Vacation to Portland

Well...this might be a long post since I haven't written in about 2 weeks!! We have been on vacation for the last week...and it was great!!

Jeff got a new camera that he ordered and had shipped to Eric and Traci's place. All these pictures are with the new camera...hope you enjoy them!

We left last Wednesday morning and drove to Abbotsford and stayed with our good friends. After the kids woke up from naps there, we headed out to have a visit with my grandma. I hadn't seen her in about a year and it was great to see her new place and to see her again. The kids were pretty good there, but Marty is into everything...so we had to keep a close eye on him, since grandma's place is not child proof!!

We went back to our friends place and had a delicious meal together! Jeff did some electrical work for them and we just hung out and enjoyed the evening together. The kids slept great and we headed out first thing on Thursday morning to Portland!!

We had no wait at the border, which was great! But, we still had a 5 hour drive ahead of us. The kids were okay on the drive. Megan was great, Gabby was whinny and Marty was a little cranky too:( But...we made it there!! Marty was SO ready for a nap when we arrived at Eric and Traci's place.

Eric and Traci moved into their new place about 6 months ago and it is so nice! Marty slept in the walk-in closet in the bedroom we stayed in and the girls had their own room. It worked out great! Eric and Traci treated us so great...wonderful meals, shopping trips, fresh muffins for breakfast, etc. We are blessed to have such incredible family, who are also our friends:)

Traci having a dance party with the girls...

Traci had to work on Friday morning and so the boys, the kids and I headed out to do some shopping. And can I just say, the States has WAY better shopping than Canada!!! Such good deals there and Oregon has no tax...I'm such a big fan of that. My favorite stores are Ross, Target and a new favorite Kohl's!!

Friday afternoon, Traci treated me to a Cirque Du Soleil show "Kooza"!! All I can say is...AMAZING!! We had such a great time together and the performace was incredible. I highly recommend seeing a show if you get the chance.

The boys had pizza for dinner and the kids were ready for bed when we got home! Jeff and Eric had taken the kids to the park after dinner for some play time. We hung out in the evening and I think every night we played "Ticket to Ride". We bought the game down there! It's such a fun game.

On Saturday, Eric had class in the morning, so the rest of us went to see Shrek Forever After 3D at the theatre. The kids had a little trouble keeping their 3D glasses on, especially Marty and Gabby. Gabby has a small head and the glasses didn't fit her face! The movie was really good and they all sat well through it...even Marty! This was their first time seeing a movie at the theatre ever, so I think they did pretty good.

On Sunday, we went to Eric and Traci's church with them. The kids went to the kids church and had a fun time there. We put them in a class together and they were happy to go. We kept Marty in church with us, but we had to take him out a couple of times...he doesn't like to sit still for too long:)

While the kids napped in the afternoon, Traci, Meggie and I went out and did some more shopping:)

On Monday, we went to the Portland Zoo. It was the only day it didn't rain while we were there! Meggie was a little scared of the animals at first, but she warmed up to them. We had to reassure her that they were behind glass or fences and they weren't coming out. Also, there was a dinosaur exhibit and she didn't like the noises they made.

Gabby loved it and wasn't afraid of anything! We put Marty in the backpack at the zoo, so he wouldn't take off on us. He did great in the pack for the first 2 hours of so, but then he wanted out...so we let him run a bit. And he was SO happy!!

The girls feeding the Lorakeets some nectar juice...

Megan checking out the zoo map...

After dinner on Monday, we took the kids to the park to play and explore and then headed back home for bedtime...because, we had a long drive the next day!

I was a little nervous about doing the 9 hour drive home on one day, but it worked out pretty good. The kids actually did better on the way home than on the way down...weird!! Megs slept for about 1/2 hour, Gabby for about 15 minutes and Marty only a 1/2 hour too!! I was hoping he would sleep at least an hour or 2...but no such luck. But, he was pretty happy and content. We only stopped once to have a little lunch and then back on the road. We left Portland just after 8am and got home at 5:30pm.

We are happy to be home and back into our routine, but we had such a great vacation...thanks to Eric and Traci!! And we miss them already, but we get to see them in 3 weeks when they come home:)

Jeff only has 3 days of work this week and then we look forward to Curt and Annie coming for a visit this weekend....should be lots of fun!!

Hope you made it this far and enjoyed seeing all the pictures!!

He's a big boy!!

Soooo...I'm pretty excited because my son has pooped on the potty 3 days in a row this week!! He is only 14 months old and I'm not convinced he will potty trained anytime soon. But, I can usually tell when he is going to go, because he cries a little. So I thought I would just put him on the potty whenever he seems like he is going to go. I have a little potty party for him when he goes, but I don't think he has a clue what's going on!!! If nothing less it's one less dirty diaper to change:)

One of Marty's latest tricks, climbing up on the kitchen table and he likes to dance around up there!

He also loves to color these days...

That is one saggy diaper...

Jeff brought home a big cardboard box yesterday for the kids to play with. He cut some "windows" and a door in it and the kids had so much fun!! It's kept them entertained for several hours already.

Gabby running around on the new deck...this girl loves to run(just like her daddy!).
Riding their bikes on the driveway...

