UP....with 3D glasses!

Yesterday Ryan and I took Logan to see the Disney/Pixar movie UP (the 3D version). It was his very first time to a movie theatre and HE LOVED IT. It was so cute. He had his candy, pop, popcorn and 3D glasses all ready for the show. Shortly after the movie began Logan kept saying, "Daddy...I can't see. Daddy....I can't see." Ryan looked through his glasses and they were smeared with popcorn grease; the whole view was cloudy. We were dying laughing. When it was over Logan said, " I like that place, let's get one." Apparently our TV's don't make the grade in comparison to the big screen. We had such good time....and really enjoyed the movie.

Daddy and Logan in the theatre. The greasy glasses.

Surprise!

On Saturday morning we got up early and headed to Washington for a birthday party. Our good pal Travis (of Denee' and Travis....) was being surprised with a 30th birthday celebration at Denee's parents lake house in Enumclaw, WA. We decided to take all the kiddos on the adventure. The drive was over three hours each way and we did it all in one day. It was a TIRING day to say the least but the kids had a great time and so did we. Whenever we go on a road trip I am so thankful we have a mini-van. It isn't the coolest ride out there, but it is so stinkin handy for the kiddos. The night before we left I stopped to listen at the door of Logan's room and he was quietly singing 'Happy Birthday' to Travis over and over and over. It was such a crack up because he was so excited about the impending suprise party.

The whole family!
Mt. Rainier looked like it was a mile away.Mason and Mya flocked to the bubble machine.

Logan played in the water almost the whole day....He would only get out to go potty!

Bush Park!

On Friday the kids and I met some friends at Bush Park for a day of fun. We got there about 11:00 and didn't leave until 5:00, and that was primarily due to hunger. The kids were doing awesome. The babies napped in the stroller and Logan played and played and played. We also went on a nice walk around town. I love summer and all the joy it brings!

Logan and Ella!

Logan and Ella are sitting in the window of the crooked house.

Explorers always find walking sticks!

Zoo!

Yesterday Rachel and I took the kiddos to the Oregon Zoo. The weather was beautiful, the place was packed, and we all had a great time. I love the zoo because the kids are fascinated by the animals and those of us who walk get a good dose of exercise! Woohoo for a fun outing.

Father's Day

We had such a wonderful Father's Day. We went to church and then headed to Nana and Papa's house for a BBQ. It was a low-key time to visit and enjoy eachother's company. Logan, Mason and Mya are incredibly blessed to have an amazing dad....quite possibly the best ever.

Anniversary Weekend

This Friday morning Ryan and I started out on an anniversary adventure (5 years!) without the kiddos. It was all a surprise to me. We ended up in Sisters, Oregon at the Five Pine Lodge which was incredible. I would highly recommend it. It is a cross between a 5 star resort (complete with restaurants, a spa, and a gym) and camping. It is very rustic and woodsy. To begin, we checked out all the little shops in Sisters, had lunch, headed into Bend for a steak dinner, and went to a movie after dinner. We saw The Proposal (Sandra Bullock & Ryan Reynolds) which was sooo cute. Saturday morning we woke up, went on a bike ride, got breakfast and met up with the Schachers (their 6th anniversary was on the 21st). The guys had planned a spa afternoon for Annie and I which was SO INCREDIBLE. Following that we headed to Bend again to check out the Bite of Bend and roam around. Later that night Ryan and I headed home so we would be back to spend Father's Day with our kiddos and Ryan's dad. We had such a wonderful time together. We are so blessed because we laugh SO MUCH when we are together. It is a blessing to share your life with someone who has a great sense of humor. What a wonderful, wonderful weekend.

Five Pine LodgeBiking!

The Bite of Bend--witht the Schachers of course!

Last week at the Bennett House....

This last week has kept us crazy busy for a sundry of reasons. Mason and Mya are getting busier and busier everyday. Mason can climb anything and everything which doesn't leave me with much time to blog. Mya started walking pretty stinkin' well this last week. She officially started walking the week before last which is SUCH A BLESSING! I am so thrilled that she is progressing developmentally. Praise the Lord for His grace and kindness to us and also for His hand in Mya's life.

