the FOURTH and our Garden highlights + lake day

The highlight of the annual 4th of July Pet Parade is the flying small dog attached to helium balloons.  This poor dog had shaky legs flying through the air and must be thinking, "Damn, not again?!" But it is quite a sight to see, so I am glad they continued the tradition of joining the parade!

We were all decked out in our red, white and blue and lucked out at the last minute with biking parking and a front row seat to watch the parade.  Then it was off to Drake Park for old fashioned family fun -    complete with three legged races and other kid games for silly prizes like these sweet star sunglasses!  

 

After a mostly unsuccessful rest time at home to prep for the big neighborhood bash at the Donnelly's we loaded up all the kids bikes, dish of food to share and 3 excited kids who were pumped to stay up late to watch the fireworks.  (note to self:  lay off on the pressure to nap before a big night ahead, total backfire)  =-)

We decorated the bikes in red, white and blue stars (Thanks for sending gma linda)!  So cute to see the kids have so much fun racing on the chalk track that was drawn on the road.  There were different heats like peddle bikes in one, push bikes in another even a heat for the dads on kid bikes.

The roadside fireworks were a hit as well.  Thankfully no one lost a thumb or even any eyebrows!

The actual city fireworks were just barely out of view, but the kid dance party on the porch was even better entertainment.

It was a great night with great friends...yay summer!

The summer heat has hit and we are not complaining!  The weekend was packed with water loving activities and our three little fish loved every minute.  Friday was a pool day at Juniper, this was my first time taking all three kids on my own (knowing other friends would be there aided my confidence) and it went really well.  No one was pulled out by a life guard and we even got to take turns going down the big water slide!


Next we were invited to a private community pool in Pronghorn by our friends the Zapps.  What a difference



in private vs public.  Not only did we feel like we were at a fancy resort on vacation, but not having 300 other kids in the pool makes for a much more relaxing experience.  We stayed all day and had a great time.


Then on Sunday we headed to Elk Lake with our little boat and a picnic.  The beach was packed, but we found a great little spot with a picnic table and even a little shade.  Everyone swam and we enjoyed the company of Shawn, Molly and Maggie for the day.  A highlight of the day was when Dave had all the kids in the boat in this little lagoon.  Piper and Maggie had their feet dangling over the side of the boat and when Dave jumped in he knocked Piper and Maggie in unexpectedly as well.  That night before bed, Piper said that was her favorite part of the day.  "I wasn't planning on falling in, but it was fun!" said Piper.  Luckily Maggie packed 10 pairs of clothes because she kept changing outfits, then getting back in the lake to swim, with her tights on and all!  Silly girls!

Our strawberry patch is booming off the hook right now, we are getting loads of berries and loving the after dinner strawberry hunt.  They are all excited about it, but it is funny to watch Jett.  He is all business, probably picks and eats 10 strawberries for every couple that Piper and Calvin find.  They have picked a few pre ripe berries this year, but are pretty good about letting them get red.  Compared to last year I don't think we got one red strawberry because they ate all the white and green berries before they even had a chance to ripen.  

Check the lady bug release in our garden.  We found a few aphids tasting our kale and spinach, so the lady bugs are supposed to rid these pests and what a fun time to be covered and tickled all over by 1500 lady bugs!  Go get em girls!!!

Piper and I went to Soleia's reptile themed bday party!    It was a hit with the kids and parents too!

Our Father's day outing at the lake was a beautiful day.  Everyone swam and got out on the paddle board.  We were even brave enough to get all 5 of us on the board and surprisingly didn't tip! The tent camp out was only somewhat successful, well actually, okay, it was a disaster and not worth rehashing.  But we still hope to try again this summer...seriously missing the RV set up!

David Staley you are a rock star dad!  Your time, your snuggles and your cooking earn you #1 dad award.  Not to mention the fun you bring to the table, your love that you share with us and the smarts that you are handing down to our monkeys with the endless book readings.  The awe they have for you is heart melting, thank you for sharing this crazy journey of parenthood with me.  Man, I am so glad we are on the same team!  I choose you every time.

