Newport Pictures

I posted a couple pics on the Newport post and here are some more.

Silver Falls

I took the kids to Silver Falls a few weeks ago and wasn't prepared for how cold it was.  It was pretty icy on the way out there and it was snowy and freezing once we got there.  We stopped at the North Falls because the kids were tired of being in the car.  The trails said no dogs, but we brought Riley and only walked for about a half hour.  The kids had a great time eating snow, running and throwing rocks in the falls.

Pictures

Cooper's first day of school pictures.

We went to Yo Cream after his class and he ate some chocolate ice cream and made silly faces.  He had a great day at school.  He had an accident so he was in some cute girl capri pants when I picked him up.  I forgot to talk to him about telling the teacher when he had to go potty, oops.  The teacher said he did great, snuggled her a few times, did a ton of finger painting and played with the pink and blue flubber. 

Newport

We took an impromptu trip to the beach this weekend. I think the rainy weather started affecting me and when I woke up Saturday, before yoga, I asked Sharon if the beach sounded like fun. We had enough hotel points to stay for free so we upgraded the room to a jaccuzzi suite. We had a standing date with Grandma Lindsay to see the Beaverton Model Trains at the Lake Oswego Library Saturday afternoon. Cooper loved the trains, he didn't want to leave. He didn't even want ice cream. He was allowed to run one of the trains and really liked watching them go around. There were three tracks and many different types of trains: freight trains, steam engines, etc. We headed to the coast around 3:30pm. We stayed in Newport, the weather was awesome. Saturday night was clear, stars were out, it wasn't cold. We ate at Local Ocean Seafood and had an excellent dinner, fish tacos and a crab po'boy sandwich. Sunday we went to the beach first where Riley ran like a crazy dog, Cooper got soaking wet playing in the sand and tide pools. The sun was shining and it felt like spring. We then hit the Hatfield Reasearch Center where an octopus lives. It is a free center, they ask for donations, located down the street from the aquarium. It was perfect, Cooper touched the sea stars and anenomes and also saw other fish and exhibits. He loved the octopus. We walked along the boardwalk and Cooper rode his bike for awhile. Sunday afternoon we came back to the hotel and we all took a nap. We had a low key dinner at The Chowder Bowl, not nearly as great as Local Ocean. It was a great getaway, we used the jaccuzzi both nights, there was also a fireplace in our room. It was a great weekend.

First Day of Preschool

We signed Cooper up for a preschool adventures class at our local community center. This afternoon was his first day and I am typing this after I dropped him off. The teacher is super nice, I liked her right away. When I left they were running in the gym and jumping on the trampoline. The class is two hours, one or two days a week. We are starting with one day to see if he likes it.
He has been excited about it all day. He was convinced he was taking the yellow school bus there, so I had to tell him that he will take the bus when he is in kindergarten. He asked to bring his backpack and we filled it with a couple things.
We attend Montavilla Community Center for indoor playpark and tumbling class and when we pulled up Cooper said, "This is not my preschool. It doesn't have a school thing." I think he was talking about a playground. We are planning on the Mt Tabor Co-Op this fall and he knows where that school is so I think he was thinking we were going there. I told him that we are going to this school for now. He was cool woth that. I hope he had a fun time!


















- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

What's in a date?

Our anniversary came and went yesterday. We both really didn't remember the exact date. When we think back to our dating days we both remeber the time of year and the day of the week and details of our first date.
The cool thing is we went to yoga together in the morning, while our friend Janet watched Cooper. We had a great evening with our friend Erin and her two boys. Sharon made us an awesome shrimp and cod dinner.
This is our seventh year, we have a great life and partnership and we look forward to watching Cooper grow.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Great toy

Thanks to Nona, Cooper got a cool toolset for Christmas. It has three screwdrivers with two different bits. Two are battery operated one is manual and he can screw different pieces into the board and unscrew them too. It also comes with a wrench. He loves it and so does Larkin.






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Christmas

Christmas this year was terrific.  Our dear friend Rosey came down from Anacortes on Christmas Eve and stayed until Monday night.  We made our traditional homemade pizza for Christmas Eve with Holly, Angie, Janet and Rosey and then did Christmas Dinner at Janet's house with Cissy, Susan, Sue, Benita, and Rosey.
I am glad Christmas went well because I got the stomach flu the day after Christmas and it lasted five days.  Sharon, Cooper and Rosey did not get it and allowed me to rest while they played with Cooper.  Sharon did get bronchitis around New Year's Eve.  It seems the holidays aren't much without some kind of illness. 

Cooper got a farm from Santa and took his time opening all of his gifts.  Aunt Rosey spoiled all of us with gifts.  We spent the entire morning opening presents because Cooper would open one and then ask to either put it together or read the story.  He was very deliberate and patient in the opening.  He also received about a gift a day when more family came to town on Dec 29.

Here are some pictures from Christmas.

New Year's and Family

We were blessed this year with a visit from Jeff and Chikako (my brother and sister-in-law) from Japan.  My mom and dancing partner, Bob also came to town over New Year's.  They all arrived on Dec 29th and stayed through the 5th.  We had a great time with them, ate lots of good food, did tons of shopping (a bit much for Jeff) and hung out at home. 

On Jeff's request we booked an appointment for a pedicure for Chikako. I couldn't let her get one by herself so I joined her.  It was Chikako's first pedicure and she chose clear polish.  I think she really enjoyed being pampered, I know I did.

The Wisconsin Badgers played in the Rosebowl on Saturday and we had a big bash at the house.  Jeff's friends, Eric and Christina, from Seattle came down to spend some time and for the game, New Year's Eve through Sunday.  It was a great game even though Wisconsin lost.  We all wore red and had brautwurst, Taco Bell (for Chikako), nachos and beer.

I took Jeff, Chikako, Eric and Christina to Kennedy School Saturday night for a tour and some beer/coffee.  The soaking pool was packed and people kept waving Chikako in to soak.  We went to the Boiler Room and had poor service but excellent quality time with friends.

Jeff, Chikako, Cooper and I took a trip up to the snow on Sunday.  We went to Carson, WA and found an access road that didn't require snowshoes.  We brought a sled for Cooper but he mainly liked to eat the snow, and sit on Uncle Jeff's shoulders. At the end he did ride in the sled with Chikako while Jeff pulled.  Riley came with us and was bounding in the snow.  It was a gorgeous day and we all had a great time.

We spent Sunday night at Grandma Lindsay's house and she cooked us a great casserole.  Chikako was unsure what a casserole was but she liked it and ate three helpings.

We only ate two breakfasts out, Petit Provence and Cadillac Cafe.  We had pizza from Hot Lips and Thai from Sivali.  Jeff and I got our morning, afternoon and evening coffee brew on daily.  Chikako left us on Monday and the rest of the family stayed until Wednesday.  It was great to all be together for the New Year and can't wait for Jeff and Chikako to live with us!!!!