Some other random things that have kept us hopping ....Ryan and Logan spent Sunday afternoon assembling a 'Mason resistant' toy box for the living room. Our hardwood floors were taking quite a beating from all the throwing of small toy boxes that was taking place. I love the toy boxes...they stack and hold EVERYTHING so neatly. Love them, love them, love them (landofnod.com)

The kids and I have been working on their Father's Day gifts for Ryan. We made stepping stones complete with handprints and mosaic tiles. A word to the wise...concrete, sand, paint and babies and/or young children isn't the smartest combination, however we survived.

We also started finding these little tiny pests around the house. The exterminator identified them as flour beetles so we had to tear the kitchen apart hunting for the source. WE NEVER DID FIND THE SOURCE! Ryan looked at every piece of food in our whole house one night (and no I didn't help him because I don't do indoor pests). Supposedly these little critters are often in factories and occasionally hitch a ride on our food to our houses. Kind of sick huh? I am a big wimp when it comes to bugs inside the house, I won't lie. Meanwhile, the Oregon State extension office says they are furniture beetles which would be a whole different story. Whatever they are, they seem to have gone into hiding for now.

That's how big the bug actually is...they are pretty tiny.
Up close and personal!
Ryan and I were also preparing to leave the kiddos with our moms for a couple days while we headed out of town. In order to be gone, I had lots of shopping to do (Father's Day gifts and cards, anniversary gift, etc.), laundry to wash and groceries to buy. Overall, it was just a busy week of life. Well, that's about covers the highlights for the week. Blessings!

Fun with Friends!

If Logan and Melia ever end up getting married...they will definintely have some great slideshow pictures! Just kidding but we will probably keep joking about it until they know better.

A little bitty Strawberry Patch and a lot of mud!

Tonight Aunt Rachel invited us over to pick strawberries with her and Addi in a little strawberry patch in their yard. Mason and Mya were napping (under the supervision of Holly, of course) so Logan and I went over to pick strawberries with Rachel and Addi. The kids picked strawberries for a short time until they got intrigued the nearby water spicket. Our tidy strawberry picking quickly progressed into water exploration and mud production. They had a blast, but by the end of the evening they had to get stripped and hosed off. What fun memories summer brings!

Really?

This morning, following a breakfast of Mickey Mouse pancakes, the kids were playing nicely with Mega Blocks so I decided to quickly try to sort/start some laundry. After a few minutes I came into the living room to the sight of Logan diving under the coffee table in an attempt to hide. Those of you with kiddos know that this means someone, and or everyone, is UP TO NO GOOD. After a quick glance around the room I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, so I began to walk out when I smelled baby powder. After further investigation I found that Logan, Mason and Mya had dumped an ENTIRE, GIANT sized bottle of baby powder all over the living room. Most of the mess was sort of hidden from sight by our large coffee table, so I hadn't noticed it at first. Typically in situations like these...Logan is the brains of the operation and Mason and Mya are the 'clueless' cohorts (kind of like Jasper and Horace on 101 Dalmatians). I put Mason and Mya to bed (it was their nap time anyway), and began operation tidy up the living room. I debated about whether or not to have Logan help me because he loves using rags and water to clean. He would do it all day long if we would let him--so I almost felt like I was rewarding him. But in the end I did have him help me clean up the mess and we actually had a good time together. He would clean for a few minutes and then morph into Buzz Lightyear, flying off the couch shouting "to infinity and beyond". Then he would clean again....he actually did a pretty good job. The real bummer about baby powder is that it settles in the air and on EVERYTHING ELSE TOO! We cleaned up for a good solid hour. PS: For some reason if you try to vacuum up large quantities of baby powder with an upright vacuum cleaner, you get shocked a lot. I would recommend the canister type vacuum for this type of clean-up. Well for what it's worth....my hardwood floors got a relatively decent cleaning and I probably burned a few calories!

