Oregon Vacation: Part 2

Such a great trip! I loved having a whole hotel section to our trip and then a camping one. It felt like we had two vacations in one! Okay, so here goes the Oregon Coast portion...

We took about 2 hours to drive from Vancouver, WA to the coast. We stopped first at Cannon Beach. The boys were in love with the sand the second we arrived. They wouldn't walk, they just wanted to play and lay in the sand. This day was actually my birthday!

We then went to our campground, just half an hour south, at Nehalem Bay State Park (just $24 a night in case you are interested). Awesome. We loved it there. We were just a short one minute walk to a playground that the boys loved, the bathrooms (with free showers), and a paved 3km bike loop (which we jogged). To get to the beach, we just had to hike over a sand dune. It took just 10 minutes to walk to the beach and it was a bit of a workout, that's for sure:)

I will say now that we only took our camera out maybe 5 minutes a day. This was family time and not family photo session time. I don't want my kids to grow to detest the camera! So ya, no amazing photos to share but just some to document our time:) Admittedly, I wish we did have a photographer along though, just to capture us being a family together on such a beautiful beach.

Kai LOVED the junior ranger program there and made it through all three levels to become an official junior ranger. We attended a tide pool program and an insect safari one. I have to say that I learned a thing or two at each one too! Kai was super confident in the classes and gave a ton of answers, loud and clear. Several mom's commented that he was very articulate (and smart). That's my bragging for the day:) Whenever we needed help around the campsite, Kai would come and say `Junior Ranger, here to help!'.

Kai did miss his Mario Kart, so he set up a track that we had to run around (three times) and then have the award ceremony afterwards. Usually it was just him and Koen doing it but Gary and I would join in once in a while too. The funniest part was when Koen would exclaim `Banana peel!' and veer off running into the bushes.

Koen was hilarious and wonderful. The only part that was a struggle was bedtime. Really, he just laid awake trying to entice Kai to escape the tent. He would stay up until about 10pm each night. What a monkey. Thank goodness we had a sleep sack to put him in. It was freezing! When I told Koen he would now be warm, he thought I said he was a `worm' so from then on he would announce `I'm a worm! Kai's a worm!' etc. Gary and I slept on a double blow up mattress. Two things:

1. A blow up mattress is key. No more thermarests for me. Yes, I'm no longer a backpacker, I'm an old lady who uses a blow up mattress.

2. It was a double. We sleep on a king size bed. Being that it was FREEZING at night, Gary and I cuddled more in those 3 nights than we ever have. I wonder if there is some correlation between marital satisfaction and the size of your bed. Seriously, you can't be mad at each other if you have to sleep so close together!

I would say that this was my favourite place to camp ever (no bugs!!!!) but the weather drove me crazy. One minute there is no wind and you're wearing your bathing suit. Three hours later, you need to be wearing pants, two sweaters, a touque and gloves. It was so cold at night and I would be up every hour or two to make sure the boys were covered enough.

We saw tons of animals there. There were the racoons that Gary had to chase out of our vestibule at 3:30am (yikes!), the deer that roamed the sites, voles, sea stars, tons of crabs, sand dollars etc.

I read a book (Midwife of Venice-good!) and wish I had taken another one. It was good to do nothing. We went to the nearby town of Manzanita for ice cream two days in a row:) Yum! I love the no tax thing and also, prices are soooo reasonable.

We did two geocaches which the boys always love.

Below is the 3km bike loop that we walked and ran several times. If we go again, we will definitely take our bikes as everyone was doing it!

The boys had s'mores for the first time and loved them! Gary and I tried some with peanut butter cups instead of chocolate. YUM!!!

It was fun to have a fire with them and for them to see that mommy could actually make one:)

We did end up leaving a day early. The nights were just too cold for us to have a good sleep. It took us 8 hours to get home because we took our time. Koen did great toilet wise and only twice did he announce `I'm peeing!' and we had to quickly pull over (he made it!). Once Koen told us that his tummy felt `gumbly' (that's his word for strange). I asked him if he was going to throw up and he said yes. I gave him a bucket. He proceeded to do a very theatrical, and fake, `A-a-a-choo!!!'. He also forgot the word thirsty and at one point said, `I'm hungry and drinky!'.

The boys watched their DVD players about an hour a day and that was fantastic. Either driving or when they first woke up. They seriously watched the same one each time. We had borrowed my sisters Leap Frog DVD's. Koen LOVES the letter factory and Kai LOVES the word factory. I would highly recommend them! Koen would often be reciting all the letters and their sounds when he was supposed to be sleeping at night:)

There's nothing like being in a tent with your family for 4 days to make your house seem huge! I love being home and just taking a shower in my own house. However, I am slightly overwhelmed by the laundry, getting caught up on emails, work, and all the bills/mail to deal with.

