4th of July Weekend.......Surprise!

Last Thursday I happened to see a lady on craigslist that was trying to sell her reservations in Seaside Oregon for the 4th of July weekend. I decided to go way out of my comfort zone and plan something spontaneous to surprise the kids. She ended up taking our offer and it was a great hotel right on the beach. We were going to be in Portland until Sunday anyways and I thought why not just drive another hour or so to the beach, spend the night watching the most amazing fireworks show ever, and then spend Monday having fun too? We went for it.

Riley and Kendle headed to Portland on Friday for Riley's soccer tournament and I headed down the following morning with my mom and the three younger kiddies. We spent the day at Jer and Molly's house along with the rest of our family. Once again the kids had a blast all day long and Jer and Molly were wonderful hosts supplying us with yummy food and their lovely backyard to lounge in. That night we sat around the fire and watched the guys light off some fireworks. It was a perfect day and our kids were completely tuckered out. {Earlier, before my mom got ready to head back home, she offered to just take the twins with her to make the rest of our weekend trip easier and I'm so glad she did because I don't know if we could have made it otherwise. It helped SO much.}

Sunday Riley's team played in the championship for the Portland Cup (one of the biggest tournaments in the north west). Although they lost in a close, close game and Morgan was all over the place and I was up chasing him more than I got to watch, it was still fun to be there to support the girls and their hard work. After that we headed out of town but didn't tell the kids where we were going, only that it was a surprise. As we got closer to the coast I thought for sure Kendle would start picking up on where we were because of all the signs and billboards for the beach attractions. Finally we got into Seaside and had to tell them where we were and the kids started freaking out they were so excited. They love the beach!

That evening after dinner we let the kids swim and play for a while in the pool, then headed up to our room to change and pack our stuff to head to the beach for the big fireworks show. I don't think anything could have prepared us for the craziness that ensued that night. There were people as far as the eye could see up and down the beach lighting off fireworks and making bonfires. The fireworks never stopped, in fact we weren't sure we would be able to tell when the city fireworks show started because of all the other ones going on. Kendle loved it, Morgan hated it. He made us cover his ears the whole time. It was SO loud I don't really blame him! It was an endless barrage of whistles, cracks, booms, and explosions for a good two or three hours. I think our ears are still ringing but it was the coolest thing ever to see millions of fireworks all over the place. It was definitely an experience to remember. After the fireworks we went back to our room, had treats and snacks and then passed out.

We all slept like the dead until 9:00 the next morning. Even Kendle, who has never slept past 8:00 in her life. I had to wake everyone so we could get up and going. Our check out time was at 11:00 so we had to hurry to pack some fun in. Riley took the kids to the beach for an hour or so while I tried to pack up a bit and get myself ready. Then they went swimming one last time in the pool. After that we headed over to the main drag and had some lunch and then walked around and let the kids ride the tilt a whirl and bumper cars. One last walk on the beach, then some ice cream and a stop in the candy shop. We really know how to pack it all in! The traffic out of Seaside was horrible, but we still made really good time on the drive home. We stopped at my parents to get the twins and rest for a bit and then it was home again home again jiggety jig.

So glad to be home, but so glad we went out on a limb and made some amazing memories for our family that we will always remember! How many times can you say you packed in that much stuff into one weekend? Not always the way to do it, but this time it all worked out and we're glad it did.

Pictures:

(Kendle and her cousins at Jer and Molly's)

(Getting ready for the fireworks)

(The kids being very patriotic as they stood up to salute the firework called the "American" about to be lit)
(The three amigos)

(On the beach in Seaside watching the fireworks. Can you tell Morgan is enjoying himself?)

Busy Month

I can't believe January is almost over. I love the Month of February because it seems like it goes by so fast and then it's March and we start feeling some spring weather. Although looking out my window today it looks like spring with the sun shining away.

Looking ahead at next month, here are some things that will be keeping us busy:

*February 3rd is Riley's birthday. We don't have any big plans, maybe just go out to dinner or something like that. I am really lame when it comes to having good birthday plans. Every year I say that I am going to plan far ahead of time something really cool, and then I never do. I think it is because I always think I have more time than I do, but February really sneaks up on you.

*February 14th is of course Valentine's Day. I got really spoiled last year, I think this year will be a bit more low-key. I don't know about anyone else, but I pretty much leave Valentine's Day up to my husband to plan. I told Kendle that she could have a little Valentine's Day party a few days before with a few friends from school and she is really excited about that. They can decorate cookies, make some Valentine's, and be silly girls.

*February 18th is my little sis's birthday. She's going to be 19 which is so crazy to me. She can't be turning 19 because that would mean that I am going to turn...................gasp.................29 this year! I still picture her running around with her little rug-rat neighborhood friends and getting into my makeup. Just kidding Tam. I will always remember what a cute little girl she was with her chubby cheeks and glossy, curly black hair. Oh wait, until she chopped it off and had to have it cut like a boy all because she wanted bangs. Ha! OK, I will stop razzing her now - but it is so fun.

