OUTSIDE Fun

 The fishing poles are finally getting put to good use.  Still haven't quite tied on a hook, but the practice casting and reeling has proven to be great entertainment.

Our yard is a wonderful place to watch Spring unfold.  The tulips we planted came from our trip last summer to Holland. The flowering trees are super fragrant and colorful.  And the veggie garden next to the house holds tons of seeds for our summer time enjoyment.

Mother's Day mushroom hunting!  An adventure in the woods, YES, sign us up.  We had troopers, lots of scrapes and bruises from tromping through the trees, and we even were lucky and found ONE Morel mushroom!

We celebrated the rest of the afternoon at the lake!

Our budding photographer Piper captured this series on the log of Scout Lake near Sisters....

Me and my girl posing for some Mother's Day silliness!

I feel so lucky to be sharing my life with 3 little monkeys.  The joy, the laughter, the frustration, the pride, the LOVE, the snuggles, the fears, the failures, the successes and the simple everyday moments we share.  Every bit of it I cherish and am thankful for.  Being their mom fills me with feelings deeper than I'd ever felt before.  Watching them grow and learn and explore the world we live is a privilege and an honor.

I am proud to say we successfully took on the first camp out of the season.  We joined a group of friends who have dubbed these outings as COCKS (Central Oregon Camping with Kids Series)!  Super cool group of people who happen to be rock star mountain bikers and like getting out in the woods with kids.  The mountain biking was stellar and the kids had so much fun too, a success all around.

We were packed to the gills!  Bikes, beer, pillows, hammock...we didn't forget a thing.  

Between the hammock, tents, trailers and slack line, these guys stayed busy.

Marshmallows were an obvious highlight.

Waking up to rain the last morning didn't stop the bacon cooking!

Awesome camp site along the river.

The hot springs on the way home was a nice stop.  A bit murky when the silt got stirred up, but felt great and we had the whole place to ourselves most of the time.

Spring

It seems that I have been letting the pictures pile up on my camera.  Here are a smattering of some of my favorites this past month.

These Easter Bunny outfits were such a hit this year.  They are special hand me downs from the Shaw family who also happened to be part of an older sister and twin brothers dynamic.  Thank you Pat Shaw for saving these gems for 30 years to pass on to us!  =-)

We were invited out to Sisters for an annual Easter Egg Hunt Party, it was a beautiful day!  Fun friends, good food and TONS of hidden eggs!

Me, Maggie and Piper had a biking date in Shevlin Park a few weeks ago.  Lots of stops to explore in the woods.  I love where we live!

Notice the T REX face in the rocks

We had a nice visit with my mom who came for a visit the beginning of April.  Unfortunately I got super sick, ended up with this crazy 2 week flu - so my mom got more than she bargained for as I was  laid up on the couch! =-(  Thank you mom for the endless laundry doing, clean up and love you poured  onto me and my family.  You are the best!

Any guess how this picture was captured?

Biking and hiking and climbing...getting dirty in the dirt...this is just the beginning of the summer I have planned for these monkeys.

Well when it really gets warm the pool will be a big part too, but for now...we are at our best when we get outside!

This was a recent Monday where Piper had the idea of double dates.  First Piper and I headed out on the trail-a-bike for a long ride that ended at a frozen yogurt shop.  Meanwhile Dave and the boys enjoyed the  indoor kiddie pool for a special "boy's outing."

Then we switched it up and Piper and Dave headed out for their date to the toy store, while me and the boys went treasure hunting in the woods.

We started out on bikes, but they ended up ditching them and running off trail to climb hills, explore gullies, scale fallen trees.  There were lots of treasures out there, but the best were the metal dragon and old weeble wobble I had hidden for them to "find" as part of the hunt.

Love this girl.  Now 5 1/2 years old officially on April 26th!  We celebrated with a doughnut in the morning and pumpkin cookies for desert!

David and I got to sneak in one more spring skiing date while the kids were in school.  We stuck to the groomers, but had so much fun on the soft, soft snow.  It felt like we were water skiing it was so slushy in some sections.

Mostly just great to be out with my man!

Calvin the Great...out enjoying some spring snow in town.  It was a surprise dumping that all melted by  the afternoon, but fun while it lasted.

Look out PUMP TRACK!!! We have big fans here of riding in the dirt.  Calvin and Piper loved hitting the trails, it is so fun to watch them!  Here is a quick youtube video below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIJJtR3LD1c&feature=em-upload_owner

Progressive Park Adventure + more

The progressive park adventure outings have been a favorite weekend activity.  We even have upgraded the boys to trail-a-bikes status which marks them officially as big boys!  Piper is a rock star bike rider! It gives me so much joy to see the HUGE smile on her face while she is racing down the streets.  Piper has no problem keeping up on these all day adventures where we log over 4 1/2 miles round trip.  We take lots of breaks to play at different parks, including Riverside Market where the adults can refuel with a frothy beverage while the kiddos play.

We showed our friends the Greens how much fun a park hopping bike ride could be...such fun friends...and they even rewarded us with dinner at the end of the day.  That is after they showed us what it means to climb the hill back home when the day was done.  Troopers!

Superheros have been the rage at our house lately!  I love these muscle men!!!!

Calvin and his super vision binocs.

 

 We are still loving getting out to play in the snow!  We will see how much longer it lasts, but it has been a great season to get out and enjoy the xc trails.  These pictures are from going around Todd Lake, just past Bachelor.

We had a busy visitor weekend recently with Dan and Alyssa Shaw and family overlapping with Grandma Alice.  It was a full house indeed, but lots of fun... in fact so much fun I rarely pulled out the camera =-(  I hope to add more pics when Alice can send her top pictures my way.  One highlight was visiting a friend of Alyssa's families farm, which happened to be across the street from our first house in Tumalo.  They were sheep farmers who happened to sell their last 8 sheep that morning, so we missed the livestock excitement.  The kids still had fun roaming the pastures and barns, climbing hay stacks and collecting sticks.  

Piper and Payson played really well together, in fact its been 2 weeks since they left and she is still asking about him.  We are proud to say that both Calvin and Payson learned to ride pedal bikes in our back ally during the visit!  

Piper, Calvin and Jett all went on individual "special dates" with Grandma, by far the highlight of the trip for all of them.  With 2 other siblings to normally share attention with, the individual time is cherished by everyone.  

Thank you Shaws and Gma Alice for taking the time to come visit Camp Staley! 

Before and after pictures of Mango's new summer haircut.  It is always such a sad day to cut those luscious locks of his, but a must with the trails turning to mud and the dreds matting up.  Poor puppy...we love you with or without your fuzziness! 

This is a picture of "The Lot"...the location of the newest, hippest, soon to be your favoritess hang out and spot to eat amazing street food while enjoying a pint of local brew.  Stay tuned for pictures of progress while we build a 1200 square foot covered eating structure with attached bar and bathrooms.

The idea sparked two years ago when Dave and his brother ate lunch at a "food cart lot" in Portland.  This spark is finally coming to fruition.  There are still a few hoops to jump through, but we are all in and excited about being local business owners in Bend!