beautiful september

Ben at the fountains- our last trip before they shut them off for the Fall

Ben reading the phone book in the hotel before going to sleep

Ben happy about cake, as usual

Ben, me and Laurel, ready to dig in

Summer is officially over.  Owen is back in school, loving the first grade.  He is on a permanent, excited high from enjoying school so much.  It helps that he loves the teacher and the kids in his class, as well as that they are learning things he loves: last week was all about space.  His reading continues to improve and he is thriving.

The first weekend he went back to school, we all spent Saturday night at the coast.  The beach had a series of dunes from some strong winds, and the boys got out their energy flinging themselves down the banks, over and over.  It was so warm we were able to eat out on the deck- maybe the nicest beach weather we've had since we moved here.  The boys played in the pool, which was the highlight for them.  The highlight for Richard and I was that Ben slept for the first time ever all night in the hotel bed.  He fell asleep before 10:00 and got up after 7.  What a difference a good night sleep makes!

Friday was my birthday.  Susie and Todd took the boys, and Richard and I went up for the night in Portland, and had an amazing dinner in the Pearl District.  Saturday morning we slept in and then walked around the Saturday Market.  The weather was perfect for walking and we have really enjoyed this warm September.  Before getting the kids we took a swing through Corvallis's Fall Festival.  Owen had enjoyed doing a sleep over with Laurel, and Ben had done great with Susie, so all worked out great.  Saturday evening Susie brought over a beautiful cake.  A very fun birthday, and it was our 11th anniversary to boot.

Richard and I spent a little time remembering where we spent the other 10 anniversaries.  It took a while to come up with this list, so I thought I'd document it for posterity:
1st: weekend in Idylwild, CA
2nd: just had gotten Zoie, so dinner with a limo ride
3rd: weekend in Santa Barbara/Herst Castle
4th: weekend on Catalina Island
5th: we knew Owen would be a little baby, so Richard pre-planned a trip to Hawaii in May, then on our anniversary we went to the Prado for dinner while Kristi watched a 2 month old Owen.  We were gone for about an hour...
6th: Overnight at the OR coast, my parents watched baby Owen
7th: Trip to Hood River then weekend in Bend, with Owen
8th: Weekend at Umpqua River, Steamboat Inn
9th: Ben was a baby, so dinner at Magenta
10th: weekend in Ashland

closing out the summer

goats at the Oregon Zoo

T-Rex inspection

fountain at the Oregon Gardens

blackberries at the Farmer's Market

another tooth is gone!!!

We spent the month of August zooming around on bikes- first with training wheels and then without for Owen.  Ben can power up the driveway and speeds right back down it on his bike or on Laurel's trike.  We spent hours in the front yard playing t-ball (our modified front yard version) and in the back yard on the monkey jungle, blowing bubbles, drawing in chalk, and pushing each other in the strollers around the yard.  August was the first full month that felt like summer- and thankfully the sunny warm weather is thus far continuing into September.

We spent a day in Portland looking at beds for Ben then going to the Portland Zoo, where the highlight for the boys was playing with the goats.  We took a trip with Russa and family to the Oregon Gardens- an amazing place that we will be sure to return to.  We made it to the farmers market downtown most Saturday's this summer, where the boys eat massive quantities of berries.

All in all, a wonderful summer for two growing and happy boys.  Today was the first day of first grade for Owen.  After a rocky drop off, the day went great.  10 kids in his class- all familiar faces from last year- and a teacher that we are all thrilled with.  We know Owen will really love first grade and will thrive.

weekend on the coast

Richard ruthlessly outbid the competition at the Zion Auction and won us a weekend at a beachfront house in Waldport.  He scheduled it for his birthday weekend, so we could have an end of summer mini-vacation near home.

The beach house was beautiful- steps from the ocean, with a hot tub on the deck.  They also had fun kids games and a huge video collection, so we were set for the weekend.

We enjoyed spending some time in Waldport, and saw tidepools at Seal Rock nearby.  On the way home we stopped by the aquarium in Newport.

I used the time to get some pictures of the kids.  I have a really great one of Ben, but need to photoshop out the snot first...

party time!

Laurel and Maggie with Playmobile and Bunny

Andrea and Kristi chaperoning

the birthday boy

Henry on the porch

Jackson and Owen dropping parachutes

Laurel and Valerie dancing in the yard

Owen's 6th birthday party wasn't quite as elaborate as his 5th- no big top, no magician.  We figured we have enough stuff around the house that the kids would be entertained.  Lots of friends were traveling that day, but half of Owen's kindergarten class were able to come, plus the Muhly's and the Delos-Reyes'.  We also had surprise guests: Kristi, Jackson, and Henry were in Portland for a race and drove down to join the party.  We decorated the porch with a space theme (and snagged some awesome space shuttle napkins!).  I wasn't completely on my game- the cupcakes were dinosaurs- but they were delicious.  The kids had a great time playing on the swing set, with the trains and in the sprinklers, and it was a really fun, low key day.  Plus, any day we get to spend with Kristi and the boys is extra special!

owen at 6

Birthday morning, my 6 year old helps decorate the cupcakes

and we come in for an assist with the candles

Ben waited all day for a cupcake.  He is not patient when it comes to treats.

My beautiful 6 year old!

after dinner magic show and music

The Outstanding Owen

Owen woke up a six year old, and put on his pj's prior to helping me ice the cupcakes.  I'm glad he put on his clothes without me having to mention it.  Last year after his "sleep in your birthday suit on your birthday" night he wanted to spend breakfast naked too.  I wasn't going to fight him on his birthday morning, but decorating cupcakes naked did seem a little yucky.

