Family Night

After dinnertime we realized we needed to get out of the house and move around so that led us to our favorite park for some playtime, a hike, and rock throwing. I just love summer! And I of course took a million pictures!

The boys were off and climbing in no time.

Max wanted to show Charlie how he could climb up without using his feet. I think he also wanted to see if he could actually do it.

This Miles kid has been into accessorizing these days. He's worn sunglasses (and a hat or hood) to the grocery store the last couple of times we went and kept them on the whole time. They didn't last long at the park though.

 After some playground time we set off on our hike.

 I was loving the sunlight as it was setting!

Charlie found a feather, Miles wanted the feather....thus the grump face.

We ended our evening throwing rocks into the creek. 

Charlie actually likes to throw boulders.

 And that was it, a simple night and a perfect memory for all.

Father's Day 2016

I didn't end up with a lot of pictures this Father's Day but we did a lot to celebrate that wonderful husband and Father.

We actually gave Max some gifts this year, we're usually not big on gifts unless it's something practical that we've been wanting to get anyway. So this year the boys and I got Max a man-purse/bag/satchel??? It's a nice leather one that he can use for work and for his responsibilities in church. We also got him a 6th grade geography workbook, and a phone armband for when he goes running. Perfect for him!

The week before hand, I had the boys do some crafts which we also incorporated into our preschool lesson. They made these candy ties for Max and grandpas.

Charlie had been looking forward to making these for weeks and kept the secret so well. I also had them fill out Dad surveys because I always think it's so fun to see what they say.

This one is Charlie's he was being a little stinker about writing his name...

And here is Miles' survey.  

 

and then there was this card that Charlie made at church...

So on the morning of Father's day, Charlie and I made some puff pancakes. This seems to be our go-to "special" breakfast these days when we are short on time.  We scarfed down our breakfast and still managed to be a pretty late for church.

Church was great, I spent my time with 3-year olds and Max got pie so that is great.

After church we got lunch and naptime, another win!
 Dinner was something boring but then afterwards, we made lemon butter cookies which were pretty amazing.  We ate cookies and Max read his cards and it was a special evening. 

We are all so lucky to have Max, I've said it many times before but, I'm still constantly impressed with his love for me and his children and his devotion to our family. I am forever grateful that I get to raise my children with him and be his wifey.

And just to keep the husband brag going...(hey, it's my blog, I can do what I want) I started a post not so long ago about how incredible Max was while I was away in Armenia, and then I never posted it...so here is that...

So in all my Armenia posts I seemed to neglect some of the most important details of the going-ons back at my home, and I just can't stop thinking about how wonderful my husband took care of our children and our home and many other responsibilities. I started getting mad at myself for not including these details in the blog posts and decided that I need to add them even if it was months ago. While I was away Max jumped into full-time dad mode, he kept the house clean (much cleaner than I keep it) He organized multiple closets and all of our clothes drawers (mine included) He also moved Charlie into Miles room and transitioned them into sharing a room while he made an office for himself in Charlie's old room. He organized play dates for the boys so he could attempt to get some work done and so the boys could have some entertainment. He did preschool drop off and pick up and even taught one of my piano students. He took the boys to parks and played outside with them. He gave them jobs to help him the yard.

When I came home, after midnight, the house was clean, the clutter was gone and all the dishes were washed, of course I made a huge mess throwing my luggage in the middle of the room...and when I finally got to climb into my own bed after two weeks away, the sheets were clean, and he had put lavender on my pillow to help me sleep. He confessed that he was a little stressed that he didn't get much work done for our business but he had told himself that he was going to be an involved dad and make sure the kids were always put first, and he just can't help but clean!

What a man, right? Anyway, we hope Max knows how incredibly loved he is!

Oaks Park

Oaks Park is an amusement park/roller skating rink that has been around for over 100 years. (I seriously just read about it on the Wikipedia page because I think it's fascinating.) Anyway, it's a big Portland attraction that we've been to many times as kids and several times as adults. We were excited to receive a letter in the mail from Charlie's eye doctor saying they were holding a big event there and all kids would get a free ride and skating pass and free lunch. Charlie was so excited, Max and I were probably even more excited. Charlie remembers very well the time he fell asleep on the Ferris Wheel at Oaks park. (a year and a half ago). The event started in the old and beautiful Dance Pavilion, where there were many games, prizes, face painting, and a puppet show. And my favorite part was free vision screenings. I haven't been able to have Miles checked since I haven't seen any apparent issues with his eyes which means insurance wont cover it. But they screened his eyes and he has excellent vision, which thrilled me to no end! Anyway, I ended up taking a whole lot of pictures because I have a new lens that I wanted to try out...so there you go!

And then they announced the start of a puppet show, the boys got front row seats and were completely enthralled the whole time. 

After the puppet show, the boys ate a hot dog lunch then got a balloon sword just as the clown was closing up shop. They ran around the room briefly with the their swords.

We then went out to try out some rides, The weather was CRAZY this day, At one moment it was sunny, then rainy, then sunny, then thunder and hail, then sunny again. It made for short lines and some rides we were even able to walk right on.

We enjoyed a couple rounds of the tilt-a-whirl which became a quick favorite of both boys.

We then headed over to the Ferris Wheel. Charlie was my Ferris Wheel date while Miles went with Max.  Isn't he precious?

 Scoping out the next couple rides we would go on.

We got off first so we waited for Max and Miles to make their way down. 

And then we enjoyed the 104 year old Carousel. Charlie was pretty excited about his brown pig. And I was hating his glasses glare!

Charlie was fascinated with the mechanism that made the animal go up and down.

And off to some kiddie rides.

And then there was this roller coaster. It is the worst. I did not go on it this time. It is so jerky...Max and Charlie (mostly just Charlie) had fun though.

We found out that Miles couldn't ride this one on his own and Max had to go with him, Max was not super excited about sitting in the puddle of rain water.

And then there is this one, much scarier than it looks. Right from the beginning Charlie realized he didn't like it. He stayed calm though, he just kept saying "I don't like this one," and "I'm ready for it to be done."

We then decided to dry out a little bit by going inside for some roller skating.  Charlie has been skating a couple times and this was Miles' first time.

I ended up putting my camera in a locker and just taking some phone pictures.

Miles showing off his tricks, he did pretty well, those skates are quite a bit easier than Charlie's heavy ones. 

Someday I will hear that huge pipe organ 

After awhile Charlie's feet hurt and he was tired.

Miles just cruisin' along.

We ended up doing a round of Hokey Pokey then skated off the floor to get our shoes back on.

We decided we had some time for more rides and Max went and got some cotton candy. We realize that one of the perks of being a parent is reliving your childhood joys through your kids and you don't even have to beg anyone to buy you cotton candy...you can just do it yourself. It's the best.

I made Charlie go on the Spider ride with me. It took forever to load and then it started raining while we were sitting in the car waiting for everyone else to be loaded, and once it started, Charlie was not a fan again.

After that, we did one more carousel ride then called it a day!