Oregon Country Fair 2013

Seven under seven!  That's a lot of little ones to have camping behind the button booth.  As always, the Fair was a lot of fun for all of us, young and old.



 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whew.

It's been a while since I got around to updating the blog, and of course now it's harder than ever because I feel like I have to "catch up" all the things that have passed before I can post the current stuff.  I'm not going to do it though.  I'm going to summarize the last few weeks and then move on; I'll go back and expand on some of these later if I find the time.  I just have to break the log-jam and move ahead now, or I never will!

So, since the last time I posted, the following exciting and important things have happened:

• Cary turned 40, and we celebrated with a grand party on January 19th.  Friends came from far and wide and we had a terrific weekend - not just the big party Saturday night, but also great visits and huge breakfasts and dinner feasts on Friday and Sunday as well.  'twas truly an EVENT.
• On January 23rd, my Dad suffered a hemhorragic stroke and was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.  I joined him, my mom, and my aunt Pam there for the next three days while they tested him to ensure that there was no further danger (luckily, it seems to have been a one-off event) and then further tests to determine the extent of the damage.  Again, we were very fortunate: he suffered no damage to his physical abilities, no loss of memory regarding his life or relationships, no change of personality.  What he did lose was his ability to read, do math, and some aphasia that effects his ability to remember the correct words for things.  He's home now and making great improvements in all these areas through cognitive therapy.
• February 1st we went to Olympia for a visit with the Taylors and Eric and Miriam.  We spent a fun few days with them and especially enjoyed visiting the health club pool and the new Olympia Children's Museum.  Except for the part where we brought the flu with us (and then left it behind for them to enjoy - sorry guys!) it was a great visit.
• Feb 5th we drove from Olympia to Portland where I attended the Organicology conference while Conan and Cary explored the city for 5 days.  The conference was good, but the boys had a lot more fun than I did; they went to the zoo, the children's museum, Powells, several parks, the farmer's market, and generally had a great time riding the streetcars and the train, not to mention the gondola!
• Back home again lastSunday night, we settled back into our regular weekday routine and Conan resumed his swimming lessons, which are going very well.  He's really turning into a water baby, and loves jumping in and paddling around with his water wings on.  He even puts his face in the water sometimes!
• Last night we hosted a party for Charlotte's 35th birthday, which was great fun.  We even had Karaoke!  Everyone took a turn, including the children: highlights included Cohen's rendition of the ABC song, Conan belting out Twinkle Twinkle, and a group effort on Down by the Bay.  

So, there you have it.  Eventually I'll get the pictures off the camera from our time in Portland and Olympia, and there may even be some pictures from the birthday parties.  I have a lot of thoughts about Dad's stroke and the wake-up call that has been for me; it feels like I've entered a new phase of life, similar to leaving home or becoming a parent myself.  It's the Age of Knowing That Your Parents Could Die, with a side order of Recognizing Your Own Mortality.  I'm not ready to write that yet though, it's still percolating in my brain.  

And now, as a reward to anyone who actually read all the above, here's a video of another milestone: Conan has mastered the juicer.

Conan is 4!

We had a party on Saturday with lots of friends and family.  I can hardly believe it's been four years already!




 The party featured balloons, party hats & favors, a cake decorated with toy cars and a monster truck (Conan picked the design himself), a game of pin the tail on the donkey, temporary tattoos for everyone, face painting (which turned into finger painting because we forgot the paintbrushes - not that the kids seemed to care), photos with a fun circus-themed cutout (painted by my talented cousin Heather), punch with dinosaur ice cubes, and of course, presents!

 We held the party at the Fairhaven Park Pavillion, which is a multi-use public building right by the playground. Unfortunately, it was a very cold, stormy day with too much wind and rain for playing outside. The kids had lots of fun running around inside, bopping each other in the heads with balloons and generally having a grand time playing together.

 All in all, it was a fun smorgasboard of awesome stuff. Theme parties are for babies, right?  No-one can deny that Conan is a big boy now!

Lake Sylvia

Super Ultra Family Campout 2012 was a total success!



