june

We have had only a few days of summer so far this year- the sunny days quickly turn back into spring clouds and chills. But Oregon has beautiful Septembers, and we don't miss the three digit temperatures and humidities of the east coast too much! Some pictures of what we've been up to recently.

photo shoot

Heather's family had the boys over while I was in Virginia. And on top of feeding and entertaining them, Heather once again took some great shots of the boys. She really captures their energy and spark in her pictures. How lucky we are to have her recording Ben's life!

(all photos credited Heather Stokes)

san diego

Owen has wanted to visit his "home town" for a long time. Traveling logistics seem to be exponentially more difficult with Ben added to the family, but he's getting older and San Diego seemed manageable. Plus I had work to do in LA and San Diego, and bringing the family made me feel a little less guilty.

If you are reading this and we didn't call you or visit you- please know that we had good intentions. Unfortunately the trip ended a little more abruptly than expected since I had to leave after two days to go back to Virginia. We had good intentions to call you, and will be back in San Diego soon!

We spent the first day at Sea World along with a majority of the population of this country. It was packed! I do not think I've ever been in such a big parking lot and parked so far away from an entrance. Both boys love the orca show- Owen because of the orcas, Ben because of the sea gulls (ducks!) flying around. We took our tired family on a brief tour of PB afterward, visiting our old house with overgrown grass, the boardwalk and the pier.

The next day we enjoyed Lego Land. Less crowded, and Owen loved the mini-Lego cities- we spent most of the day staring at them, plus rode a couple of fun rides.

The boys stayed with their dad for a couple more days before flying back to Oregon so that they could see the San Diego Zoo. I think Owen now has some good memories of his home town to go along with all the pictures and stories he's seen and heard about San Diego.

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.