*February 20th is my awesome sister-in-law Debbie's birthday. She is one cool chick and lots of fun to be around. As a girl in a family with lots of boys growing up, I always wanted more sisters. I'm so glad to have two fantastic sister-in-laws now that help balance out the testosterone in the family. A few great things about Debbie - She's a wonderful listener, great cook, and a great mom.

*February 24th is the Blue and Gold Banquet for scouts. I have no idea what that entails, I just know I'm helping plan it - so hopefully that all works out. I don't think they could have found another person less knowledgeable to be over scouts in primary. I'm definitely learning a lot.

*February 27th - March 1st we will be here. Our anniversary is on March 2nd, and since that is a Tuesday, we decided to go before that. I am really looking forward to a relaxing weekend away. We have not been back to Coeur d’Alene since our honeymoon almost seven years ago. It should be fun and since I'm ever the list maker, I've already mapped out some fun places to go-see-do.

So if next month I'm running around like a chicken with their head cut off you'll know the reasons why.

I come bearing gifts

Riley returned from his work convention in Spokane last night, much to our delight. For those of you who don't know, he is in charge of Regional Sales for a national pest control company. They do mostly industrial and big businesses, and this convention was for the Washington State Hotel and Lodging Association. The lucky guy got to stay here:

And then to close out the convention The WSHLA hosted an elaborate golf tournamnent here:













Riley said there were few words to describe how awesome it was. Looks like a hard three days of work huh?

But he did not come home empty handed, and if I didn't know better, I would say that he is trying to thwart my weight loss goals. He brought me these from the hotel candy shop:

And made a stop on the way home to get me a box of these:

He also went shopping while he was there and bought me a cute sweatshirt and another long sleeve shirt for the chilly fall weather, and got Kendle the cutest little purse that she carried around all night. Isn't he thoughtful? Trying to butter me up for the long hunting season ahead? Maybe. But the best thing was when he told me how much he missed me during those three days. Wish me luck on not gaining ten pounds in the next few days.

Rainy days are here to stay. Family Reunion '07 Part 2

The second day of our stay at the coast I really wanted to get some family pictures down on the beach, I had picked out matching clothes for us to wear and everything. We get all dressed up, my sister curled and styled my hair so it looked awesome and Kendle was actually staying clean in her white shirt if you can believe that. It was drizzling all morning, so we waited and waited and waited some more. It didn't stop raining one time before we had to go to the family reunion lunch. So much for my plans of getting some beautiful pictures on the beach. We all changed out of our nice clothes and headed to the family reunion lunch and ate ourselves sick. I ate so many different kinds of desserts it was obscene. The kids made homemade icecream the old fashioned way and everyone took a turn cranking for a while. Nothing beats the taste of homemade icecream that you've slaved over for hours.

















My uncle attempted to organize everyone by family to get their picture taken, our picture was missing my two sister-in-laws, my mom and my nephew so it's not the full fam, but for some reason our family cannot take a good picture if our life depended on it. Me and Riley always have our eyes closed and my dad is always doing something funny...check these out:

What a train wreck!

After the lunch we headed back to the beach house to relax for a bit. My brother's had been up late the night before getting the new Harry Potter book and they were reading at light speed all day trying to finish it. I kept annoying them by asking them about all of the rumors about what happens in the book and how it ends. Me and Riley decided to go shopping for a bit at the Outlet Mall there in Lincoln City.

We got there with only about an hour left before they closed so we hit two stores and were done. I love finding good deals. I have almost all of Kendle's school shopping done. When we got back Riley took Kendle down for one last walk on the beach. It was just starting to get dark and was very pretty.

Later that night we watched a very funny movie and got packed up to go home the next day. It's amazing all of the stuff you can accumulate. Shells, sticks, toys, sand....it all found it's way into our car for the trip home somehow. Kendle is one of the worst pack rats I know. The next morning we packed up and headed to the Pig 'N Pancake for one last meal together. I have to say that they had the best pancake's and hash browns I've ever had. DELICIOUS!

I sat in the back with the kids on the drive home and we were all passed out two minutes into the drive. I'm sure Riley appreciated the quiet for once. When we were almost to Pasco, Kendle started getting excited that we were almost home. Even after the best vacations, it still feels good to be home in your own bed safe and sound. Back to the hot, hot weather.

This is what our car looked like when we got home - can you believe we took that much stuff?

Pretty scary huh? I'm still putting stuff away from our trip.

Well, that about wraps it up. Looking forward to next years family reunion, I think it's in Wyoming where our family is dedicating a pioneer trail marker or something like that. Hope all of your families trips this summer were/are as fun as ours!

