September

We are so ready for fall and cooler weather. So in an attepmpt to coax fall along I found a super yummy recipe for pumpkin waffles... They are a new favorite! It's hard to believe that the summer is pretty much over. So many things that we had fun doing and still so many things we didn't get to do....

Over Labor Day weekend we made a quick daytrip up to Shaffer Butte above Bogus Basin to enjoy some sunshine and a little day hike. We haven't done much "hiking" with the little guy but we did have a kiddo carrying backpack. He did pretty well and liked to be up high and see things. He jabbered away for most of the hike. He was pretty tired near the end and tried to climb out a few times, thank goodness for buckles that he can't undo. :)

Thatcher was able to come to work with me on a Friday for a few hours to get a few things done. He hasn't been in for a while and thought it was pretty fun to sit in the big chairs and walk around with mommy and help send faxes.

We have started a little sticker chart for Thatcher with a few age appropriate "chores". It is mostly so we are better about involving him in things and teaching him to help a bit. Things like cleaning up toys, laundry helper (he loves moving clothes from the washer to the dryer), feeding Jack and reading books. His reward for a full sticker chart this week was to pick out a balloon at Zurchers. This kid loves balloons. He can spot a balloon from a mile away and always finds them in the rafters at the store when they have escaped.

We were able to participate in the Fit One 5k this year. My mom was supposed to go with us but she ended up with a meeting that morning so one of my friends snagged her number and we took our little guys with us. Since we were in the family stroller wave we weren't allowed to run (I was totally okay with that- I didn't do much "training" beforehand). We walked the course in about an hour. No too shabby. We also met up with some of my family members who get together every year. It was fun to reconnect with family and friends and Thatcher loved watching all the people and other kids. He did great!

Thatcher and I try to take walks in the evenings around the neighborhood. This night all the little birds were lined up on the roof tops. It was like they were rehersing for something. Thatcher thought it was pretty funny. He also has decided that he is big enough to "walk" Jack and insists on holding his leash while he rides in the stroller. Sometimes I remember to clip two leashes on so we can each have one.

We have been looking for a kiddo table and chairs for awhile. Thatcher loves to sit in chairs his size and is getting to the age of wanting to color more and more so we thought a space just his size would be great. I saw this cute table and two chairs at a consignment sale and snagged it. Thatcher loves eating his snack at the little table and tries to convince me to let him eat dinner there too. It is so fun to watch him grow!

I have been working on a project in our living room the past week or two. I was putting up some shelving and turned around to find that Thatcher was sitting on the table and had emptied my purse and the diaper bag. He thought it was pretty fun!

Silly boy was snuggled up with us watching a movie, and insisted on having both binkies so daddy showed him how to get both of them in his mouth. Thatcher thought is was funny and would laugh, making both of them fall out, then he would try to get them back in.

Here is our newest project! There is this little bump out in our living room that we have been trying to figure out what to do with since we moved in. We have had two bookshelves there for the past couple of years but it really wasn't that functional. We are also wanting to transition Thatcher into his "big boy" room next year which means I need to clear out all of our office supplies/craft things. So we came up with this little built in "office". Our house has hardly any storage- just one teeny linen closet in the hallway. So we were happy to fit in some cupboards and shelves. Now to finish clearing out the rest of the room...

August

August was a busy month for us... I didn't pack the camera around but I was able to load pictures from my phone! :) They loaded out of order though and I can't get them organized so here is our jumbled month...

Thatcher loved watching the crazy rain out the back window.

We met up with Grammy and Don, Grandpa and Grandma Beal and Uncle Jeff's family at Ann Morrison Park to watch the end of the Balloon Classic. They had a fun night glow program. Thatcher wasn't sure what to think about the balloons at first but he loved them by the end of the night and liked watching all the people with glow sticks. I picked up a bunch of glowing things at the dollar store before we got there so the kids were happy to have them to play with and it helped us keep track of them in the dark.

Aaron was recognized at a special banquet at work with a handful of other co-workers. He called it the "TMobile Prom" we dressed up all fancy and enjoyed a night out at the Grove for the banquet and dancing. Aaron surprised me with a hotel room at the Grove too! We haven't been away together in a long time and it was perfect to just walk up to our room when the party was over. Thatcher and Grammy had a fun slumber party at home.

Thatcher loves his little car. Everytime we go out to the garage he tries to climb in. He finally figured out how to go forward instead of just backwards.

We found this awesome bike trailer on craigslist this spring and Thatcher is really enjoying bike rides around the neighborhood. We can't wait to take it to the green belt and maybe camping.

A little snap shot from one of our Sunday drives. I don't even remember where this was :)

Thatcher and Jack enjoying the last of the summer sun. We didn't let the water sit and warm up for long so it took a little getting used to. Thatcher loves to splash and thought it was pretty fun to slide into the pool. Jack stayed in the water for about 5 seconds before jumping out and hiding on the patio.

July

July was a month full of outings and adventures and somehow not many pictures... On the fourth we hung around home and then drove over to watch the fireworks being done at the Meridian Speedway. It's nice to just pull into the parking lot and see the fireworks from the comfort of the car or lawn chair. It was pretty dark when we got there, Thatcher was a trooper and snuggled up in my lap and liked watching the fireworks. On some of the bigger ones we could feel them boom too.

Eagle Fun Days was moved to July this year instead of the first weekend of June. We walked to the parade from Grammy's house and Grandpa and Grandma Beal joined us. Thatcher liked watching the parade go by. There weren't as many parade participants and I had remembered in years before. We wandered around the booths and tents for a while before heading back to Grammy's for a fun BBQ with Grandpa and Grandma Beal, Grammy and Don and Marley the puppy.

