three years

 Josie and I spent some good quality time together at the park on a sunny day a couple weeks ago when she wasn't feeling well enough to go to school (yes, she was well enough to play at the park but not well enough to go to school; I was surprised by how many people questioned the logic of this). I remembered a photo that she patiently posed for me to take almost exactly three years ago, and we both agreed it would be fun to recreate.  So, here's Josie three years ago, at the adorable age of two:

And here's big girl Josie, at the ginormous age of five (same park, but with slightly reconfigured playground equipment):

first snow of the season

Portland had its first snowfall of the season today, starting up just as we were heading out the door for swim lessons.  It wasn't much and it certainly didn't stick around for long, but it was enough for the kids to get some frolicking in... and to taunt their sister from 5,000 miles away.

...and they're off!!

 Andrew and Avery both got off on their respective trips this morning, Avery to Edinburgh via NYC and Andrew to NYC via... well, via nothing as it was a non-stop flight.  They were on different airlines scheduled to leave at the same time.  Checking in on their progress 2 hours into flight time, we can see that Avery is slightly in the lead as her flight left 4 minutes early. She is currently over the North/South Dakota border and is scheduled to land at 2:38pm EST, 27 minutes early:

Andrew's flight, on the other hand, is still lingering over Montana because it left 16 minutes late.  Magically (or because of the airlines' incessant need to make it appear as if every flight is "on time"), he is still scheduled to arrive at 2:48pm EST, 14 minutes early:

 

The rest of us are just at home, feeling sleepy and very thankful that today is a late opening at school.  Cayden is going to stay home sick with congestion and a cough that he just can't beat, but Josie will head in as usual.  She seems pretty much unfazed by the mass exodus of her favorite family members this morning, but the true test will be bedtime tonight.

nothing better to do

I got called in to pick Josie up from school about 25 seconds after I dropped her off this morning because she wasn't feeling well.  That pretty much scrapped all the plans I had for the day, so instead I did nothing.  Except for taking all these presidential photos.

As you can tell from the candy cane, Miss J made a miraculous recovery

sick day

I decided at about 1am to keep all three kids home.  Whatever this stomach virus is, it comes on fast & furious, and the thought of the third kid getting sick at school was just too awful to imagine.  I emailed all the teachers, called both attendance offices, texted all of our carpool & playdate friends, and called it a day.

So far, no more puking.  There hasn't been much eating either, but we will introduce that slowly. 

I certainly don't mind another day off, but I sure was hoping to get some top-secret Christmas stuff done today.  Oh well, there's always tomorrow.  Hopefully.

little bits o' nothing

Josie was home for the sixth day in a row today (with the four-day weekend plus two sick days... so far) and Andrew's out of town all week for work, so I'm starting to feel a little nutty.  Aside from the non-stop chatter, I just would so appreciate a few minutes of solitude*.  But, I'm trying to keep things in perspective and realize that this too shall pass.  Someday she'll be off to college and I'll have an empty nest and wonder where all my babes have gone.  Someday.

* * *

Last night I brought all three kids to an important meeting that I didn't feel like I could miss, that just happened to be at a pizza place.  Sure, Josie probably should have been at home getting to bed early, but I tried to just pop in and pop out, and used the locale as a great excuse to skip cooking.  Little did I realize until I climbed into bed (at 9:30, thankyouverymuch), that I had forgotten to eat any dinner myself.  15 hours is apparently too long of a day for me to be expected to retain any brain function.  Tonight is a fundraiser night at a restaurant close to ballet, so I'm using that as another great excuse to skip cooking.  When I'm solo-parenting, I place absolutely no importance on home-cooked meals.  Something's gotta give, and if it's that instead of my sanity, I'm all for it.

* * *

Today I'm trying to focus on some sprucing up in my studio, because nothing is more pleasing to me than a home project.  I took Josie to IKEA to buy some shelves, but figured out that even if I got someone to help me get the boxes into my car, the chances of finding someone to help get them into the house and then down to the basement were slim to none, so I put that off.  I did get some baskets and another lamp and a few other accessories (a clock... finally!) though, so I'm hoping to make bits of progress over the next couple days.  Today's tasks* included going through the boxes full of hand-me-down clothes for Josie and boxes of wrapping paper and ribbon.  I learned two things: I am terrible at remembering that Josie has all these clothes just waiting for her.  I had to send a whole bag of stuff to Goodwill that she's already outgrown.  And if I ever get the urge to buy another roll of wrapping paper or ribbon again in my life, I hope someone will stop me.  Seriously, I should start a gift wrapping service over the holidays; I have so much of it.



*Thanks to my mom, I did get to abandon Josie for a couple hours to lead a lit circle at Avery's school, my new favorite way to spend my Wednesday mornings. 

**Neither of these tasks are directly related to my studio at all, but the stuff was spilling out into my space, so it had to be addressed.

reunited, and it feels so good

anyone know anything about spokane?

