A little of this, and a little of that!

Just a quick catch-up of our week in the INSANELY HOT Willamette Valley!

#1

Who: Bennetts (us), Bennetts (Ryan's brother & fam), Kogers (family friends)

What: Devils Lake to beat the valley heat

Info: On Sunday, my sister-in-law had the awesome idea to take the kiddos to the lake house for a couple days to avoid the heat wave that was headed our way as well as relax and enjoy the coast. We packed up and headed out with the kids and the boys (Ryan and Tony) were able to join us later that night. The Kogers had been at the rental house next door for several days so we got to hang out with them too! We had a great time and the kiddos all had a BLAST in the sunshine. Tanning, tubing, wakeboarding, playing on the beach, making smores by moonlight, and good friends and family. What's not to love about that?

Faith and Logan at the beach!Mya loves the sprinkler!

Just about back at the dock!Uncle Tony and Addi!Uncle Tony is so sweet! Mason and Mya got a wagon ride all around the yard!

#2

Who: Ryan, Tara & Logan (and LOTS of others too!)

What: Melia's 4th birthday party at the new Keizer splash park
Info: High School Musical was in the air...and that air was 107 degrees in case you were curious! It was hot, hot, hot! The kids loved the water and all the birthday treats. Yeah for Miss Melia!

Logan, Melia and Ella!

and their crocs too! How fun to have good buddies!

#3

Who: Mason and mommy!
What: A day together for Mason's check-up at OHSU and then some errand running... Costco, Target, just the basics
Info: It was so sweet to spend the day with Mason. I rarely spend time with him alone so it was a real treat. He loved it...and of course flirted with everyone we met. He is quite the charmer and it is far more noticable when Mya isn't around to steal the limelight (cute, chunky babies with giant hairbows tend to attract a fair amount of attention). It was an extra special afternoon with my littlest man!

Not much beats frozen yogurt at Costco!

#4

Who: Tara & Logan (and many other friends)
What: Ella's 4th birthday party
Info: The cutest mermaid cake that you ever did see! Way to go Shauna! PS: My lack of luck with technology this week continued as my camera had a 'rendezvous' with the pool. Apparently digital cameras don't love water...hmmmm...who'da thunk it???

#5

Who: Ryan and Tara (and NO KIDDOS)
What: Sugarland Concert
Info: We went up to the Edgefield (McMenamin's) to see Sugarland LIVE outside on the lawn. It was so stinkin' fun! We ended up with really good seats...thanks to my friend makin' hubby. We were sitting the perfect distance from the stage (with some shade) with people who had arrived early that day while we didn't get there until an hour after the doors opened. Whoooo! We lucked out on that one. Great concert, great music and great company!

Great Oregon Steam-Up!

Today Ryan, myself, grammy (my mom), and the kiddos went to the 39th annual Great Oregon Steam-up in good ol' Brooks. We had a really nice time riding the small scale trains, checking out antique farm equipment, looking at fire engines, exploring the truck museum, eating kettle corn, devouring shaved ice (the good kind that's like snow) and watching the tractor pull. It was really hot but the kids rallied and we had a really fun afternoon. We even made it home with everybody's hats and shoes. I honestly think that might be the first time I have made it home with all three hats. We ALWAYS lose somebody's hat or shoes--okay, primarily Mason's, but nevertheless...not this time.

Logan by the scale model truck at the truck museum....this place was like heaven for Logan...trucks, trucks and more trucks!I don't really remember what this is...but it was cool. This is where my true "non-agricultural" roots show. I seriously don't know what ANYTHING is. I just smile, nod and act like I know what people are talking about....(not always, but more times than I like to admit).

Ryan and Mason on the little locomotive. The boys loved it, but suprise Miss Mya held onto me for dear life...peeking over my shoulder a few times.

The whole family...staring right into the bright, HOT sun!

Mason and Mya minus the hats and shoes. Truth be told, Ryan got tired of picking them up off the ground so he stuck them in the bottom of the stroller and left them there. Maybe that's why we made it home with all of them....hmmmm!

A 'small pool' party

Ryan worked most of the day today so my mom and I had a little backyard pool party with the kiddos at her house. She and Logan set up the little pools and we all took in some sun! We aren't all that accustomed to these 90 degree summer days around here. Mom was even kind enough to watch the kiddos tonight so Ryan and I could grab some dinner...I can't resist Red Robin's steak fries. I think they are probably 2 points each on Weight Watchers (haha...Just kidding). Anything that tastes that good has to be sinful and hip hugging. Cheers!

Technological Blunder !??!?!!???

I have been a 'not-so-faithful' blogger this last week as my laptop is having issues. I already got a new motherboard (I say that like I know what it is, huh?) a couple months ago and now I need a new hard drive. I am not at all opposed to the inconvenience of having it serviced....but when the hard drive died...IT TOOK ALL MY STUFF WITH IT! Ryan and I have had many long conversations with the not-so-local employees of Dell. So to make a long story short...I have to do everything on our desktop computer which is located in our room. For those of you who aren't around Mason and Mya much...that means I can't use the computer unless everyone is napping or at least safely confined which is like...uh...NEVER. Mason will climb and destroy anything in his path. So I will be sort of in-and-out of blogging for a while. Blessings to you all!

PS: I was right in the middle of posting the cutest pictures of Ryan and Logan walking towards eachother in an onion field and now the picture is lost...what a bummer huh?

Basket Tags...Kind of fun!

All this recent talk of labeling caused me to remember a project that has been on my mind the last few months. There is a shelf in our bedroom lined with baskets in hopes of organizing my 'crafty' and 'officey' type stuff. When God gave us Mason and Mya, our previous office became the nursery...hence all the baskets. I have been wanting to make little tags with ribbons to label the contents of the basket while still looking chic and quaint . Finally today I got motivated and got it done. I thought it came out pretty cute....

Switcheroo!

Today we went to Quinn's 2nd birthday party. (Quinn is one of Ryan's cousins' kiddos.) Ryan and I came up with the random idea to switch Mason and Mya's clothes and see if anybody at the party would notice. Believe me....anyone who sees them very often would not be fooled...but these were mostly extended family we see every couple of months. So we put Mason in a hair bow and flowered shorts and put Mya in one of Mason's outifts. What was really funny was that nobody noticed. They just commented on how darling Mya was (LOL), and how cute Mason was. Truth be told...Mason doesn't make a super cute girl, but I actually loved seeing Mya dressed like a little boy because she looked just like Logan did at that age. So finally we shared our secret, which got a pretty good laugh out of everybody, and switched them back to the right clothes.

The party was DARLING! Krissy did a stellar job if I do say so myself. The food was great and the kiddos loved the pinata. They also loved playing on Quinn's new trampoline. You know me...I love to celebrate!

Daddy and Mason (dressed like Mya)!

Me and Mya (dressed like Mason)!Logan and Jack eating cake and ice-cream! Mason and Mya enjoying the trampoline dressed in the RIGHT clothes!

Berries....Lots of Berries

I love all the berries that summer brings. They are so good on ice cream, in cobblers and I love to freeze them. Well, actually I love having frozen berries but I hate washing them and freezing them. It's such a hassle. I do however LOVE the labeler I got last month. It makes mundane household tasks seem fun...like freezing berries. I have been labeling pretty much anything and everything! Praise the Lord for the small things in life.