Early Spring

We have had such an incredibly rainy fall, winter, and so far spring! I saw a meme that said that 70% of the days during the last 7 months in Portland have been rainy. And it hasn't been light rain. Our backyard was more of a swamp than a yard all winter. The warmer weather has helped dry it out a bit, but it is still usually unusable due to mud. So if it is dry enough to play outside, we are usually in the driveway. I can't remember exactly what Mason said in the this picture, but it was something about the sun being too bright. Our weak, Oregon eyes just aren't used to the sun anymore. I wear sunglasses to drive even on overcast days. Sad!

Spencer used to push this truck down our sidewalk the exact same way.

Spencer wanted to make slime over spring break, but Walmart was completely sold out of glue. I had no idea that slime was such a craze! So we found another project on pinterest and made bird feeders out of gelatin and bird seed instead. Mason helped me hang them up in our backyard swamp.

I realized that Mason was going to need rain/mud boots if I was going to get any yard work done this spring so he got to pick some out. He absolutely loves these dinosaur boots and wants to wear them everywhere.

Kiki gets so sad when we're outside and she is stuck inside. She meows and meows at us through the windows. I've let her out in the backyard a couple of times and she is quite timid. The front yard with the street is completely off limits.

Spencer's Cub Scout Wolf den went on a hike at the Wildlife Refuge in Sherwood one afternoon. It was a little sprinkley, but I decided to stay and walk around the trails with Mason a bit while the scouts hiked. The light was perfect for pictures and we had a fun nature walk together. Mason got really tired at the halfway point, but refused to let me carry him. It was a very slow walk back. :)

There is a blossom smell that I've been trying to place since we moved to Oregon 10+ years ago and I finally found out what it was at the Refuge! Those pink flowers in the middle right are Red Flowering Currant blossoms. Their smell reminds me of a scent I caught as a kid hiking in Arizona once. I don't have any clear memories of that hike, besides that we were beside a small river or stream. I love the smell though and I love that it reminds me of home and my happy childhood. It's funny how scents can trigger memories so well. Hooray for Spring!

Spring Break!

It's so fun that Alan gets Spring Break off work now!  He had some Uberthons work to do, but not too much.  We didn't feel up to a long trip, but wanted to get away for a couple of days so we repeated our trip down to the Wildlife Safari in Winston and then over to the coast from a couple of years ago.  Mason was too little to care about the Safari at all last time and Spencer loved it so we thought it would be fun to do again.

It's about a three hour drive to Winston, but we borrowed Darwin's SUV again, purchased our own seat-back dvd players, and got a bunch of videos from the library and they were good to go.

We were very glad for a chance to get out of the car for awhile and see the animals in the small zoo at the beginning of the Safari.  Mason loved this part and we had a hard time keeping up with him as he ran from exhibit to exhibit.  Alan needed to carry him in the aviary, but Mason screamed to be let down so we didn't stay in there long.  He just needed to run!  After that, we just went to the playground and set him free.

You drive through the actual Safari.  Most of the animals are in large fenced pastures, but a few roam all over the park.  It should have taken about an hour to drive through the whole thing, but wound up taking about two hours because we had to wait FOREVER while people bought cups of grapes to feed to the bears.  The park had just started selling expired produce from Costco to visitors the week before and hadn't worked out the traffic flow issues yet.  None of us appreciated the extra time in the car.  I think the giraffes were the favorites, but I didn't get any pictures of them.  Mason also really liked this hippo and Spencer thought the geese that were honking like crazy and racing each other were funny.

We went back to the zoo to stretch our legs and pick out souvenirs after the Safari.  We were smart and put the doggy backpack on Mason that time.  Sometimes we get disapproving looks for putting him on a leash, but that thing seriously protects him and saves Alan's and my sanity when we are in busy, public places like this!

