Garden

Brian made two huge planter boxes to go on the side of our house that gets ton of sun. It's a perfect spot and we can't wait to get some yummy veggies growing. This will be the first time we've had a garden, so we're really excited to see how it goes. We also have 4 blueberry bushes we planted this year as well as raspberries and strawberries already planted. Last year the slugs got all the strawberries, so this year we have a few ideas in the place to keep those guys off our fruit! It's been interesting learning about all this stuff.

Camping

We went to our favorite camping spot at one of Clackamas County Parks last weekend with my parents. Brian had a three day weekend from being on call so we packed up and headed out Saturday evening. The plan was to leave a little earlier and take the kids to "Small Fry Lake" for their first fishing experience. They stock the lake with trout and we've been told the kids love it. Isaiah even got his very own fishing pole for the trip, a spider man one that he had to have! Ashley got a princess pole a few years ago, so she's been practicing. Well since we left late on Sat the plan was to go on Sunday. It ended up raining and we left a night early since Monday was predicted to have a greater chance of rain. Even thought the weather didn't hold up like we hoped we still got to play on the playground Sat night, have yummy food around the campfire and go on a hike to the swimming hole to skip rocks in the water.

Brody doesn't quite fit between those two big carseats anymore!

She loves her Papa!

And he loves his Grandpa!

Trouble

Mother's Day

I enjoyed a very special Mother's day. My mom's church has an annual brunch which we went to on Saturday. They do an amazing job with decorations, food, guest speakers and singing. We had little purses at our setting this year which was a highlight for Ashley and the theme was Hope. While we listened to the guest speaker they took all the kids in the back room to make Mother's Day gifts for us, it was really sweet and they turned out great! Steph came for a visit, so she got to go with us this year. Saturday night was Bella's birthday party, so it was fun to see everyone and celebrate. Sunday morning Brian had to work, but Steph and I took the kids and dog for a long walk down to our favorite coffee shop for breakfast. Brian came home with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and we had a nice dinner together. The best part of the day was the kids were on their best behavior. I told them it was the best gift they could give mommy!

Ashley's Mother's Day gift that she made at the brunch

Ashley walking back from putting a flower at Mary's side.

Beach House

We went to the beach house at the end of April to do a little work on the outside. It was the first time we had been there since our new property manager took over and they are doing an amazing job! I was very pleased with how well the house was kept. Brian power washed the entire outside of the house to prep it for when we stain this summer and I got to spend the day at the beach keeping the kids occupied, tough job! He worked really hard and got it all done on Sat so we could enjoy taking the kids to the park and spending time at the beach as a family. It was a gorgeous weekend.

Park

The kids love going to parks and I love finding new one's to take them to. This was at Lents park about a 10 min drive from our house. The nice part about this park is there is a lot of shade for those hot summer days. They also have a bark path to walk the dog and a public garden. It's off of a bike path we like to go on and would be a great stopping point for the kids to get out and play.