September 2013 album: summery fall

Here’s my eager first-grader, ready to ride to school on his first day.  I love our tradition of riding bikes to school in September, just before it starts raining.  September is always a beautiful transition into fall – cool mornings and evenings, but it still feels like summer.  Dean always looks forward to the start of school!

     

With Dean in school, it means these two kiddos get some Mommy days.  The Children’s Museum is one of our favorite play places.

  

We spent one of those crazy evenings with the Mannhards over for dinner and the kids hadn’t seen each other for a while over the summer.  I think we were planning out Tracy and Rene’s baby shower.  These six are trouble.

    

Matt and I spent lots of time this month staring at our house after the asbestos tile shingles were removed.  We wondered how much work we had just uncovered, the neverending can of worms that is our home sweet home.  We were picking exterior paint colors and arguing over the merits of monks cloth versus stony field.  (We went with stony field.)

    

And this month, we went camping!  As if to say that summer isn’t really over.  The campground was fairly quiet, since most people don’t believe in camping after school starts.  Suckers…  We were back at Timothy Lake with the Fishes and Wanners and Joneses.  Willa and Fiona got a personal tour in Tucker’s boat.  They were loving it.

    

And who is this family of five on a boat?  We all fit in a canoe!  This won’t last forever.  p.s. That’s Mt. Hood in the background.

August album: end of summer

Wading in the Willamette River; playing in the park; harvesting plums, tomatoes, herbs, and peppers; visiting the zoo and Oaks Park, splashing at Salmon Springs fountain; camping at Detroit Lake; starting the garage remodel; enjoying the Alberta Street Fair, playing with cousins; celebrating our block party; goofing off in our backyard.

July Album part II: Angelfire, Red River and the drive back home

We met Matthew’s parents in Angelfire, New Mexico, just miles from Taos.  We spent the next week there, including the fourth of July, which was spent in Red River at a main street parade that involved lots of candy being thrown at the kiddos.

   

        

We stayed in a comfy cozy home with Oma and Papa’s friends, the Tabors, where we were lucky to catch glimpses of bears every day from the upper deck of their porch! 

    

And we all got some Aunt Ayme time!

         

We By the time we left New Mexico, we were down to two children!  Dean had stayed behind with Oma and Papa for a few weeks – they’d bring him back later in the month.

Matt and I saw this choice piece of property as we were driving back to Colorado.  And for sale!  I can’t imagine what we’d do there but just sit and relax and stare at this view.

    

Our last stops included Mesa Verde and the Arches National Park in Moab.  Leo loved the Arches.  He kept calling them “tunnels”, and he couldn’t wait to go from one to the next.  They were incredible landforms.  Leo had more energy than all of us – especially me, since it was already 90 degrees at 9 o’clock in the morning.  We stayed for a couple of hikes and then got back on the road to Idaho before reaching Portland.

Dean, meanwhile, had lots of adventures in Oklahoma.