After all of that fun, we still had another three hours of driving to get to our hotel in Newport.  Movies and snacks kept the boys happy for most of the way, but we were all very glad when we finally reached Newport around dinner time.  We ate dinner at Abby's Legendary Pizza and then went back to our hotel for swimming.  Both boys loved the pool and I loved that our "suite" turned out to be two separate rooms so we didn't all have to go to bed at 8:00 with Mason!

 We all slept well, but were sad to discover that we had no tv service in the morning.  Hotels are usually the only place the boys get to watch cartoons so Spencer was really looking forward to it.  Alan came to the rescue with his computer and found some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for them to watch while we got ready for the day and packed up.

Our first stop was the Hatfield Science Center.  It's a small, but free(!) hands-on science museum.  We had been there at least twice before, but Spencer loves it every time.  Mason mostly ran around the place.

There was a cool. new sand box exhibit. It was like a topographical map with contour lines projected onto it. The lines changed as the kids played with the sand. You could even hold your hand above the sand and make it "rain."  Both boys loved it. and would have stayed there for the whole time if we didn't make them let other kids have a turn.

We had planned to spend some time walking on the beach, but the weather turned out pretty nasty - cold and windy with sideways rain. Most of us wound up eating lunch at McDonald's so Spencer and Mason could run around on the indoor playground for awhile. The weather looked nicer at home and we were out of indoor activities on the coast so we decided to head home after that. We couldn't resist a stop at Snack Attack for ice cream though.  These three ate their cones in the cold wind, but I didn't get mine until just before we left so I could enjoy it in the warmth of the car.  :)

Ice cream cone = mess for this cutie!

It was sunny and warm in Sherwood when we got there so we were all glad we decided to come home early.

We spent the rest of the week doing projects around the house, yard work, running, and going to the Temple. We also went to Wilco one morning so Mason could see the chicks. Spencer was less than thrilled by them this year.

"I'm sliding down my fire pole!"

It was a good spring break - we weren't too bored, but Spencer had lots of time for reading and relaxing. And we weren't too busy and stressed about traveling. Hooray for Spring!!

Spencer's Piano Recital

Since I am just teaching Spencer piano lessons at home, he has never performed in a recital.  When he finished level 2A a few weeks ago, I told him he had to do a video recital for his grandparents.  His progress has been slow, but steady.  I think he would progress much faster with a different teacher, but this is what fits our budget for now.  :)  Here he is!

St. Patty's Day

St. Patrick's Day is such a silly holiday, but it takes very little prep work and is an easy way to create some fun traditions.  Mason learned what leprechauns are this year and we found this fun, magnetic one at the dollar store.  It took Mason about five minutes to lose one of the leprechaun's arms, but luckily we found it a couple of days later. :)

I try to get as many green veggies into these boys as possible and St. Patrick's Day makes Spencer slightly more willing to eat them.  These spinach Leprechaun muffins are great!  They contain six whole cups of green vitamins!

Mason found his giraffe costume from 1.5 years ago in his closet in the morning and insisted on wearing it most of the day.  He made a cute St. Patrick's Day giraffe and we got lots of comments from seniors at the grocery store!

Spencer was excited to try to catch a leprechaun again.  His trap was the same as last year's with the addition of a fan to blow the leprechaun back into the tub if he tried to escape.  Hahaha!

Once again, Freckle's O'Gold got away, but he left some Rolo's and "magic leprechaun rocks" for the boys.  They had fun watching the rocks fizz in vinegar and collecting the coins that were left behind.

It was a busy evening with dinner for the missionaries and a ward party, so I didn't make our traditional Irish dinner that night, but I did make a rainbow veggie/fruit tray.  We had some delicious Irish beef stew and soda bread a couple of days later.

I bought this cute headband for Mason to wear at the Luckython this year before I knew we wouldn't be able to run it.  I still made him wear it for a picture though.

Our Ward had a fun game/dessert night that evening.  They had some costumes for a photo booth and Mason liked this tiny hat.  What a cute leprechaun!