camping // the boys first time!

we were always pretty daring when it came to doing things when our boys were babies.  our kids have flown countless times, spent a crazy amount of hours in the car on road trips & they've spent more nights in hotels than i even know.  but one thing we were never brave enough to do with babies was go camping.  camping with a newborn?  nope.  with a crawler?  yeah freaking right.  even last summer when elliot was just shy of two years old it wasn't even on the table.

so this was our summer to break them in.

and it turns out they are at the perfect age to take camping.  they LOVED it.  they were giddy about their sleeping bags, they packed their own backpacks full of the things they wanted to bring & were just so excited about the whole idea of it all.  and thank goodness they are both old enough to understand the whole "take your shoes off in the tent & zip it up behind you" thing because my ocd self just doesn't do dirt & bugs in my sleeping bag.  but if i had a penny for every time i reminded them of that i would probably have a dollar.

we camped at oxbow regional park just outside of portland.  it's like twenty minutes from our house & sure your closest couple of camping neighbors are just a stone's throw away but it was just right for our first-timers.  it's right on the sandy river & has plenty of safe water-play river access.  there were lots of woods the boys could safely run through within eyesight of our camp & the wildlife were used to all the people so there were lots of deer sightings.

we had good company (sam's parents, sister & her husband), lots of good food (obviously a given when camping) and amazing weather.  we had so much fun that i've spent a good part of my day looking up tent trailers on craigslist so we could do this kinda thing twice as much with half the work.  hey west coast road trip, we're coming for ya!

so much fun.

parker // you're four!

here we are, one year older.

i just re-read parker's three year old birthday post & it's funny, not a lot has changed in a year.  he's just gotten bigger.  all his favorites are still his favorites... thomas, dinosaur train, spelling, counting, oatmeal, yogurt, toast, chicken nuggets, chipotle, chocolate milk, french toast.  he loves to dance, snuggle (oh my goodness, he LOVES to snuggle), he's obsessed with frozen, his blanket & his little bear.  he's getting better at dressing himself (today he was asked to go get a new pair of underwear & a couple hours later i realized he had just put the new pair on over the top of the first pair.  DEAD.  so funny!)  he is a peacemaker & loves his baby brother so much & hates to hear him cry.

if i had to describe parker in one word it would be sweet.  he's the biggest little sweetheart.  he's silly & sensitive & does what he's asked & just loves to be home & cozy & comfortable.  he's my little homie.  sure, he still has his moments... if there's something he wants he'll ask & ask & ask until you come to realize there's just no doing anything else until you've taken care of whatever it is he wants.  he's persistent.  his favorite word is "why?"  so many of my answers are just met with another "why" until i finally ask him why he thinks it is & that'll usually buy me some time.

parker started preschool in the fall but due to some unfortunate circumstances, his preschool had to close.  he told us he really didn't wanna go to a new school & we weren't in a hurry to get him in one so he's currently not in any school.  i think he needs something, though.  whether we do swim lessons, soccer or t-ball this summer, he needs some sort of challenge outside of the walls of our house & we're excited to enter that stage of involvement in our family.  my days of being a soccer mom are just around the corner!  and who doesn't want that?

i'm not gonna lie, the first half of three was a little tough.  it was true, the terrible two's had nothing on three.  but once he rounded the 3 & a half mark, he mellowed out.  and i hear really good things about four.  he can be reasoned with or bargained with & he's just so much fun.  it's so fun to see the world through his eyes & i completely understand how kids get spoiled.  when they start "getting it"... ya know, it's amazing to see them get excited.

we made a countdown chain for parker's birthday this year, so for 45 days leading up to the big day he'd run out to the living room each morning to rip off a chain.  when his birthday finally came, he wanted a chocolate donut with sprinkles & chocolate milk for breakfast.  we went to northwest trek for the day with sam's parents & sam's sister & husband.  he wanted costco hot dogs for dinner & so that's what we had.  the day was made complete with frozen for movie night & chocolate cupcakes.  the day was kinda awesome.

