"Finger" Painting

Today I was feeling brave and decided to let the kids finger paint in the garage and I told them if you get it on you no big deal. Even going as far to tall them they could use their arms, legs, feet, etc to paint with. Dylan wasted no time and within 5 minutes had pretty much abandoned the paper and started painting himself. He started putting paint on his belly so I told him he should try to put it from his belly onto the paper...he thought that was funny but he tried it anyways. They had forks and straws, some sponges, and one paintbrush. They had so much fun. He was blue from the waist down, plus his belly and a little on the back. Ally kept her painting to her ankle then decided to spread it up her whole leg eventually. It was fun and a great success, I think I can do this more the mess really wasn't so bad!

Beautiful Butterflies

We went outside today to enjoy some of the warm weather and let the kids ride their bikes. While sitting and watching the kids I noticed my Cat Mint bush COVERED in these little butterflies. There were at any given time more than 20 or so. I pointed them out to the kids and they were as fascinated as I was. We sat and watched them for awhile, then I tried to catch some pictures of them. Here are some of the better ones. Enjoy!

Hot Air Balloons!

Tonight we went to the Art and Air Festival in Albany, at Timber Linn Park. We got there and went to the kids area first. They kids got to play with bubbles for awhile and then Ally decided she wanted to work on a fish windsock.

So Ally and I went over to color while Dylan proceeded to go through the kiddie maze for about 15 minutes straight. Then he came over with Daddy to color his own fish windsock.

Ally finished while Dylan was still coloring and she decided to make herself a necklace. She did very well with threading the beads onto the string! Then back to the maze a few more times together. After we left the kiddie area Daddy took the windsocks to the car and was going to get the blanket and his chair to claim our spot for the Night Glow and laser light show. Ally, Dylan, and I went to get a bottle of water and then on to the playground area to meet up with Daddy. After playing for a bit, we decided to go and check out the rest of the art fair displays. We meandered for awhile then went back to the playground to play a little more. After playing on the over-full playground a little more we decided to go find our seats and get ready for the night glow show. The Night Glow was awesome. They had 6 Hot Air Balloons that they blew up and kept tethered to the ground and they kept firing them up to light up the area....the kids LOVED it!

They would do a countdown from 5 and Ally when everyone else got to 2 she would yell blast off! It was adorable! She was positively glowing the whole night! The laser light show was cool, but it was getting late and the kids were sleepy so we decided it was time to head home. Holy traffic trying to get out of there! But we survived and got the kids home and in bed and they were both asleep within 5 minutes.....like I said it was late! Here is the link to the festival....if you want more info!

http://www.cityofalbany.net/parks/nwaaf/

Home Sweet Home

We made it home safe and sound. We spent the night last night in Redding, California. Woke up grabbed some breakfast and made our way home to Albany. At one rest area we stopped at to have a bathroom break this woman kept looking at me, but I was trying to hurry Dylan along so I didn't think much of it. As I was loading the kids in the car, this same woman came over carrying an outfit. She told me they were on a really long road trip and she had tried to put her son in this outfit and he refused to wear it. She was wondering if I would like it for Dylan, she was trying to make more room in her car for all the inevitable road trip car stuff. So Dylan has a new summer outfit for next summer. We made it! Now to get some sleep! Talk to you all soon!!!

Coming Home

We leave today at noon and head towards home. We will stop to sleep for the night somewhere North of Sacramento. Then pick up in the morning and head back to our small town of Albany. I tell you I truly believe that there are more cars in the LA area then all of Oregon! It will be nice to be home but we will miss our time here is California where the beach is 5 minutes away! It has been fun! But we are ready to see Daddy and our friends at home. We love you all! And a HUGE THANK YOU to Natalie and the boys for all their hospitality!

