took a day trip to the Swift Reservoir to do some fishing. It was a great afternoon of catching frogs, tadpoles, seeing dragonflies and butterflies and little fish. We also got attacked by mosquitos, I am still itching!! Cooper had a blast, it was a hot day and the water felt great. No fish were caught but the fisherwomen/men had fun trying. Cooper got really good at catching the frogs and tadpoles, they were everywhere. By the end he told Sharon that she couldn't catch the frogs, only he could.

We ate really well, really well. It was our first time camping with Julie and Pam and their first time camping as a couple. We truly enjoyed camping with them, it was a great weekend. Oh one last thing, Cooper had his first crash on his Skuut bike. He went super fast down a big hill and wiped out at the end. It caused a lot of tears and some blood but he is okay. His helmet protected him from major damage. By the end of the night he would look at his leg and whimper, he is so funny.