Catching up...again!

I need a clone.  Then I wouldn't get so far behind on updating my blog.  It has been nearly a month and a half since I even last looked at this blog...so much to catch up on.  I'm going to hit the highlights of the last month and a half really fast!

We went to Bear Lake in late July to celebrate my parent's 40th wedding anniversary.  We (I mean my parents) rented a house at a complex that had a pool, mini-golfing, bball, tennis, huge green spaces for football/soccer games, bike paths, and beach access.  It was the perfect place for all of the kids to have something to do.  We spent most of the time at the lake or at the pool...we even rented wave runners for a couple of hours, which was the highlight of the trip for the kiddos.  We spent 3 days there, and it was a really fun trip!

Our "camp" set up on the lake...

 Uncle Kyle with most of the cousins

 Ry playing on the beach.

 Bailey being Bailey!

 Cory taking the girls out on the wave runner.

 Riley and I...Ry liked to go way too fast for me!

 Riley and Collin...the kids had a great time digging holes and making lakes and rivers on the beach.

 The slide at the pool was a favorite of the kiddos...here's Bailey coming down the slide.

 The fam on the beach.

The day after we got home from Bear Lake Riley had her first day of third grade (we are on year-round school here, so the school year started on July 25th).  I can't believe I have a third grader!!  Where does the time go?  Ry is in class with several of her friends this year, and many more girls from the neighborhood are on her same track (which means they have vacation at the same time).  What a cute third-grader!

Zane had is 15-month check-up at the end of July, too.  Everything checked out great with him, and here are his stats:

Height:  33.75 inches - 97th percentile

Weight: 27 lbs - 95th percentile

Head Circum: - 19.25 inches  - 92nd percentile.  

Z is still taking two naps a day, thankfully.  Though he wasn't sleeping through the night at 15 months, he now is (THANK GOODNESS!!!!).  He still eats like a champ, and has taking quite the liking to his bottle...right about the time I should be taking it away.  Oh well...my other kids still had a bottle until 18 months or so, and they are still alive and doing just fine!  He LOVES his daddy, and wants to be wherever Cory is.  I think it is adorable, and Cory likes being with is little guy, too.  We sure do love this little man!!

On August 2nd we celebrated Bailey's half-birthday (you know, half-way to her next birthday).  we celebrated with pizza for dinner, half of a cake for dessert, and a few little presents.  She thought it was the BEST thing ever.  I just hope I don't forget when the other kids' half-birthdays roll around.

In early August we headed out for our final road trip of the summer (the 4th!).  The kids and I, along with my sister Kacey and her son loaded into the van to head up to Oregon to visit my grandparents who live on the coast.  My parents and other sister also headed up at the same time.  We make a pit stop on the way in my hometown.  We drove by all of the houses we lived in, along with dad's grocery store (which has since gone out of business...kind of sad).  We also went to church in our old ward, and it was fun to see lots of old friends.

The house I grew up in..the new owners have cut down a HUGE pine tree that was in the front yard...makes the house look a lot different.

 Molalla Thriftway...now out of business.  Sad.  I spent MANY hours in that place...I wish we could have walked through one more time.

 Our first house in Molalla...the new owners cut down the tree I planted in the front yard.  Other than the brown yard, the place didn't look too bad.

Here is our second house in Molalla...we did NOT put up that stupid fence.  Time has not served this little house well...Here it is now:

And here it is when we lived there...looks better when we were there, for sure!

We also stopped at the Portland Temple to show the kids where we got married.

After our pit stop (which was actually an over-night stop) we headed to Grandpa Fred's and Grandma Patty's house.  We spent two days with them, and crammed a lot of fun into our short time there.  We went to Cannon Beach and to our favorite seafood place, Mo's.  We played at the beach twice (and it wasn't exactly warm either time).  We had s'mores on the front porch, we to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, and just spent time hanging out.  We were busy while we were there!

Here we are at Mo's...

 Z LOVED the clam chowder...but then again, the kid never met something he wouldn't eat.

Good thing we didn't expect to have nice weather at the beach...it was windy and kind of chilly.  But that didn't stop the kids from getting into the FREEZING cold water to play.  

 I know I said it was kind of chilly, but apparently other people thought it was down-right frigid.  

 Bayz may hate me for it, but I just HAD to post this picture...Bailey got her jeans wet in the ocean, and they just wouldn't stay up after that.  I wonder if she noticed a little breeze on her backside...

 Ry and her cousin buried in the sand...they had to keep their eyes squeezed shut so the sand didn't blow into them...it was WINDY!

 Z loved the beach!  

The Tillamook Cheese Factory is right down the road from Grandpa's house...it is always a favorite place to go when we visit the coast.

 Mimi and Papa

 The kids in the Tillamook Cheese VW van

 Riley, Bailey, and Brody watching the workers package cheese.

Z had to stay strapped in his stroller at the cheese factory, so it was not his favorite place!

This picture cracks me up...I'm not sure exactly what was going on here, but it looks to me like Bailey was showing Grandpa how to use the iPhone.

 Gramps and the kiddos.

 Making s'mores on the front porch.

It was a fun trip!

Right after we got back from Oregon it was time to celebrate Riley's 9th birthday.  Yep, 9.  How is it possible I have a 9-year old?  We celebrated with a party in the backyard for Ry and her friends (we rented an inflatable water slide and bouncy house...it was awesome!), I took her Panda Express to school for lunch, she got to pick where to go out to dinner (she chose Sizzler), and we had a family party later that weekend.  Ry had been wanting an electric scooter, and that's what she got....along with a new bike helmet to go with it!

Lunch at school...Panda Express beats cafeteria food!

 Here's the new scooter...I hope she doesn't kill herself on it.  

This is the backyard all set up for Riley's bday party.  

 Riley, Bailey, and Cory (and Zane, too, actually) love watching Looney Tunes on YouTube. When Ry saw this cake, she knew it was the one...

And finally, to finish the catching-up, preschool is back in session. Bailey started preschool right after Labor Day.  She is going here at the house, but her class is taught by a friend of mine.  Bailey is gone three mornings a week...and it is strange having her gone.  Probably because the house is so quiet when she is at school.  Zane is still taking a morning nap, so I usually have an hour of complete silence on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.  She is loving her class and can't wait to go on her school days! Oh, and I LOVE this picture...it is so Bailey!