Where we have been staying

We are staying in Oceanside California on the Camp Pendleton Military Base. Here are some pictures from around the house. Here is a picture of the "bus" as the boys call it, that has been our transportation for the week.Here is the living room.Here is the kitchen and dining room.And here is where the kids have slept. Ally has been sleeping in Joey's crib and Dylan has been using Eli's bed. IN THE SAME ROOM! This is amazing to me!

For the first few days this was my bed, but the last couple nights I blew up the air mattress and set it up in the room the kids are in to be where they are in case they wake up and need me.

Shopping, Beach and BOOGIE BOARDING!!!!

So this morning we continued our search for a Goodwill to peruse....to no avail. We found where it used to be...and it no longer is. Oh well, so we headed off to Michael's to browse for things we couldn't live without and to try and find a frame for Natalie's poster. I found the kids each a puzzle to work on and a couple stocking stuffers...I know.....groan....oh well deal with it! Then we thought we would hit Ross and then make it back home. There were so many things that I loved but didn't NEED. So they were left....I did happen to find a couple shirts and a Veggie Tales DVD for the ride home. Ok time to head home for a quick nap and then lunch and onto the beach. So we took both cars so we could take the boogie boards. We get there and the kids are playing in the sand and we are getting set up and organized. After a bit Natalie's friend Cabe and his roommate Kyle showed up and decided to take the boogie boards out with Noah and Isaac. After a bit Natalie's decided to go and steal a board away from one of the guys and catch some waves. I was watching baby Joey sleep and keeping an eye on the other kids playing in the sand. After a bit Natalie came back and then I decided to go for it and went out to catch some waves. It was awesome!!!!!! You just walk out to where the waves are crashing turn your back to the wave and jump on the board and hang on for a great ride! I loved it I really want to go again...hopefully I will get to one more time before I go home. We wrapped up our time at the beach with Cabe and Kyle helping all the kids dig a giant "hot tub" in the sand. They had a blast playing in the sand and it was a fabulous day! Sorry about no pictures this time I totally spaced on bringing my camera cause we were in such a hurry to get out and enjoy the sun! Until next time.

Shopping and Organizing

We decided this morning to go out to try and find a Goodwill and some other stores to visit. We got lost....and we had a TomTom...but to our defense we had the wrong address. Which we discovered later. So we went off to another interesting looking store to peruse and decided if there was anything we could not live without. We did happen to find some items for projects to keep us entertained. So by the time we finished out shopping and perusing it was late and the kids were getting cranky and hungry. So we drove to the nearest strip mall to find some food. We happened upon a Red Lobster and I had to run in to check the kids menu to make sure there was something my picky little eaters would eat. There was hooray! So after a truly delicious lunch of Salmon, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and cheddar bay biscuits with a ceasar salad, we decided it was to late to try to find any other stores and made our way back home to put a couple kids down for a nap and the let the other ones play. Then we tackled the garage for organizing. My forte! I love love love love love organizing! We punched it out in about 2 hours. Go us! Other than that we just hung out this evening trying to wind down and get the kids into bed at a decent hour tonight. So they are down and we are going to settle in with a DVD and our projects. Have a good night all!

Artsy Pics From Today

Here are some of my artistic pictures from today.....I love them...hope you will too!

A Day on the Beach

Today we went down to spend some time on the beach. There was a MASS-3 Beach Party for the unit that Natalie's husband Jake is a part of. So we stopped by there for some free grub and horrible rap music. After making appearances we went back to the car and loaded ourselves down with beach gear and went to find us a little piece of beach for ourselves to claim for a few hours. The kids had a BLAST!!! They played in the water and dug in the wet sand, playing together well and having fun. Noah and Isaac were playing sink or float....where they see if they sand toys will sink or float in the waves coming in. The verdict is in they floated! Dylan is my afraid of water child and he was splashing and running and jumping in the ocean. There were a few sailboats out in the ocean, lots of boogie boarders and a few surfers. It was a beautiful day cloudy and on the verge of being muggy but not quite....great for splashing around in the water. In total there were at least 5 sandcastles built and two pretty deep holes dug....a success in any ones book!