Owen had a fun birthday, first celebrating at his summer program, then came home to presents, pizza dinner (the first time he hasn't chosen spaghetti and meatballs since his first birthday), and cake with Susie's and Russa's families.

Owen at 6 is not much different then Owen at 5, still tall for his age and growing seemingly each minute in height and strength.  He wants to learn everything about everything and then teach it back to you.  His favorite toy right now is one from his birthday- an electrical circuit set, from which today he built a radio and it played all afternoon.  He keeps working on his magic tricks, and despite being incredibly shy around new people, he loves to perform.  He and Laurel are fast friends, making up interesting shows for us to watch.  He and Ben are true brothers- Ben most enjoys wrestling Owen to the ground, and Owen enjoys the attention.  Owen has been reading books to Ben, which is great for both of them. Owen enjoys biking more then ever, now without his training wheels, going with Richard around the neighborhood and this weekend all the way to Philomath.  He loves Elvis music, just like his dad, and has some good Elvis moves.  We have Lego kits- and even more post birthday- in every corner of the house which he has become quite independent with building.  He also still enjoys rocket launches- both the stomp and the balloon kind- in the front yard, keeping us running around in the neighbor's yards to find and return.  Obviously he loves camping, and is already planning next year's garden.  He's toothless- one of the front ones seems like it will burst through the gum any day now.

camping in a volcano

Owen atop Eagle Peak with Lake Odell in the background

Owen and Dad on Eagle Peak after lunch

The tram up Eagle Peak, Diamond Peak in the background (snow in July)

Owen above the Lava Butte Cinder Cone

Lava Butte Cinder Cone, looking up at the Fire Lookout

Benham Falls on the Deschutes river

Heading through the Lava field at the Lava Cast Forest

Adventurer O at the Big Obsidian Flow

Owen has grown.  No it's just a tiny tree.

Owen having a blast

The smile says it all

Paulina Lake from the Big Obsidian Flow on the side of Paulina Peak

Owen and Dad having fun

On Paulina Lake with the edge of the caldera in the background

Boating, someone looks happy

Camp just before the tent goes away

Near the end of the month, Owen and Richard went camping again, this time camping in a Volcano!  I'm yielding the keyboard to Richard and Owen to give the details of the trip.

We left on Sunday the 24th of July to head out for a 2 night 3 day stay just southeast of Bend in Newberry Volcanic Monument!  We headed east up into the Cascades and stopped at Willamette Pass for a tram ride up Eagle Peak and a view of the surrounding Cascade mountains and Odell Lake.  We did it twice, once for the ride and view and the second time we returned to the car to get lunch and back to the top to eat it!  After the break we headed over the mountains and down towards our destination, well and then back up again into the mouth of the Volcano.  As we pulled into the camp site, Owen declared  "What are those bugs out there".  I said, "I don't know, let's see when we get out".  They were mosquitos.....large mosquitos.......a lot of very large mosquitos.  We hustled around the campground with clouds of mosquitos tailing us to get a lay of the land and then hustled to the car to head to the local general store for some insect repellent.....aahhhhh!  so good.  After that the rest was awesome.  We settled into camp that first night and enjoyed the stars and watched boats on Paulina Lake.  We set up a campfire that night, that was well not my best effort, but I redeemed myself Monday night.  Anyway we ate hot dogs, sun chips and watermelon and drank chocolate milk and raspberry lemonade.    As twilight faded away somewhere around 10 I fell asleep and Owen watched movies.

Monday was Volcano Day!  We headed to the Lava Lands visitor center early in the morning and saw a movie about lava tubes and then headed to the top of Lava Butte cinder cone.  We walked the rim and looked into the belly of the beast, it flinched.  We then headed back down for further lava filled adventures.  the first stop was the  Lava Tube Caves.  We stopped at the ranger station for a lamp and descended into cool air.  Owen and I walked until we could not see the light from the cave entrance and then headed back.  When we left the cave we had a cool drink and drove off for out next adventure.  We drove 8 miles down a dirt track until we hit "THE LAVA CAST FOREST"  It is a path winding its way through an ancient lava flow.  The lava had flowed through a forest and as it felled trees, cooled around them. As the trees died and decayed,  a cast of the former tree was left.  Owen and I walked around looking for and pointing out the different casts.  After a couple of hours of cast hunting we headed to  Subway, for a very late lunch and headed back to Newberry crater and our camp.  When we got back to the crater we decided to see the last lava flow in Oregon, The Big Obsidian Flow.  Owen was an adventurer as we wound our way through the lava up towards the cinder cone, looking at the different colors of pumice and all of the black obsidian.  On the walk we saw Lost Lake and as we looked out back to Paulina lake, the site of our campsite.  After a long day of volcano hunting, it was now about 8pm, we settled into camp for more hot dogs and watermelon (I had a burger this time), pickles and pudding.   We then sat on the dock as the sun set and turned in for a second night under the stars.

Tuesday..Boat Day.  there were boats for rent at the general store, and Owen wanted to go fast, so we rented a boat with a small outboard motor, and a cooler full of all the necessities: Chocolate milk, sun chips and  granola bars.  we tooled around Paulina Lake for 2 hours scoping out future campsites, so that next time we can see our tent from the lake.  After the fun filled boat ride we headed back to break camp and pack the car.  Three and half hours later we were home.

That was our camping trip.  Awesome!