Archer Turns 2!

Finally.  Only 2 weeks late!  Pictures of my Baby Boy's birthday!

Waiting for breakfast

Presents!  He was so excited about his train track...it was the first present he opened and he just carried the box around for about 5 minutes until we convinced him to open another present.

Sock Monkey jack-in-the-box.  Really irritating, but he LOVES it.  He loves making it pop, but can't put it back in very well so every 5 seconds he brings it to me to "put away" so he can turn the handle again.

Archer went for a swim, then came inside to get dressed.  Since he's so independent these days, he insisted on doing it himself.  Not too successful, but cute!  He walked around like this (or, attempted to) for a couple of minutes.  It was pretty good entertainment.

Airplane birthday cake

candles

Yummy!

Nice & messy

We went for a hike to check on our favorite huckleberry spot (they'll be ready soon!).  The boys were "hiding" in the foliage to surprise me.

Yes, he might need a haircut soon.  Sad.

Getting ready to throw a temper tantrum...time to go home!

Reading

The Beach, Part 3

Our 2nd day started off with a walk out by the bay at low tide.  We got to watch people clamming and the boys loved collecting the empty clam shells (they each filled up a bucket full!).  We also went to the Marine Science Center on our way back which was a huge hit with all 3 boys - they especially loved the octopus & the touch tank.  The yellow submarine outside prompted the older boys to sing "Yellow Submarine" of course.

The Beach, Part 2

We got to meet up with some friends while we were at the coast.  We LOVE getting together with them...they have 3 girls who are close in age to our boys' ages and they all play so well together.  Preston spends his time showing off for their oldest, Eden, and she spends her time giggling at him.  After dinner they played for a while out on the beach, and spent a lot of time jumping off a big log.  Again, it amazes me the things that can keep kids occupied!  :)

3 boys + 3 girls = adorable.

The "babies"

Group shot

The big kids.

The Beach, Part 1

I lived in Oregon for 26 years and there have only been a handful of days that I remember the weather being warm enough at the beach to actually GO IN THE WATER without freezing.  And we got to experience 2 of those days this week!  Preston was waist-deep in the water in the bay without flinching and B & Arch were happily soaking wet as well.  We built sand-castles, collected shells, played with our friends, went in the hot tub, explored the beach...we had so much fun!  (Fair warning here: the next couple of posts will be full of pictures!)

Before the sun came out...it was still relatively warm but definitely not as pleasant as it was later in the day.

 

Digging a hole.  It's amazing how much time boys can spend digging in sand!

Even the 2 year old occupied himself the entire time.  Some of it at the expense of his brothers' sand castles...but still!

B trying to hide the stick that he found

The sun came out - it was warm enough for me to get in the water!

Boys in the bay.

B posing.  Doesn't this almost look like a tropical beach?!  Almost.

Roaring River

The other day we took a day trip to "Roaring River" which is a short drive from my parent's house (where we are staying) and it's also close to a fish hatchery.  No-brainer for us and the water- & fish-loving boys.  All was well, until I attempted to lift Archer over a log in the water and completely threw my back out.  Yes, I'm getting old.  We had fun anyway, even though we ended up leaving earlier than anticipated, and John got to wrangle all 3 boys by himself at the fish hatchery (no one fell in with the fish!).

Enchanted Forest

Today we went to Enchanted Forest.  I (of course) forgot our camera AGAIN (and our "back-up" camera also!) so we only have cell phone pictures.  I am so far behind...I still have pictures from Archer's birthday!...but I wanted to get these up so they didn't get lost.

The boys had so much fun!  Their favorite parts were #1: the abundance of slides! #2: the target shooting ride #3: panning for "gold".

Going in the rabbit hole

The witch's mouth

Archer started off with a nap

The Crooked House

The water show...the older boys watched it twice!

All 3 boys on the train