Bike riding

Cooper watched some girls off-road on their bikes at the park and he wanted to try also.
Here is a video of him on his bike coming down the hill.

Camping Pictures

Pictures from our trip to Bend, OR.






Cooper built a mud out behind our trailer.

First Camping Trip

We took the trailer out for our first trip of the season last weekend. We went to Tumalo State Park, near Bend, OR. The weather was summer-like, hot. It was Susan's birthday weekend trip and we all had a great time of playing cards, hiking, talking and eating good food. We were right by a river trail so we took a hike on Saturday. The dogs had a blast, Luke learned how to swim, but only to rescue me from the water. Hopefully this summer he will swim to fetch a stick or ball or something. Cooper rode his bike all over the campground from morning until night. We gave him some independence to ride to our friends sites without us too.

Nice Weather

We had great weather on Monday this week. Cooper spent the day eating and playing with Luke outside.

More Cousin Pictures

A few more pictures of the cousin visit. Sharon took them to the Multnomah Falls and to visit Herman the Sturgeon at Bonneville Dam.

I took the kids and dogs again to the dog park and the boys did not have as much fun this time. It all went south went Cooper did a face plant in the mud puddle. Chloe was sweet and carried him back to the car.

This was a nice quiet moment in the house, all three kids reading.

I took them to OMSI for an afternoon and they all had a great time, especially racing the boats.

Field Trip

Today, Cooper's preschool class took a field trip to a dentist office. One of the kids at preschool has a mom who owns a pediatric dentist clinic. They had a great time playing with the dental tools and they all got a goodie bag at the end of the day. It was fun and a fast field trip.

Birthday parties

Spring is a busy time for birthday parties. Two weekends in a row, Cooper has had a friend celebrate a birthday. There are two parties that we couldn't make this month too.
Last weekend was Emory's party. It took Cooper awhile to warm up to playing, he did a lot of watching. It was a pirate party, he enjoyed the balloon swords and started playing after observing for an hour. As the party wound down, Cooper and Emory had some one on one time. That was great, they missed each other. Emory let Cooper help open the last of his presents too.









This weekend, we are celebrating Uncle Susan's birthday. We are all camping near Bend, OR.

Mud Pit

This weekend Cooper built a dam in the street while Sharon was washing the cars. He got his cousins involved and they spent a couple hours engineering the dam. Monday, Cooper and I built another dam in the driveway.
We have a great mud pit under the trailer in the backyard that Cooper plays in when the trailer is on the street. That got us thinking of another spot to have a mud pit when the trailer is parked in the driveway. Cooper and I moved pavers to clear a spot and he now has another mud pit in the backyard.

More Cousin Fun

Wednesday we took the dogs to the Sandy Delta again until Cooper took a face plant in a huge puddle. After lunch we went to OMSI to see the Lego exhibit. Wednesday evening Chloe came with me to band practice while Sharon took the boys to the Casino (nickel arcade). They had lots of fun there and got 3000 tickets from some nice patrons. Noah picked a glass chess board and Cooper a dartboard. The kids played chess the rest of the week. Noah was great and taught Cooper how to play.






Thursday I had Wyatt in the afternoon so I took all four kids to the mall for something to do. It rained all week and I didn't want to stay home with all of them. We spent a lot of the time in Barnes and Noble, Chloe read and the boys played with the train table. Then we hit the mall play space for a bit before heading home.
Thursday night Chloe and Noah's mom came into town from Washington. The five of us went swimming at the community center Friday morning then went in search of a good candy store.
Saturday I was in bed with a cold. Sharon and Cooper spent the afternoon together. The kids and their mom went downtown to Saturday Market and Powells Books.
Easter Sunday was a beautiful day, weather wise. We all went for a walk on the Columbia River waterfront.









We also went to a nearby park before bringing the kids' mom to the train station. Monday was our last day with them, Noah caught the cold and was miserable all day. Another nice, warm day we played outside in the morning.



Then hit a park before heading to the airport.
Cooper was really sad when they left. He got in the car and was so sad his cousins were not with us. It was a nice visit, we are looking forward to seeing them this summer.

Cousins

It's day 4 of the cousin visit. Cooper is having a blast with them. Chloe is 13 and Noah is 8, they are on spring break and visiting from California. This weekend we took the dogs to a big muddy dog area just outside of Portland. The kids and dogs had a blast.
Sunday we went and saw Richard Scarry's Busytown Play at the Children's theater. It was a great show, all the kids enjoyed it and Cooper even dressed up.



Intermission





Sunday afternoon we took them to the indoor pool near our house for some swimming. They had a blast there too, it was crowded with lots of kids for the big kids to play with and Cooper swam by himself with the noodle in the whirlpool mostly. Sharon and I took turns watching Cooper while the other did some laps.
Yesterday Sharon took everyone to the Gorge to visit Herman the Sturgeon at the Bonneville Dam. They took a tour and fed the fish while they were there. They stopped at Multnomah Falls too and walked up to the bridge.
Today, Cooper had preschool and Sharon started her new job, yay!
Chloe got some boots at Goodwill and after lunch we went and bounced our energy out at Jj Jump in Vancouver.