Bend 2009 - A Summer's Evening

On Wednesday it was a scorcher, though not quite as bad as 103 degrees would feel back home! In the afternoon we went to the local pool to cool off and some clouds rolled in and brought the temperature down a bit. When we got home we had dinner and then went out to the front yard to wind down. The kids were playing with a toy airborne soldier with working parachute and I was just taking in the view. Then, both Ty and Hailey started coming over and lying on me while waiting for their turn with the parachute. Val started snapping pictures and voila! The evening temp was so perfect and the sun was just going down. It reminded me of the last scene in Field of Dreams as Ray (son) and Jon (father) Kinsella are playing a game of father and son catch. It was perfect! (BTW I recommend the book the movie was based on, Shoeless Joe).

The ladies wondering what the guys are up to.

Tyler giving flight to Mr. Airborne.

My turn! I'll race ya!

I want to watch ON my Daddy!

Hey, I want on my Daddy too!

A job well done.

The rare Quigglekid hug with no screaming!

Freckles

It may just be me, but I think he is looking so grown up. And check out these little freckles (if you can see them in this little picture) and even more (if that's possible) bleached eye brows.

Whip Cream

Have we mentioned that our kids LOVE whip cream. And to be honest we give it to them fairly regularly on pancakes or jello or strawberries. But really, this is a bit ridiculous, don't you think?

What it takes

Yesterday we discovered what it takes to give Tyler a truely happy and satisfying day:

3.5 hours of bike riding

2 runs up Grammy's driveway (a total of close to 1/2 mile)

2 hours of swimming

All leading to about 1.5 minutes to fall asleep.

Yikes...is all I can say.....both for how much energy he has in that he was able to do all of that in one day and in fear of how I am going to keep him entertained this winter.

The three plus hour bike ride was our day out with Tyler. Hailey stayed home with Grammy and Dave, Tyler, and I drove up to Sunriver. We have actually never been there before. There are bike trails everywhere and it looks like a fun place to rent a house with a bunch of friends! But our day was filled with biking and we all had a great time.

Bend 2009 - Old Mill

Here in Bend they have a downtown area call the Old Mill. It is actually a great spot with lots of new shops, plenty of walking paths all along the river, lots of places to eat, lots of grass to play and hang out on, and just an over all nice ambiance. We went there tonight and had some take out picnic style on the grass. After dinner we grabbed the kids bikes and hit the trail for a fun ride. Oh and have we mentioned this milestone??

Yep, Hailey grew that last little bit she needed to reach the pedals of Tyler's old bike. So, now she's on her "big girl bike" and loving it. She's got all the strength and pedal power needed but we're still working on the steering. The paths at Old Mill are great for her.

Here's the view down river from one of the bridges. There were a lot of people on the river this evening. Hailey and Tyler thought it was great fun to see people go under the bridge and then come out the other side.

Let the biking begin...
And this his how we ended. There were no injuries, this is what tuckered Quiggle bikers look like.

Mom, I'm out of energy

I want to try!

And I'm trying to get more self portraits so the kids can remember what their parents once looked like. Here we are.

If I can't see, they can't see

I've noticed recently that when I ask Hailey not to do something and she still really wants to do it, she closes her eyes and tries it again. It's as if she's thinking if I can't see me doing it, they can't see me doing it. It's quite funny to watch though I try to look not at all pleased. Sort of along these lines, Hailey has always been a "hider" when she is pooping. At home she has her "spots" behind the couch, in the pantry, etc. Well here at Grammy's she hasn't really found her spot yet so she is making do with the "closed eye" method, or maybe I should say wrapped head method. This is currently her "spot".

Bend 2009 - Family Photos

Here are some rare family photos that inlcude all of us. Thanks to Grammy for taking them at Drake Park in Downtown Bend last night.

Of course, we couldn't go a photo shoot without this one.
A few photos of each of us with the Quigglekids.

Cousin Katie has been with us in Bend (which Ty has loved) and here is a pretty good photo of all of us at Drake Park after strolling through the farmer's market and having a picnic in the park.

Bend 2009 - What Life is Like

Here's a few photos for those that might wonder what Bend is like. The city itself is decidedly less rustic, but this is what we wake up and go to bed to while we are here.

Sunset

Watering Grandpa John's hay with the wheel line.
No, to any friends of Dave's at work, this deer was not eaten.Again, not eaten.

One last time, not eaten.

Bend 2009 - Day 1

(ghost authored by Dave)

Let the Bend vacation begin. Since Val and I got together, we have pretty much made at least an annual trip, if not several, to see her folks in Bend, OR. We have really been looking forward to this year's trip because it will be our longest yet, two weeks, and with hailey a fully functional toddler the schedule and activities should pretty much appeal to both her and Tyler. For the first few days of the trip, Katie Bunge is visiting also and Tyler has been very excited to see her and play with her.

The first day saw a trip to the Juniper Water Park in Bend. It's a fantastic place with fun for kids of all ages and Tyler's swimming lessons over the past year really paid off. He could take care of himself while we watched at a distance and the best part is that he can go down the big twisting slide all by himself.

The day could end nowhere else but the Pilot Butte Drive-in for burgers and shakes. I guess it was more like shakes and burgers. A good start to the vacation!

The Juniper Water Park.

Hailey on the 'teeny weenie slide'.

Ty and Katie jumping in.

You go first! No, you go first!

Happy faces!

The recovery meal.

Bend Vacation - The drive

Dave is on vacation, yeah! and we made it to Bend. It was a late night and early morning of packing but we made it out of the house around 8ish this morning. The car was packed down.....

I thought we were pretty prepared with things for the kids to do but by Kirkland we already had to break out the hi-tech gadgets.

We did make it to Gresham (our big stop with lots of playing on the playground) without too much trouble. Tyler only told us "I really want to be in Bend" about 150 times (literally). After Gresham it was time for Hailey's nap. Tyler, however, was the one sleeping (who knew snakes could be so snuggly). Introducing every childs favorite stuffed anaconda....Slither!

Hailey on the other hand was busy not sleeping and reading my magazine.

Now we are here and the fun can begin.....that is if we can get these kiddos to sleep tonight.

Day Out With Thomas

We did our third annual Day Out With Thomas this last Sunday. This has always been such a big deal for Tyler and while he enjoyed it this year, it was Hailey who was really awed over the whole thing. The day includes a train ride (Thomas is the engine pulling/pushing the train) and then all kinds of Thomas activities upon your return from the train ride. The train ride probably lasts about 20 minutes and is repeated over and over again throughout the day. Well, Hailey, who was just overwhelmed to see Thomas "in person" in the first place, burst into tears when Thomas started chugging down the track right when we got there....before we got on the train. She didn't understand that he'd be back and we'd be boarding. Here are a few pictures of the day.

Thomas
Excited Hailey while riding on Thomas
The Thomas friends that did not make it up to Snoqualmie

One of these two is the best group picture we could get (with the Belzer's)...real hard to get 4 kids to stand still
One of the train stations