Here is a picture of Piper and I at our 2nd annual attempt to stay up until midnight on the solstice.  Last year she made it to 11:30pm and it was about the same this year.  It was a fun night of Piper time after the boys were in bed.  We went out to the mountain biking trails, she and Dave walked down to Cuppa Yo, and then ended the evening watching "Over the Hedge".  Didn't quite make it as you can see. But oh so sweet, my little monkey moo!
 

It was a big RACE weekend for Team Staley.  First off the kids rode in their first ever bike race at the Hullaballu in Northwest Crossing. The under 3 years old division went first, Calvin and Jett had a blast.  They got pretty spread out which was a challenge for me to keep track of them in the mass of kids.  But the race ended at an ice cream truck so it all worked out just fine!  Piper loved the race too, or was it just the Popsicle at the end?  =-)   She was pretty nervous before it started, but seemed proud of herself in the end.  What a fun event.  We ran into several friends, ate a tasty food cart dinner, listened to the bands play, and even got out of there with out buying any bouncy house tickets!  Success! 

Then it was my turn for a big race!  Sunny, Julie and I took on the Off Road Oyster Adventure race for the 2nd year in a row.  This year our team name was the Noodle Eating Poodles and we had a blast.  The course was quite a bit harder than last year, we covered a lot of ground on bike and foot, over 20 miles between the two.  They had us complete all different types of challenges, following clues along the way.  There was beer pong, SAT test type questions, fly fishing, cross fit work outs, canoeing. One of the most amazing strokes of luck was finding a plastic duck in a pool with a certain number on it.  There were probably one thousand other ducks in this pool.  Other people were in the pool swimming for them, but on the first try Sunny pick it right up and we were off, on to the next challenge.  It was a fun day and I am wiped out, it feels great!
 

Super fun to have our little ones cheering us on as we came in and out of the transition area!  Luckily it didn't really start to pour down rain until AFTER we completed the race.

I will end with three videos Piper in the bike race and Calvin and Jett getting their pump track skills on:


http://youtu.be/l7tKagZkfao

http://youtu.be/CwqxXjaMa0I

http://youtu.be/X2ZX04I9fJc

Super Why and Lightning McQueen

Calvin and Jett have had some persistent self proclaimed nicknames for themselves...Super Why and Lightning McQueen.  Watch this video so see these buddies in action:

 http://youtu.be/L0l7Hhy7OOQ


It was just me and the boys last weekend while Piper and David flew to AZ for his Grandpa Doug's memorial.  It is always hard to face the death of someone you love, but it sounds like they celebrated his full life and enjoyed sharing favorite memories with all the family and friends that came together. Dave had a good way to put it that he felt his Grandpa's strong example of kindness lives inside of  him.  That and the lessons of opening doors and using a screwdriver to tackle dandelions in the yard.

Dave came home Sunday, but Piper stayed in AZ with Gma Alice.  She was so excited for this adventure and special time.  For sure it has been way harder on me!  =-(  But I am happy that she is independent and strong and such a delight of company for Grandma, especially during this hard time.

So while Piper and Gma are enjoying fun in the AZ sun, we are living our Bend life as usual, hitting up parks and riding bikes.  The boys are really getting good at their balance bikes.  We are on to the dirt trails now, they love the ups and downs and rock obstacles.

The farmers market has started, we are eating out of our own garden... summer is here!  Bring on the HEAT sunshine!

Mother's Day outing to Suttle Lake

It was a beautiful Mother's day, such a treat to have such nice weather this early in Spring.

I enjoyed a full weekend of sleeping in for 3 days in a row and waking up to kids fed and breakfast waiting for me.

Way to go daddy!

Getting our little boat out on Suttle Lake near Sisters with all six of us (including Mango) was quite a squeeze.  

We motored around, found a beach to play at and have lunch.  Then found another spot to jump in the lake from.

The mountain lake water was cold, so it was a quick dip!

Here are a few pictures from the days adventure.

Thank you you Piper, Calvin and Jett for making me a mom!  The best job in the world!  I am gladly enduring all the whining, testing and challenges for the LOVE you have let me experience in being your mom.  Your snuggles, your charm, your innocence, your energy, your interests and your sweetness all fills me up with love I never knew before you arrived in my life.

