Our Middle boy is 4!!!

Today we celebrated Colty's birthday with cake and ice cream. The boys were so excited to get the transformers off the cake they could hardly handle it. Tanner kept telling me he just couldn't wait. We invited our friends the Webb's over, and then we went bowling. (I took my camera, but accidentally left it in the car.) We signed our kids up for kidsbowlfree.com and so all we paid for was shoes. It was fun, but I think next time we will leave the babies home, or at least not go at bedtime.

Colty has been talking about all the things he will do now that he is 4. Mostly things he will eat now - strawberries, grapes, corn, apples, watermelon, oranges - but he will not eat jam until he is 5. I sure hope he sticks to it - it would be nice if he would try a few new foods!

Happy birthday big boy! We love having you in our family.

The highlight of our trip

Sunday we woke up to celebrate Colty's #4 birthday, and Father's Day. After an in-room breakfast we opened presents. Colty was excited for his new Book of Mormon, abc game, and towel and ball game from Grandma and Grandpa Peterson. He also got a cowboy hat! Daddy got a new belt and new garments. Then we loaded up and headed to the coast. It was so weird to me that Tillamook is surrounded by beautiful green mountains, and the coast is only 9 miles from there. You would never know it was that close. We were all so excited to see the ocean that we could hardly handle the 9 miles of winding roads that got us there. We all loved it!!
The beach we went to was called Oceanside. It wasn't a very warm day, although we have been told that is par for the course. It kind of misted on us the whole time, and at the very end started to rain, so we left. Colty loved drawing in the sand. It was kind of disappointing that his drawings didn't last long because the sand was so wet.Tanner loved finding sea shells. We didn't find many that were full shells, but we got lots of pretty ones that are broken. I was surprised how many sand dollars there were, and I had really hoped the we would find a full one, but we never did. Tanner decided the beach looked like sand with blueberries on it. It really did.Braden loved being there too. He got cold after digging in the sand, so I just ended up carrying him the last while.We walked over to the big rock and found it covered in muscles. It was kind of cool. Dave loved taking pictures. I think this is the first time he has used our camera :) It was just so peaceful and wonderful. I know the beach was the highlight of our trip for everyone.
Then we drove 2 miles to Cape Meares and enjoyed the lighthouse and the view. Someone shot the lighthouse windows in January so we couldn't walk to the top, but it gave us a good reason to discuss why we shouldn't ruin things just for fun. Then the boys and I walked to Octopus tree. It was an interesting growth, and Tanner informed me that I take too many pictures. Maybe so, but there were times when I decided that we didn't even need a camera, because my heart took a picture and I would remember moments of our trip forever. I hope the boys took 'heart pictures' too.
It was a 6 hour drive home, but with lots of treats and with only 2 potty stops we all did pretty good. Braden got a bit restless at times, but he also took a really good nap. We had such a wonderful time! I can't wait to do it again.

Tillamook

From the zoo we went to Tillamook, about an hour or so drive. We enjoyed the beautiful green and yellow fields around us, and then had a good time at the cheese factory. You can look through big windows to see them making and processing the cheese, but everyone had gone home for the day when we got there, so we could just see the equipment. Did you know it takes 10 lbs (1.16 gallons) of milk to make a pound of Tillamook cheese? We then went to a restaurant for dinner, then back for ice cream cones. Tillamook ice cream is the best!!

Oregon Zoo

We got up on Saturday to an overcast day, got ready and went to the Oregon Zoo. When I looked up the prices, we decided that they weren't too bad, but once we got there, and add the train ride and the dino park and everything else, it takes a bite out of the old wallet. But it was so worth it!! Then, I brought all the stuff to make sandwiches, except bread, so we had to buy hotdogs too. Bummer. But Dave and I enjoyed watching the boys discover the beautiful creatures on the earth, and although it was a long day, it never did rain on us, and it wasn't too hot. It was a perfect day! I only took like 60 pictures or something, so here are some of the highlights:

The Dinosaur park: they had robotic dinos that moved and roared and spit. They were kind of scary, notice the white knuckle grip...
Dave was a little annoyed that there was a farm section at the zoo, but the goats were fun to pet.

Our little eagletts in the eagle's nest.
I love the elephants. The baby elephant would pick up the hay and dip it in the water before eating it. We decided he is just like our kids that like to dip their food in ketchup before eating it.
Did you know that lions sleep/rest 20 hours each day? Makes them kind of boring to look at.
I think everyone's favorite as feeding the Lorikeets. We were really hoping they would hop onto our shoulder or hand, but at least we got them to drink our "nectar" (apple juice) from our cups.

Then we rode the train. It took us out of the zoo and through beautiful green forest and then back. It was about a 35 minute ride and was delightful.Dave wasn't sure it was a good idea to take the bike trailer as our stroller, but it ended up being one of my better ideas, and even Dave acknowledged how great it was.
Do you like our new shirts?

A weekend away

Dave had Friday off, since he worked the previous weekend, so we escaped and went on a weekend trip. We left Friday morning and got as far as Portland. We stopped at Multnomah Falls and had a wonderful time looking at the falls, hiking in the beautiful greenery, and spending time together.



We stopped on the way at a view point, and as I looked out my window at this view, Dave and the boys looked out the other windows and stared in amazement at this view.We got to Troutdale and walked around the outlet malls, bought some new frying pans (yipee!!) and got the boys new jammies and shirts. Then we ate at Burger Ville in Gresham, and then found our hotel. We were staying at Days Inn, and I wrote down the address to the wrong one, so that gal called the other Days Inn, confirmed our reservation and then told us how to get there, but somehow she didn't know her lefts from rights, and told us to turn left when we should have turned right, and right when we should have turned right, so we had a nice tour of that whole side of town. When we finally arrived we had a fun time in the swimming pool, then relaxing and eating popcorn in our room. Everyone slept well, which was awesome!!

Cherry Pickin

One of our friends have a neighbor with a big beautiful cherry tree that they just let go to waste. So, we went over and picked cherries. I bought myself a fantastic cherry pitter, which worked wonderfully. It put an X in one end and a hole in the other, like an olive. Perfect for a little thumb.I made us some cherry pie filling, and then yummy treats. Even Dave was happy!