The last couple of days have been beautiful outside!! I'm so excited that Spring has arrived here. My mom and I took the kids to the park this morning and we also went on a little nature walk! We were walking along the trail and we walked by a mom and her 2 kids and the little boy was peeing in the creek and his mom didn't even care!!! I couldn't believe it, especially when the washrooms are so close by.

Then we went to Beaners to take Megan in for a haircut. She hasn't had a haircut for about a year, so I thought it was time. She was so good for the hairdresser! She even got some sparkles in her hair after the haircut was done. She also got bangs!!! I think they look so cute...

Jeff and I have been talking for a few weeks now about how Marty needs another haircut. So last night we did it! Jeff used the clippers and scissors for the top. Marty was SO good about it. He moved around a bit because he was interested in the noise of the clippers. He looks so grown up now...

Three little monkeys in the bath...

Jeff and I went to our friends birthday party last Saturday night! It was an 80's themed party. Everyone was dressed up and it was such a fun time. I tried to get into MAC on Saturday afternoon to get my eye makeup done, but they were short staffed. So, I walked over to Estee Lauder and they did it for me! As you can see...it's quite the eye makeup!!!!

Trying on daddy's glasses...

And today I was adventureous and decided to try and make california rolls! I really like them and thought they can't be too hard to make. I think they turned out pretty good for my first time...and they are quite quick and easy! I just used avacado and cucumbers in mine...
Hope you all are enjoying this beautiful Spring weather!!

Working on the deck...

Well lately, our lives have been revolving around getting our new deck! It has been quite a long process and we finally finished it last night. I can't wait to use it and I am so happy it's ready before summer starts. A friends of ours is starting to use this product. It's called Granicrete. But, before we could even put down the surface, Jeff replaced the whole deck with new plywood. Last week, he worked out on the deck every night. He would come home from work and start on the deck and have a quick dinner and back to work on the deck. He is such a hard worker!!

Needless to say, that left me looking after the kids every night on my own. All I can say is, I can't imagine being a single mom...it would be SO hard!! I'm so thankful to have such a loving and helpful husband. Anyways, we love the new deck and it turned out great! The only problem now, is that it needs to harden for about a month. So we can't really use it until then:( I told Jeff I was so excited about having our mother's day BBQ out on the new deck. But, I guess we'll have to stay in the backyard or inside this year!

I am back to doing my work out videos again! I was not motivated for several months, but now I seem to back into the swing of things. In fact, I worked out 4 times last week. I was pretty happy about that:)

And now the finished product...

The kids are doing great! I can't believe that Meggie will be 5 in just over a month. She has been talking lots about her birthday...and what she wants. She wants to have a princess party this year, so we will try that!!

Speaking of princess parties...last Sunday my dear friend had 6 little girls over for a little princess party. Megan went home with her after church and they made cute little sandwiches. All the girls were dressed in princess dresses. They had a little lunch together and then watched Cinderella together on the "big screen." They had such a fun time. I'm so thankful for friends that invest in our kids' lives...what a blessing!

Gabby didn't get to go to the princess party because it was during her nap time. And it worked out perfectly, that both Gabby and Marty slept pretty much the whole time Meg and I were at the party! It's a good thing to, because Jeff was...working on the deck!!

Gabby is loving playing with babies these days. She gathers all her babies and makes beds for them and wraps them up in blankets. It's so cute to watch her imagination develop...I love it! She also has been playing so nicely with Megan lately. They often go down to the playroom together and will be playing for quite a while. And both Megs and Gabby love to play with Marty and carry him around...he doesn't seem to mind!!

I just bought a new comforter set for our bed. I have been looking for something with green and brown and I was so excited when I found this one...and it was 40% off!!

I think Marty might be ready to drop his morning nap. He has been sleeping in a little later these days, about 7:30am and then he doesn't want to go down for his morning nap at 9:30am. But, when he misses the morning nap and goes down around 12:30 or 1pm he sleeps for 3 hours or more! So, I don't really worry if he misses the morning naps, because he's still getting lots of sleep time. And he is still happy to go down for night at 7pm...so I can't complain!

I looked in his mouth the other day and he has 2 molars!! He still only has the 2 front top teeth and he has 3 lower front teeth and now the molars. I didn't even see them until they were through. He hasn't been unhappy at all!! Oh, and this morning I was having breakfast (peanut butter on toast) and he wanted I bite. So I thought, okay my mom's at the walkin clinic today, so if he does react I can take him in right away. I gave him 2 tiny bites with a little peanut butter on them and I just watched him for the next 1/2 hour and he was totally fine...and I think he liked it!! I was nervous to give it to him just because he's so little yet, but the allergy doctor said just give it to him. The earlier the better.

My mom and I spent the day together on Saturday because Jeff was working on the deck and I didn't feel like hanging around the house all day. My mom and I took the kids to a big garage sale and then we went to the playground to let them run around. We went back to my parents place and Gabby had a nap in my parents bed. She looked so cute and small in their bed! And Marty slept in the playpen...but not as long as he does when we are at home.

Well, that an update on our week. I need to take more pictures of the kids...this week most of the pictures were of the deck:)