The Oregon Coast is so beautiful. I love it and was so glad the boys loved it so much. Kai's highlight was setting up the tent. Koen's was the beach. Mine was seeing the boys enjoy the beach so much. They would run in to the water and then as soon as a wave came, they would squeal and run back up to where we were. Gary's highlight was seeing the boys enjoy the camping experience so much.

I love holidays. I love the memories it evokes for me...good times with my family growing up. I hope we are able to continue creating special memories for our boys.

Now, time to get at that 5th load of laundry! Oregon Coast, you are awesome.

Oregon Vacation: Part 1

We will be finishing up the first part of our vacation tonight..the whole `explore, shop and stay in hotels on the way to Portland' portion. Tomorrow? Camping on the Oregon Coast which I am most excited about. I hope it's as good as I think it will be!

Day 1: Shopping and staying just outside Seattle. I went in a store for maybe 10 minutes and bought myself 5 things:) Koen has been staying up until 10pm each night. Kai is our expert sleeper, falling asleep by 8pm. Yay for hotwire.com, each of our hotels has ranged from $50-80 and all have had pools and continental breakfasts:)

Day 2: Went to the zoo in Seattle which I had never been to! Using groupons, it cost our family $24.00:) It was really good. My sister and her family met us down there which made for a fun day. In the African region of the zoo, they have a kikuyu village set up. It seriously took my breath away because it reminded me of Kenya so much (Kikuyu tribe was about 2 hours from where I was in Kenya, the Kipsigis tribe).

{I just need to say that this zoo is a billion times better than our local Aldergrove Zoo. Okay, not a billion, but I won't go to the Aldergrove one again!}

{Seeing the penguins}

{Koen sitting on a Flamingo nest}

{Koen's `smile' makes me laugh. These four get along really well and actually Kai and Izzy are quite close now.}

{Izzy lost her front tooth already...incident with a swing.}

{We were there about 4 hours and then continued south, in sloooooooooooow traffic, to Kelso. Awesome playground at the lake in neighbouring Longview for the kids to play at. It totally reminds me of when we were road tripping with my family...always try to find a playground!}

{I'm so excited to take some family photos on the Oregon Coast with a whole lot of backlighting. Will be good. I know it.}

Day 3: Mount St. Helens to Vancouver, WA. We went to Mount St.Helens and Kai prayed on the way there that it wouldn't erupt again...so funny. It is a one hour trip off I-5 and the gas light came on as we were approaching the observatory. Our moods may have been altered by that. We did just make it to a gas station on the way out.

{Gary and I have been there before so didn't spend time in the observatory,we just did some of the trails.}

{The wildflowers were beautiful, so was the view.}

{And now, we relax for a minute before heading out to expore and eat.}

Guess who turns 33 tomorrow? I can't believe it. It sounds way older than 32. I'm thinking we'll pick up some cupcakes or something:)

Bike Ridin'

We finally have a two wheeling bike rider! It was way more stressful than potty training this guy, that's for sure. Super proud of you, Kai Bear!

(Like his free `side of the road' bike?)

In other news, we bought a (second hand) Wii for Gary and Kai. Gary has been convincing me that it is good for hand eye coordination and is much more social than television. We'll have to see how this goes....

Guess we'll be packing Kai's bike for our holidays!

Date With Gary

Last night we celebrated all the Chapman August birthdays at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Then, the kiddos slept over there:)

{Koen enjoyed his smoothie!}

{Koen with great grandma and his new best friend, Stewie the dog.}

Being that the kids were gone, Gary and I drove out to Chilliwack to hike to Lindeman Lake this morning. I always forget how long it takes to drive there! The hike itself is supposed to be 3 hours total but it took us under 30 minutes each way:) The last time we did that hike, Kai had his first sleepover at grandma and grandpa's at 11 months old.

I wasn't the best companion as I've been a bit stressed about work lately. Let's be honest. A lot stressed. The amount of work and the fact that I'm starting to feel less creative and more formal portrait-ish which is not my desire at all. Also, we are only going to book weddings with people that we know from this point on, I LOVE the personal connections and it just makes it more fun and enjoyable for me. I am totally looking forward to our upcoming vacation (Oregon Coast!) and am looking forward to spending some time reading and playing on the beach with the kiddos.

Have a great week!

Love, Louise

Kai's Birthday Party

I'm exhausted! What a great day, but wow, I am tired!

{Koen's first outing with Opi one on one. Took the convertible to Starbucks. Koen LOVED it.}

For Kai's birthday, we had a party at a local water park. It was hot out so it was perfect. We set up a tent to keep the food cool and gave all the kids some great water guns that are easy to use. Koen spent the first hour soaking me.