We're going to cram one last trip in before school starts, heading to Spokane on Friday.  I've heard it's great and it's only 40 minutes away from a restaurant that I fell in love with during our Utah trip last year.  Silly reason to go somewhere 6 hours away?  Perhaps.  But we got a steal of a deal on a hotel that has two pools and a waterslide, so no one here is complaining. 

So... anyone have any travel tips for Spokane & Coeur d'Alene?

sunriver, take two

We're heading out today for our second Sunriver trip in as many weeks, although this one shouldn't be quite as kid-packed as the last go-around.  I'm hoping to sleep in at least once, to eat out at least twice and to see some deer, none of which happened during our last trip.

best day of the summer

I feel like we have one of these every summer--those perfect days when everyone gets along and is enthusiastic about what the day has in store.  Ideally, there is no agenda for this kind of summer day, it's got more of a "go with the flow" kind of vibe to it.  2012's best day of summer was today.  Kids newly home from camp (i.e. everyone is still being nice to each other), no camps or classes or playdates or meetings, tons of sun.  The plan was simple: tram and fountain.  Nothing fancy, but it was sublime. 

 

Admission: I went a little overboard on the photography front but I've suddenly become re-energized.

quality mother-josie time

Two days into our big-kid-free week, Josie & I are surviving quite well.  We hit the beach yesterday for a surprisingly long stretch of sand time (I usually try to limit that as much as possible--I know at least two of my friends will totally understand) and mostly stayed home today for some much-needed down time.  She is definitely harder to please without her sibs here, fairly constantly asking for something or another.  But I can tell that she is really enjoying the one-on-one time.

Andrew took her on an evening walk a few minutes ago, so I'm going to hurry up and enjoy some empty-house time before they come back.  Ahh... empty house.

off to camp

The elder pair of children left for camp yesterday*.  I am missing them already, but sure they're having the time of their lives.

For the first time ever (or in three years, whatever) Josie did not cry at the drop-off.  She was heading off to Grace's party as soon as they were properly sent off, so she was more than happy to say goodbye.  She was put in charge of one of Avery's stuffed animals this week and so far she is taking the job very seriously.  Super cute.

Cayden headed off with four of his best friends from school, and we learned they will all be in the same cabin.  He is going to have a great time for sure, but I hope they can stop goofing around enough to really enjoy the experience.  After all, we could rotate houses and have a week's worth of sleepovers for free.

Josie and I have big plans for the week ahead (including a beach trip today and a "lazy day" tomorrow), which will hopefully keep the two of us from driving each other crazy.  No one in this family is very used to so much one-on-on time. 

*I'm not going to post anything camp-related until the kiddos are home on Saturday--just seems like the prudent thing to do.

gorge hike

fisheye: cabin creek falls

180mm: cabin creek falls

28mm: avery halfway up cabin creek falls

panoramic: columbia river gorge

a, j, c in front of hole in the wall falls

josie-jo at hole in the wall

avery, doing what she does

cayden's favorite day ever

hood river

We're just back from a whirlwind day of hiking and sightseeing in the Gorge.  We went on this easy hike through Starvation Creek, and we weren't the least bit intimidated by the name.  We spent over an hour (twice--on the way in and the way back) at the Hole in the Wall Falls, definitely the best (and newest) falls of all.  Once we were thoroughly exhausted from all that hiking and splish-splashing, we headed 10 miles farther into Hood River for some completely delicious Mexican food, walked around the Port which was crowded with windsurfers, found some ice cream and headed home. Whew.

We've already had requests to go back tomorrow or next weekend, so I think it was a hit!

dog days

I'm sure if I took the time and wasn't too mortified to think what I would discover, I could find almost this exact same post from every summer that I've had this humble little blog.  We're about halfway through summer break and I'm loving/hating it, depending on the hour.  My brain is completely foggy because I'm spending 18+ hours a day with children and it's sunny and we're on the go every second of every day.  It's amazingly fun and exhausting and I never want it to end/can't wait for school to start in September.

We spent the afternoon at a fountain downtown with Christie & Henry (along with Avery and Grace) and there were even Voodoo Doughnuts.  With the smell of sunscreen in the air, the kids had a blast and the mothers were doing okay until some important keys got lost and a certain brother & sister pair wouldn't stop arguing in the car.  Days like today make me think I have the best job in the world/seriously need to look for out-of-the-house employment.  Either way, for good or/and bad, days like today make me tired.

summer

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook the other day: It's a sad state of affairs when a one hour solo trip to Fred Meyer (in the quiet of the morning) feels like a five star vacation. Summer: I love you, but you're kind of kicking my ass. 

That last line is really resonating with me this week.

this one time... at dance camp...

Avery was in a ballet camp this week with her all-time favorite teacher at my all-time favorite Portland park.  The camp was designed to be a "ballet intensive" for ages 7-16, but it ended up being a beginning/intermediate class for a gaggle of 7-year-olds with two 12-year-olds thrown in for good measure.  Regardless, Avery had a fabulous time and was very excited to be front and center in the end performance.

oaks park goodness