Rainy days are here to stay, Family Reunion '07

Our family reunion at the coast ended up being one wet weekend. It rained the whole time we were there, not even one little afternoon of sunshine. But we still had fun and enjoyed the time we spent with our family. There' s something about being in a cozy house on the beach that makes the rain kind of enjoyable. Especially when you are escaping 100 degree weather. Our beach house was awesome, it was a huge three story up on a hill overlooking the beach. Seven bedrooms, three bathrooms and a huge kitchen and family room. Here's the view from our balcony:















The kids did get to go play on the beach a few times, but after they fell in the water they were ready to come back right away. Kendle had a plastic boat they were playing with and a big wave caught it and it started heading for Japan. They all tried to go after it, but my nephew Caleb was the hero and dove head first in to save it. He was drenched, but saved the boat. All the kids cheered! They were freezing cold, so to warm them up we let them play in the hot tub when they got back.
















We decided to go to Mo's for lunch on Friday before our "Cousins" dinner that night. If you have never eaten there it's a must to get the full Oregon coast experience. They have excellent chowder and seafood, although I have to say I am a bit more partial to the clam chowder at the "Sea Hag" in Newport. It's the bomb!















So at our family reunions, the 14 (my grandpa and his siblings) all get together and have their own dinner Friday night. While they are doing that, everyone else attends the "cousins" dinner and just hangs out. It was really laid back and we just munched on food and visited. Since it was raining, our family had rented the community center in Lincoln City which had a pool and other things for the kids to do. It also had a big dining hall and kitchen where we ate and hung out. Not quite the same as a BBQ on the beach, but still fun.

















After that, we headed back to the beach house and munched and ate some more food, (can you tell our family likes to eat?) and lounged around listening to the rain and the roar of the ocean outside. We slept all of the kiddies in the same room that had a big old bunk bed (which they loved, can you say party?) and as soon as they were asleep we headed out to soak in the hot tub.















All the excitement wiped Morgan out. He slept like a dream and was so sweet the whole trip.
What a good little guy!

Well, that pretty much wraps up our day 1 at the coast. I'll have to make another post about day 2 and 3 to fit it all in.

A Picture Can Say A Thousand Words

Our day-trip to Seattle last Friday was a ton of fun. On the way up we stopped here:














I scored some cool new Nike running shoes and found lots of other great deals for my family. Then we were off for Seattle again and as we headed into all of the traffic I realized why I don't go there more often. But it was all worth it when we saw this:

After parking, we walked to the Will Call window to get our tickets Jeremy left for us and then made our way inside. If you've never been to a game there before it is pretty overwhelming. We ran into Jeremy's brother's and found our seats and then I just stared around in awe.
















It was just as cool as everyone described. It literally gave me shivers and brought tears to my eyes. I love baseball and softball and one of my favorite movies is "A League of Their Own". There is just something about the roar of the crowd, the smells, the people, that you have to experience in person. Before the game started they had a huge tribute to Ichiro with his highlights up on the big screen and then he came out and bowed to the crowd and that place went crazy! He had just renewed his contract with the Mariners and you can tell the fans love him. It was awesome. This was the best picture I could get of him, but he does a lot of funny things in the outfield.

We were sitting by a whole bunch of Tiger's fans, mostly Jeremy's family and friends.
It's got to be awesome to see your name on the back of a jersey.

It was great to be there with Riley and enjoy each other's company. I know it made him happy that I was having such a great time. It felt like a "real" date. Notice I'm wearing Mariners gear and Riley's sporting Detroit. I was neutral. I cheered for both teams much to the dismay of the Tiger's fans around us.

Jeremy pitched like a stud and recorded his 10th win of the season. He's has the highest win percentage in the American League. He struck out Ichiro more than once and I took this picture the second time he struck him out.

Here comes that wicked slider!

What a stud! Everyone in Pasco should be sporting some J. Bonderman Gear.

After the game we still had to drive home so we blasted any cheesy music we could find on Riley's XM radio to stay awake. A little Journey, some old school hip-hop, it was great. Tomorrow we leave for the coast, we will be staying in Lincoln City, OR for our family reunion until Sunday. Some cooler weather sounds great about now and Kendle can't wait to get her hands on some good beach sand and frolic around looking for shells and playing with the cousins. So until next time, here's where we'll be:

Off to the old ball game

This is where I will be at Friday night:

I have never been to a Mariner's game, but thanks to our good friend Jeremy Bonderman who pitches for the Detroit Tigers, we scored some awesome tickets to watch him pitch against the Mariners.

If you arn't famaliar with J.B., here are a few stats:



Proper Name: Jeremy Allen Bonderman
Born: October 28, 1982
Kennewick, WA
Height: 6-2
Weight: 220 lbs.
Age: 24
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Pos: SP
Experience: 4 years
2007 Salary: $4,500,000
College: Pasco (Wash.) HS

• Ranks 1st in AL in WPct (.900)

Jeremy is a hometown Pasco kid and even though I'm a Mariner's fan, you know who we'll be rooting for! But I'm also looking forward to seeing Ichiro who is one of my favorite players of all-time.

I'll be sure to post some pictures of the game. I'm so excited! Now, the important question is what should I wear?