summer time!

The weekend before school ended, the cub scout pack made their annual trip to Thompson Lake.  Ben and I decided to join in on the second night of the weekend camp. Thompson Lake is a private campground owned by a timber family.  The lake was small enough to paddle across, which the boys did many many times.  It also was teaming with newts.  Four other families and their boys were with us and everyone had a great- and muddy- time.  Ben did great camping and proved to us that we could do a longer trip later in the summer.

Owen finished first grade, and he and Richard did their third annual Champoeg camping trip.  They brought their bikes and pedaled all around, to the museum and to ice cream.  All reports are that they had a blast.

Ben said goodbye to the Monroe Center, and his good friends there, Valerie and Natalie.  The boys stayed home over the summer with Lindsey, a teacher from Monroe Center.  The three of them had a great summer and went on lots of adventures around Corvallis, including hunts for construction equipment, which the boys lovingly call Mighty Machines.  The themes of the summer were Pirates and Mighty Machines.

Richard and Owen planted a garden again this year, and it was productive all summer, with beautiful berries and veggies to keep the boys snacking while they played in the yard.  Both boys would walk over, grab a leaf of kale, and munch on it while playing on the swings.  The last picture is the boys putting on a magic show for us.

end of may

Owen and Richard had a wonderful year with their Cub Scout troop, and both of them bridged to Wolf's in May.  The same troop is together this Fall, a trio of high energy boys (with a high energy leader).  Owen earned a number of badges and belt loops last year, and several more this summer (including the fishing belt loop and pin with Grandpa George).

My dad visited at the end of May and we and the Muhly's made a coast safari, staying at two different coast hotels to enjoy the pools and the coast.  Some cool sailing ships came to port while we were there, and we all enjoyed touring them.  One of them had been used in filming Pirates of the Caribbean, and this ignited all new interest in both boys about pirates which lasted all summer.  Ben is going to be a pirate for Halloween and both have awesome pirate accents.  Ben's favorite pirate: Captain Jack Sparrow, of course.

Before he left, we had a little birthday party for my dad, and then sent him back to Virginia where we'd follow him in less than a month.

anachronistic may

I have not been good this year about maintaining the blog.  And the longer I wait, the more overwhelming it feels.  So... here we go again.  I did a post for Owen's birthday in July, but missed May, June and the rest of July including our trip east.  So lets go back in time, shall we?  I am sure I've missed all sorts of awesome milestones and cuteness from the kids, but at least we have pictures!!

May 2012... Ben is still at Monroe Center, Owen is in First grade.  It's starting to get warmer, though we will still have grey rainy days till July (but we don't know that yet, so have reason to be optimistic).  The original Condo Tent got a leak last year, so we made a Costco run and got the new and improved Condo Tent XL.  The boys were VERY excited.  Richard was less than excited about wrangling a new tent, but it turned out to be quite easy.  We did a trial run in the back yard, which resulted in Owen and I getting cold and coming in half way through the night.

The morning after our night in the tent, I flew to Dusseldorf, Germany for Drupa, a big printing trade show. This trade show takes place only once every four years and is the biggest show for industrial printing.  I failed to take any pictures of our booth (or of me looking super professional in my new suits) but our newest press, the T400, was there and put on an excellent performance.  For 3 days I worked the booth and walked the 20 buildings that made up the tradeshow, and ate delicious food each night.  When the show finished, I got on the train and headed to Munich to visit with my cousin, Mallorie and her fiance Fred.  Mallorie and Fred showed me Munich for a couple of days, visiting great beer gardens, some beautiful buildings and parks, and some great food.  It was great to catch up with her, learn about her work and Fred's work, and learn about Munich.  It was a beautiful city.  I also had a quest for Germany's best pretzel, and think I found it at the beer garden with the deer.

party time

Owen choose an airplane theme for his 7th birthday party.  Richard found the paperware online and Bursts made chocolate airplanes for the cupcakes.  We hung up planes over the table outside and I made a watermelon airplane bowl.  Richard came up with some games- flying planes through a hoop, make your own stomp rockets, and throwing parachute guys at a targets.

Owens friends from school came as well as our family friends.  Unfortunately Susie and Laurel were sick so they missed the party.   We all had a great time playing in the backyard, the playrooms and the new sandbox, throwing planes and parachutes.  The cupcakes made everyones faces and fingers a lovely shade of blue.  It was great for Owen to get to spend time with his school friends again, since they haven't seen each other since June.  All in all, a successful celebration to ring in a new year of Owen.

owen turns 7!

Yes, it has been 3 months since my last post, and lots has happened between end of April and end of July.  However, I'm going to post his birthday pictures, then I'll go backwards and post the rest of spring and early summer.  I was going to be so on top of things this year....

Owen turned seven on Friday.  He opened his gifts from family before breakfast.  I took the day off of work and the two of us went on the adventure of his choice: the Evergreen Aviation Museum and water park.  We spent the morning at the aviation museum, home of the Spruce Goose, and ate lunch there.  Then onto the water park for an afternoon of swimming in the wavepool.  After a few hours we were both wiped out and headed back home.  Richard and Ben met us at home and he got to open our gifts, have a pizza dinner, and ice cream cake desert with the Muhly's.

We had a wonderful day and are amazed at the growth of our little (and now not so little) boy.

Owen at 7, in his words:
Favorite color: Purple
Favorite Wii game: Wii sports resort and Pirates of the Caribbean
Favorite Food: Pepperoni Pizza
Favorite school subject: science
Favorite activity: playing wii and launching rockets
Favorite airplane: Boeing 747
Favorite place to visit: Virginia and Vermont
Favorite sport: biking
Favorite book: Owen
Favorite chapter book: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator

Owen at 7, in my words:
Owen continues to have his essential Owen-ness, and has grown a lot this year, being more outgoing and willing to try some new things.  He loves doing the Cub Scout activities- camping, canoeing, hiking, day camp.  He loves going on bike rides with his dad, helping in the garden and his swimming lessons.  He continues a 6 year obsession with airplanes and rockets.  He and Ben bicker over toys and rules but are also great friends, and Ben helps bring out his silly side.  Owen is always learning new and interesting things, asking questions until he figures things out and then remembers all the details.  Like his dad, he enjoys reading non-fiction, though he loved getting introduced to Raul Dahl this year.  He just lost 2 more teeth, with his front ones growing in and threatening a need for orthodontia.  He keeps growing, now in boys medium clothes and his first pair of tie sneakers (nike's).  Owen is our special 7 year old and we are always proud of him.