This morning we had given Kai his two gifts. A 3 in 1 Lego thing that he loves. Gary does too.

We also gave him a nerdy science kit with 9 activities (grow crystals, weather station, model of the earth and moon etc). He loved that too! These pictures show him trying to get gemstones and minerals out using a mallet and then he had to identify them with a chart.

We usually have parties at our house but our yard is not conducive to a lot of fun with so many friends. Kai had 7 friends (and their families) come. It was great to just hang out and watch the kiddos run around with water guns. I won't post pictures of his buddies but I'm glad they could come!

We didn't really have a theme but I just put some of those terrible pure sugar Transformer toppers on cupakes and also made some chocolate 5's (just melted chocolate chips piped out and put in the freezer!.

We had some yummy tarts too and it ended up being a dinner/dessert type thing.

Kai is having Izzy sleepover now and I think they fell asleep around 9:15pm or so which is late for them!

Tomorrow we will celebrate Gary's 36th birthday. I feel bad that we always expend all our energy on Kai's birthday but Gary and I are going to get out for an hour or two....hopefully!

Bon nuit.

Louise

PS There was another post earlier today:)

Kai Turns Five!!

Kai Bear turned 5 today! Born three days early, after a whole long labour ending in a C-section, and coming out 9lbs 11oz, he has truly blessed our lives. I had no idea what being a parent really meant and he has taught us so much.

He loves lego, Tranformers, swimming, geocaching, Mario Kart, games (Snakes and Ladders, Memory, Guess Who, Battleship, Old Maid etc) and eating. He is very social and would play with other kids all day long if he could.

He loves learning. It is so exhausting. `How are new blood cells made?' `In what grade will I learn all about the brain and nerves?' `What do beetles eat?' `What number comes after one thousand one hundred?' `How do you say `thank you' in Japanese?' etc all day long. He is particularly interested in science but maybe that's because those are the questions I can answer. Mostly.

He looks a lot like Gary (little guy in front in the blue) and is well on his way to being a major freckle face. He has my dimples and my personality. He is tall and solid. He isn't the most coordinated and doesn't love a particular sport all that much, but likes to try everything. He has enjoyed his swimming and skating lessons. I was not athletic at all either, but determination will take you far!

He loves Koen so much and it's so cute to see them interacting. And yes, they fight. A lot. They know how to drive each other absolutely bonkers. In the morning, they wake each other up (usually at 6:30am) and head downstairs. Kai will get Koen a sippy cup of milk and sometimes get him breakfast as well (toast or cereal). He loves to help take care of his brother. He told Koen today that when they are older, they will live in the same house and play Mario Kart together every day.

He loves playing at Ani and Izzy's house, especially in the backyard. He loves going to grandma and grandpa's house to enjoy her pantry full of snacks (and the after dinner ice cream loaded with sprinkles). He loves having pillow fights with Opi (my dad) and going out for coffee with him. He loves playing in the neighbour boys yard, digging and exploring.

Kai still has his blankie, Bubi. He sleeps with it every night but I do think he would be okay without it. He sucks his thumb at night when he is falling asleep. When he is hurt, he wants me. Kai and Gary have spent a lot of time together this summer and their relationship has really grown.

Kai is not shy and loves meeting new people. He doesn't really get in trouble anymore, except when using `bathroom words'. We had to start watching it because words he was allowed to say at home, he wasn't allowed to use at preschool...so, we had to get a little more strict on the words:) Kai is REALLY looking forward to kindergarten.

Oh Kai Bear. You are awesome. I was so nervous to have a little boy and I have since realized that I LOVE being a momma to boys. I love your inquisitive nature, your passion, and your zest for life. I hope that when you are an adult you will still want to visit and talk with your Mommy Bear. I love you so much, forever and ever.

Before and After

Before I show you our house's before and after picture...just a couple from this afternoon. We took the kids to the Honeybee Centre. It wasn't as cool as we had hoped but they loved the fish in the tea room. Koen kept saying, `Look at the fish! They are so cute!'. Kai decided that he wants a fish for his birthday. I think next time we will do the actual tour and see a demonstration...we were just there at the wrong time. Bought some honey though!

And now for the house! Gary has been working hard to get rid of the green trim and those green stripes that have driven me bonkers for the past 5.5 years. It was time to paint anyway as it was starting to chip. Gary pressure washed the whole house, caulked all the cracks and then painted all the trim. Now, we are pretty much like every other house in the neighbourhood. I don't like being like everyone else but I have to say, I love the way our house looks! Thank you to Gary for climbing those super high ladders. Being that I don't climb ladders, I helped him a bit with the posts and railings:)

{Apparently our hanging basket hasn't done so well over the last 3 days?!}

We celebrated it being finished by going to Tim Hortons:) Now...to try to level out the backyard a bit....