owen likes camping, ben likes dogs

OK, I don't know where time has gone. May seemed not to even exist. But I have photographic evidence that it did.

Susie and I went to Virginia to see my dad for a long weekend in May, and Grandma Sally came out to visit the boys. The boys loved showing her all their favorite things and games, and they had a fun trip to the Oregon Zoo.

Richard and Owen practiced camping in the backyard in the McManus Condo-Tent (complete with closet) and then took their first away from home camping trip of the year to Champoeg State Park. They rode their bikes, grilled hot dogs, and had a wonderful time. Turns out Owen sleeps great in the tent. Richard has a little harder time, but is a good sport.

Ben keeps growing- he's passed the 35 pound mark and not yet 18 months. He loves to laugh and play chase. He loves bubbles and dogs and ducks and his brother. He has mastered lots of the farm animal sounds (an important learning milestone- will help him later with Calculus).

happy birthday laurel

Laurel turned 4 on Saturday. Her party was at KidSpirit- a gymnastics class for 20 friends. Owen and Ben had a blast playing on the equipment. We enjoyed cake at the center and a second helping later at Susie's house. It was a fun day with the Muhly's.

Sunday was Easter. The bunny brought baskets in the morning, and the mommy hid eggs after Mass. We had an early dinner with the Muhly's and enjoyed Grandma Sally's Easter toys.

the boys in march (and january)

I now need to import photos from my Nikon D40, Richard's Nikon CoolPix, and both of our iphones. I forgot about one of the cameras and didn't post our picture from Seaside in January. We haven't been completely hibernating since Christmas, though it feels like it. We took a wonderful 3 day trip to Seaside and enjoyed the empty beach and boardwalk, with much credit going to the suite with a door to Ben's room. We got the courage to do an overnight trip when Ben fell asleep at our friend's house on New Years Eve in the Pack-and-Play. Seaside was so successful we went to Sun River with friends for a long weekend- no McManus's skiing, but we did take one turn tubing and enjoyed the time away and the company.

We also took lots of weekend day trips- the aquarium, Evergreen museum, and Portland a few times. Lori Books and her kids came for a fun long weekend in March.

On top of iphones, we converted to a Mac during Christmas break. The monitor is larger than our television and I am very happy with the switch. The quad picture of Owen and I was from us playing around with it's "photo booth."

The boys enjoy each other so much. Ben gets up first in the morning, and after eating, he toddles down the hall to wake up his big brother with massive full body pounding and hugging. Ben's favorite activity is anything Owen is doing- and now Ben mostly can keep up or climb up to do it. They both eat at the island for snacks- Ben's so proud to be sitting next to his brother on a stool. Owen loves the attention even if he doesn't always want his toys messed up by Ben, and loves the hugs.

rockets

Stomp rockets on a warm February day. Laurel and Owen had a blast...

hat! dog!

It's been a busy and fun 2 plus months since the last post. Ben seems to have changed a lot since the break- he's more vocal now and moving in 3-d (meaning he's now a climber- onto the tables, beds, stairs). He loves to go outside to play, particularly with balls and bubbles. He loves dogs and hats and anything his brother is doing. We spent yesterday afternoon at a park in Portland, harassing every dog owner so Ben could talk to their cute pooch. He has a smile that is huge and contagious, and gives wonderful hugs.

ben turns one!

What an amazing year it's been! We celebrated Ben's first birthday at the end of our long Christmas vacation.

Ben is now 28 pounds and 33 inches. He walks, tries to run to keep up with Owen, and has a few words- Mom, Dad, bye, baa (when he sees a sheep), book, something like brother, bottle. He still likes to eat, but what he likes keeps changing. He's sleeping good at night- up to 12 hours- and enjoys his naps. He love hugging us, and grabbing his brother. His favorite toys are anything Owen is playing with, cell phones, and blue blankie.

We had a little birthday party, which I think he enjoyed. Owen helped me make and decorate cupcakes, which Ben ate very delicately- not much to clean up, surprisingly.