I think it snowed here!Mason is okay with getting dirty! In fact he even seems to enjoy it!

Mya looked down at herself and realized she was getting dirty. She immediately started sobbing!
I got this far with the upright before I switched to the other vacuum. I was seriously getting shocked A LOT.
The baby powder dust left behind!
Logan's Janitorial Service to the rescue!
To infinity and beyond!

Wild Weather!

This was the post I was attempting to write when I got side tracked talking about The Container Store in the last post. Shortly after we began our shopping venture, Ryan called and sounded a little worried/distressed. He wanted to know where Logan and I were (Holly was home with the babies), and if we were in the car. I was semi-irritated, being honest, because he knew where we were and I was wanting to focus on the tasks at hand-SHOPPING! Turns out he was worried because there was a storm advisory issued and there was intense rain, wind and lightning in Salem and it was heading North. Since we were about 40 minutes away from home he was wanting us to get home. So Logan and I got back in the car, after a mere 15 minutes in The Container Store, and headed home. I have to say I was a little scared while driving I-5. The clouds were very dark and the wind was intense. There was paper and other random things (a couple pillows?) in the air. The radio stations were broadcasting those emergency weather updates with the long beeps. Logan was freaked out. He kept telling everyone at The Container Store, "We gotta go, the weather's gettin' bad." The minute we got in the car he fell asleep and didn't wake up until we got home. He is a little worry-wart, so I was thankful that the Lord gave him rest. Anyway, on the way home there were down power lines and accidents....and of course when I got home we didn't have power, so we picked up dinner and headed into Grammy's house. When we woke up this morning the power was back on, and all had calmed down but the wild weather did provide some excitement for the evening.

The Container Store

Yesterday Logan and I made a quick trip to Bridgeport Village to visit The Container Store. I love that place with a passion because I love bags/totes. Not just handbags, but diaper bags, reusable shopping bags, picnic totes, lunch bags, overnight bags and pretty much any other type of bag you could imagine. A couple of my latest finds have been 1. an amazing neoprene lunch tote that feels like a wet suit and keeps food cold forever 2. very cool reusable shopping totes that are wide at the bottom and have cool floral graphics 3. a brown and green tote that looks like a little like a shopping basket. I think my fascination with bags stems from loving to be organized. A place for everything and everything in it's place. Nothing frustrates me more than getting somewhere and having all our gear strewn all over. There is always a slew of stuff requiring a place...sand toys, picnic lunches, sunscreen, chapstick, etc. I prefer not to stuff it all in one giant bag and hope for the best because WE LOSE STUFF EVERYWHERE....I can't tell you how many pairs of sunglasses and hats we have lost this year alone. My favorite finds yesterday were the basket tote and the CUTE reusable bags. I never remember to take the reusable bags into stores to actually cut down on plastic bag consumption (which I hope to get better at), but I love having them in the van for random times when I need a bag. For example, the other day the plastic bag our sand toys were in ripped so I had oodles of sand toys rolling all over the van. The shopping basket one is going to be for picnics and various other outdoor outings. I like the kids being able to see what's inside to cut down on the needless dumping of the WHOLE snack sack every time someone is looking for a treat. When we are on our little outings (zoo, museum, friends' house, etc.), I find my mind wandering to bags....cool little (or large) bags and or handy containers that would be perfect for the moment. Kind of sad, I know....but I just can't help it (I think I'm a little OCD).

It collapses and has a soft handle that lays down! How cool is that?

For the van....

fold them up and stuff them in!

Green All Around

Today the kids and I went over to Tony and Rachel's house to enjoy the sunshine. Logan and Addi played in the sprinkler and LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT. Mason and Mya kept trying to eat the wood chips and climb in the hammock, and Lilly just slept. As I was looking through the pictures I took today I was noticing all the beautiful summer green. We are so fortunate in the Willamette Valley to be surrounded by agriculture and amazing landscape. Sometimes I forget how blessed we are to live in the Northwest!