I know our journey together is just beginning, but the pride I feel watching you live and experience life fills me with joy.  Piper riding her new 16 inch wheel bike, I can't even keep up running behind her.  And the boys tearing up the trails on their balance bikes, having so much fun with this new skill.  It's going to be no time until we are all mt. biking together, and probably too soon for comfort that their skills will surpass mine when they launch off boulders or smoothly take the log rides off the trail.

For now I am enjoying the hours we spend cuddled up reading books.  I love that Piper has been devouring big chapter books.  We have recently finished the Little House on the Prairie series, Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little.  Even the boys will sit and listen to book after book after book.

I think we are all happiest outside, looking for bugs, inspecting tree bark, watching birds fly, throwing rocks and sticks in the water.  So this Mother's Day outing was a perfect way to spend the day enjoying each other under the blue sky above.  Even if the whining didn't necessarily stop just because it was Mother's Day!

You three monkeys make me smile!

Peeing outside is such a bonus of summer weather!!

Brave polar bear swimmers unite!  

Pulling out the old traveling hammock has been such a hit.  Literally hours of entertainment for all three kids!  Piper doesn't always take naps anymore, but WE still need the "rest time" enforced.  One afternoon Piper spent over an hour swinging in the hammock, singing and talking to herself the whole time.  Such a great thing!

And of course to our own Mothers, now Grandma Linda and Grandma Alice, you will always be "Mom" to us and we thank the world for all your support, love, and belief in the unique and dare I say amazing individuals you helped shape David and I into.  Love to you both!

Sun and Snow part 2

We had another beautiful weekend recently where we got to enjoy the sun and the snow.  It was Earth Day and we participated in the annual procession of the species parade.  Jett was a frog, Calvin sported the elephant costume which was it's third appearance (Piper wore it one year for Earth Day, Jett wore it for Halloween last year and Calvin barely squeezed into it this time, so it will finally be moving on to a new home!) and Piper was a blue morpho butterfly.  It was so cute to see all the kids and many adults dressed up for the parade, though for this parade it seems like there are more people walking than spectators watching.  

After the parade we checked out the Earth Day fair where the high light was this obstacle course set up for bikes.  David and Piper rocked it on our trail a bike, but mostly Calvin, Jett and Piper ran the course over and over again.  Seriously they probably did it more than 10 times each.

That afternoon it was still hot enough to run through the sprinklers!  Yay summer! Here is a short video of the fun:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKBX3QOzOtg&feature=channel&list=UL

Sunday we hit the Mt. Bachelor sled hill again.  

Calvin was starting snow ball fights with our friend Quinn.  He took it as much as he dished out, but the fun was over when snow went down his shirt on to his bare skin!

Mango on the other hand will take a snowball to the face all day long!  This puppy pants LOVES the snow.  It is so fun to be a puppy head.

I love this picture of Dave and Piper.  The flowers on our trees were popping and smell so good.  Such a beautiful time of year to see all the vegetation wake up from a long winter snooze.

That means it is also time to get the finishing touches on our raised bed green house that Dave built last year.  The boys were all about helping daddy with the power tools.  We got it started too late in the season last year to really benefit from it, but this year we have high hope and planted tons of seeds.

We also added blueberry bushes and grape vines to our already planted raspberries, plum tree and strawberry patch that we got established last year.

We have had some challenging "terrible twos" moments with the boys lately, but man they are fun.  We are finally getting pretty mobile!  We went on a pretty decent family hike with no stroller this past weekend and on several occasions the boys have rode their bikes for outings as well.  They have been telling knock knock jokes at the dinner table, which never make any sense, but we laugh anyway.  For example, "knock knock" "whos there" "window who window you mommy!"  Ha Ha Ha buddy.   They love to rhyme words with Piper who has been quite the rhymer lately.  Calvin and Jett still love playing mommy and baby with Piper, it is pretty sweet to hear them all talking and playing in the playroom. The three of them do push each others buttons, but when they decide to be cool, they really do have a lot of fun together.