Cocoa had surgery and was sporting her "cone of shame" which made her quite the menace around the picnic tables.

Grandpa and Grandma Beal

Don and Grammy

Puppy Marley

For Father's Day Thatcher gave Aaron a Smores kit and we hadn't had a chance to use it so we used Grammy's fire pit and everyone enjoyed smores for dessert. Thatcher loved them! He watched intently as we roasted a marshmallow for him then he would try and steal bites from everyone.

Thatcher and Jack are becoming best friends. Jack loves to lay in the sun and some days he tolerates Thatcher invading his space. Thatcher laid next to him quietly for a little bit before Jack moved to a different sun spot.

Thatcher's first camping trip!! We decided to make a quick get away to Ponderosa State Park in McCall. My brother, Justin, has been in McCall/Riggins the past six weeks working with the Boy Scouts and he was able to meet up with us and hang out while we were there. Thatcher was pretty excited to see his Uncle Justin. Thatcher loved playing in the sand on the tent pad and throwing rocks across the campsite. We had a great site that was pretty shady and close to the bathrooms and the trail that goes by the lake. We headed into McCall to treat Justin to dinner and walked around a little bit. Thatcher did great sleeping in the tent once the campground quieted down a bit.

Walter the bear went camping with us too- and of course was always close by and getting pretty dirty so we zipped him into Thatcher's jacket. Thatcher loved it!

Thatcher and Uncle Larry playing with the Tonka truck. Pretty sure that truck is older than I am! Thatcher loved being pushed around the yard!

We are loving all the sunshine this summer and spending time outside!

Family Vacation- Oregon

We have been planning for months to take out little family vacation- our first official "just the three of us not visiting or doing anything with anyone else" vacation! To say that we were excited would be a major understatement. We were a bit nervous to be taking a 15 month old on a 6 hour car trip but we did our best to plan ahead and Thatcher did great! We traveled during his nap times and stopped and got out of the car to walk around when he woke up.

Packing central- I taped up our packing list and started hoarding things in a laundry basket probably a month before we left.

On the road!

We stopped here for lunch- I think it was in LaGrande? It was okay food and a good stretch break.

This is a monument/park as you enter the freeway- Thatcher was barking at the pretend cows thinking they were dogs.



We stopped at the majestic Multnomah Falls on our way into Portland. We had to circle the parking lot a few times before a space opened up. It was a busy place the day we stopped in. There were tourists from all over the world there. A very nice lady offered to snap a picture for us after watching us try to wrangle Thatcher and the camera.



The very first place we visited after checking into the hotel- IKEA! I pretty much love that place and we had been making a list of things to get for the past few months. I kept trying to get Aaron to let us ride the train back during the week to just walk around and he wouldn't let me.

While we were in Portland it also happened to be the Rose Festival. It looked crazy busy so we shyed away from most of the activities but we did get to see some of the dragon boat racers warming up while we waited for the OMSI center to open. I wish I had a better zoom so we could see the details on their boats.

Aaron was so excited to see this movie poster- but the show time wasn't until later that afternoon and we wouldn't be able to get back. So a picture of the poster would have to do.

Watching the windmills

Learning about electricity

This was a giant floating globe it was showing weather patterns- pretty cool!

Playing with wind

They had a few fossils to look at- we haven't hit the dinosaur phase yet but Thatcher still thought they were kinda cool

Headed into the kiddo play place

Thatcher played in this hollow log with the acorns for a long time. He didn't care too much about doing anything else.

This was his other favorite- he would hold a ball over the cone and it would float in the air

On our way over to the coast we were able to stop off in Willamina Oregon. A little tiny logging town where my Great- Grandparents Campbell lived. We stopped at the little grocery store in the town to ask for directions to the cemetery. The directions included counting fence posts, watching for a large rock and traveling "so far" down a gravel road. We were happy to find the cemetery and their headstone.

Our first glimpse of the ocean!

Eating lunch at the Newport Aquarium. The kids meal is served on a Frisbee they get to take home.

Thatcher loved watching all of the fish.

There were a few seals and sea lions that were swimming and sunning themselves. They were pretty cute.

The otters were so fun to watch. There were some volunteers standing on the top of the otter enclosure singing the hokey poky and the otters were following along with the actions!

We stopped off in Lincoln City and Depoe Bay to do a little shopping and play by the Ocean. It was crazy windy but not too chilly. Thatcher like to watch the kites and windsocks.

Thatcher loved the beach once we got out on the packed sand where he could run a little better. He wasn't too sure about the waves sneaking up on him but he liked to watch the water and play in the sand. We had to put his binky in because he tried putting sand, rocks, and part of a dead crab in his mouth :) Oh little boys.

Thatchers first train ride! We loved taking the train to the Zoo and into Portland. I was glad that I had some train experience from traveling in London. Thatcher was able to look out the window and watch the world go by and we didn't have to deal with nasty traffic and finding a parking spot. Plus we got a discount on our Zoo admission!

Baby Lily the elephant was pretty cute- we watcher her play for a bit.

We had so much fun on our vacation. Our hotel was a little outside of Portland and close to a good size shopping mall and walking distance to Target. We had a great suite that had a separate bedroom and living area which made sleeping and nap time a lot easier.

If we could convince our extended family to follow us Portland would be a great place to live! We spent our last full day wandering around the city and riding the train. Thatcher is becoming a really great traveler and we look forward to more adventures!