Astoria & Seaside

On Sunday we went to Astoria and Seaside with Grandma and Papa Dukes! The girls were SO excited for the trip that they didn't go to bed until about 10:30 on Saturday night! Our first stop was the Astoria Sunday Market. We were very impressed with the variety of booths that were available to look through. We only ended up with balloon flowers from a clown and two bags of Kettle Corn! Stuff was nice but still pricey! After walking through the market, we headed down to the beach for our picnic lunch. Brent and I didn't know that you could actually drive on the beach between Astoria (Fort Steven's Park) and Seaside. So, we took the good ol' Yukon (22's and all!) and drove right on down! It was pretty windy so we used the car as a wind block and had our picnic lunch beside the car! The girls were SO excited to have a picnic on the beach! We had chicken salad on croissants, fruit salad, and Cheetos and Doritos (the girls picked these out!) Sherry made Monster Cookies for dessert and that sealed the deal for me :)) After eating lunch, we spent another couple of hours playing in the water, walking the beach for shells, flying kites, and building sand castles! There is a picture above where Peyton's hair is all wet...she fell in the water face first, but recovered quite nicely! She was cold, so we had to go and change her clothes back up at the car. Very convenient to be able to have your car right there on the beach rather than way back in a parking lot! Who knew! Anyways, after playing on the beach, we drove back to Astoria and drove over the big, big bridge! Then we headed south to Seaside where Sherry had a surprise for the girls up her sleeve. We went to the little mall where there was a carousel! The girls rode once with Sherry, then wanted to go a second time with Daddy! After the carousel rides, we went to Dooger's Seafood Restaurant and had dinner. The girls kept us entertained and behaved quite well for a day full of fun and adventures without naps! Yes, little Logann is still taking naps most every day! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the novel about our wonderful day with Grandma and Papa Dukes!

Long Time No Blog!

It has been a while since I have posted any pictures, so I thought I better get with it! I can't believe that it is almost the middle of May! We've stayed home the last few weekends, which has been nice. The girls (mostly Peyton) had really high fevers last week, but with no other symptoms. We've stayed home from Play Park and Read and Play but Logann was healthy enough to go to Preschool.

I wish I had a picture to share, but I took Logann to a ballet Saturday night! Our neighbor, Lexie, has been doing ballet for years now, and they invited us to go to her last event! Logann was in awe the whole time! It was an awesome night out for just the two of us! Afterwards, we stopped at Cold Stone for a treat! Logann picked out Cotton Candy ice cream and had sprinkles mixed in!

Brent and the girls spoiled me on Mother's Day! Besides my new camera, Brent got me a new Oregon coat and the girls got me potted flowers for the front porch and the back porch! They made me breakfast and we had a picnic on our bed...greasy bacon and sticky syrup....can you believe it?!

The pictures of Logann at preschool = "Teddy Bear Picnic"

The kids brought their own teddy bears, and a picnic food item to share. It was too cold outside to have an actual picnic, so we had it inside on the dining room floor! We brought "Big" the big yellow teddy bear in the back. Good ol' Uncle Jeremy brought that back from China for the girls a few years ago!

The picture of the girls standing by the block tower = Logann and daddy have been building towers when he gets home from work lately, and she always wants him to build one like the one shown because she can lay her little princesses in the little "beds". Well...I had to take this picture because she wanted one built one morning, but Brent was at work, so she had to do it on her own...and she did! She asked me for help a few times, but then said, "no, wait, I can do it momma!" so...she did this all on her own! Look how proud she is!

Sunny Weekend = Yard Work!

The weather was absolutely beautiful this weekend! We started our new garden project on Saturday, and it was completely finished on Sunday afternoon, thanks to my most-wonderful husband!!! I should have taken a before picture, but the garden size has doubled! Brent had to tear out and about 6 different bushes and he transplanted about 4 of them...We decided to keep the big tree...as it will provide a little bit of shade for our yard. My cousin Bob came over and rototilled the existing garden. Then Brent re-built and added to the brick wall, leveled out the rototilled dirt, then filled the top off with new compost. Then I got to plant my garden! I planted celery, green beans, green onions, carrots, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, cayenne peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, acorn squash, pumpkin, cilantro, cucumbers and lots of strawberries! Yes, I know...I am sure that I over-planted, but I say that every year and still end up with a beautiful garden somehow!!! We'll just have to water, wait, and see! I threw in pictures of the girls in the hot tub...they played in the water from the hose for a while, got cold, then asked to go in the hot-tub! Silly kids!

Easter at G & G Dukes

After Easter at the Gabel's, we went out to Grandma & Papa Dukes' house to celebrate Easter and Pop's and Peyton's birthday (once again!) Thanks to Kelsey for making Peyton's beautiful birthday cake! The kids had a great time hunting eggs outside...the actually held off until later that afternoon! The kids didn't get naps that day because of the excitement, but as you can see, Peyton actually fell asleep in the car on the way home! She NEVER sleeps in the car, that is why I snapped the shot!

Easter at G & G Gabel's

After Peyton's "friends" birthday party up here, we drove down to Grandma and Papa Gabel's house to celebrate again. After cake and ice cream and presents, we colored Easter Eggs for the Easter Bunny to hide. In the morning, the girls discovered right away that the Bunny visited and hid lots of eggs and left fun goody baskets to enjoy!

Happy 2nd Birthday Peyton!

This morning we had Peyton's Birthday Party at a park near our home. All of our friends came to help us celebrate Peyton's 2nd birthday! We did a flip-flop theme and each of the kids took home a pair of flip-flops to enjoy this summer! The weather was a little chilly, but most importantly, it didn't rain! The kids had an excellent time running and playing before and after they had their Krispy Kreme donut! We are very thankful to have such wonderful friends...thanks everybody for making Peyt's birthday so special!!!