i think four is gonna be a good year.  he'll start preschool in the fall & spend the summer playing sports & learning how to swim.  hopefully we find a house sooner than later & four is the year he becomes a portland-er.  i am still surprised daily at how much my heart loves this little guy... how i look at him & see the little freckles that sprinkle his nose & wonder how it's possible to just love him more & more everyday.  apparently it's totally possible, who knew?

happy fourth birthday to my little first born.  can't wait to watch you grow one year older.  i think this year is gonna be a good one, p-ray.

haircuts // elliot's first & parker's a pro.

so it should be said that i'm attempting to write this post while watching hunger games: catching fire & i'm in the midst of katniss et al eating raw fish & battling flesh-eating monkeys, raining blood, etc.  so hopefully i can make some intelligible sentences... we'll see.

sam came home tonight & i had pork chops thawing in the fridge ready for a lovely little meal for this family.  but it just wasn't one of those cook a nice meal & sit down as a family to eat dinner kinda nights.  it was gorgeous out & we were feeling restless.  do you have those nights?  i had plenty of errands that needed running & it's always easier to do 'em with sam.  item number one?  haircuts for scraggly haired little boys.

i'd been putting off haircuts for these guys for months.  not for a lack of needing 'em though.  elliot has double cowlicks & has always had crazy hair.  it does what it wants.  parker's hair is super fine & straight & makes for a pretty sweet mullet.  despite the need for new 'do's, i was dreading getting them done because my boys are historically pretty resistant to anything hair/head related.

anywho, you can see below that the need was great.  and it went about as smoothly with elliot as we had expected, ie: screaming, crying, red-faced resistance.  but parker was an old pro!  nothing a little distraction with the iPad & a sucker couldn't cure.  obviously it was my job to document it all.

^^were those duck lips?  pretty sure those were duck lips.

also, catching fire just ended & i pretty much hated it.  i really didn't get attached to any of the characters like you do in the book but i guess that's to be expected in the adaptation to screen.  is it weird to love the way the hunger games series makes your heart hurt, though?  it makes me sick to think about a world where all this stuff would happen but at the same time the emotion is so raw & desperate & i can't help but be sucked in.

and last?  i just watched the video for "midnight" by coldplay & there's a greater chance i'll have nightmares about that than hunger games.  weird!

someday i'm gonna miss this.

i mentioned in a previous post that we're looking to move to portland.  and although this move feels like it's forever away {ugh, house hunting... that's for a whole other post} it's definitely right on the tip of my mind at almost all times.  saying goodbye to friends.  to our little house that has been home for the last seven years.  and to this little town we've grown to love so much in the meantime.

olympia is comfortable.  we have "our places."  we have the amazing hole-in-the-wall restaurants we take our friends from out of town to & i have running routes memorized like the back of my hand for all mileages.  and it really is a cool city.  honestly, if sam didn't have to drive an hour to work each way every day, we could be very happy here for a very long time.  and we have been!  but it's time to move on & while that brings a ton of excitement, the reality of saying goodbye to some of these places puts a pit in my stomach.

so while we wait {anxiously!} for that perfect house to come on the market our time will be spent soaking it all in.  getting out & enjoying the salty marine air, swinging at the city park & stuffing our faces with some of our favorite local foods.  running around capitol lake, hitting up the farmer's market or feeding the goats at the cider mill a few more times, too.

this town has shown us lots of good times & while we have a big new city to get to know soon enough, i guess it's not the worst thing in the world if we're stuck here a couple more months while we await the next big adventure in our lives.

parkerlyfe | peanut butter & jelly sandwich maker.

you guys... so far having a three year old is awesome.  this kid is hilarious & so grown up.  who knew making pb&j could be so much fun?

and also?  maybe you should think twice about having a pb&j over at our house... because a whole lot of the above was going on.  double dipping... about twenty times.  ha!  love this little monster.