Lake Sylvia was a beautiful venue for our campout. I was initially not impressed - the lake is small, tree-lined, and not very far (5 minutes? maybe less.) from the nearest town. But it delivered big fun. We swam in the water right from our campsite as well as visiting the designated swimming area, the kids formed a tricycle gang and rode up and down the campground road, we paddled all around the lake and explored its nooks and crannies in our inflatable kayak, we saw otters, canada geese, and millions of newts, and we ate and drank and generally had a marvelous time together. It was everything a family campout should be.

Update: More pictures, collected from all the cameras on hand, can be viewed at Gabe's site: http://www.gabetaylor.net/General/lakeSylvia2012/
Bonus newt video:

Olympia

This past weekend we went to Olympia for Eric's "Barty" celebrating his completion of the Bar Exam. He looked far more relaxed than I've seen him in the past several years - it's good to be done with school and tests!

 

Our visit also happened to coincide with the "Paddle To Sqauxin" with canoes from as far north as Alaska arriving in Olympia Sunday morning for a day of ceremony and celebration. We went down to the beach to watch them come in.

 

Some of the canoe crews sang beautiful chants as they came into the inlet. I caught a little bit on video:

We also spent some time at one of Conan's favorite pastimes: looking under rocks for crabs.

 

Morgan is sure growing up. She's 3 now, and so confident and independent!  It's really neat to see her turning into a big girl.

 

Lots of people were out to watch the canoes come in, including large flocks of kayakers. It was very festive.

 

Back at Casa Taylor, the backyard fun complex was very popular. Conan and Morgan played together for hours.

 

It was wonderful to sit in Gabe's lovely gazebo and listen to the kids playing happily.

 

It's a long drive to Oly, but it's always worth the trip. We'll have to visit more often!

Not-Quite-The-Fourth Party

With the fourth falling on a Wednesday this year, it seemed like a good idea to have a party the preceding Saturday. It was a wet and overcast day, but the rain cleared off just around 4 so we headed outdoors and had a great time despite the gloom. Hard to believe it's almost July, with the coats and rainboots, but we're adaptable.

I roasted a leg of lamb (tandoori-yogurt marinade was amazing) and we had lots of delicious sides. The kids particularly liked the unattended chip bowl.

 

A brief sprinkle of rain after dinner drove everyone onto the porch, but luckily it didn't last too long.

 

Our porch really is a nice place to hang out on a damp day. The beer cooler being on the porch might have had something to do with it too.

 

Hey, is he getting out some FIREWORKS?!

 

The little kids had a blast, as usual, running through the colored smoke from the smoke bombs. The grown-up kids had nearly as much fun lighting them.

 

Nothing like running through some who-knows-how-toxic purple smoke for a good time.

 

After we ran out of smoke bombs, the kids played for a while in Conan's "beach" - also known as the worlds tiniest sandbox. Apparently it's got room to fit more kids than we estimated!

 

Devious Kiah made off with the sand dollars. I didn't actually see what she was doing when I snapped the picture, but it does explain why I found a cache of sand dollars hidden on the porch the next day.

 

Finally it got dark enough for the REAL fireworks. I didn't get any pictures of them, but they were IMPRESSIVE. The kids stayed up until after 10:30, when they turned into pumpkins and just couldn't keep their eyes open any longer. Grown ups sat around the fire much later than that, enjoying the first taste of summer (really! it's summer!) we've had this cold wet June.

Trixie's 2nd Birthday

Trixie is two!  We had a delightful time at her party yesterday.  Conan and Kiah played several games of chess on Will's giant chessboard.  Kiah knows the names of several of the pieces and also knows that you can take other players pieces (she's a little fuzzy on how, but she knows she gets to do it).  Conan didn't like having his pieces taken, so he very sensibly put them in his shirt.  The kids had fun taking turns on Trixies swing, but most of all, they played on the NEW TRAMPOLINE!

Kiah's Rock & Roll Superstar Dress Up Birthday

Kiah is 4!  And a Rock & Roll Superstar, obviously.

 

 

 

 

Many more pictures from Tombi's camera available for viewing online here.

Playdough Party

For Conan's birthday we had a playdough party.  It turned out really well, and it was simple to put together. I just made a dozen batches of playdough, went to the Goodwill for spatulas, mellon ballers, scoops, and potato mashers galore, and put a plastic table cloth over the dining room table.  Voila!

 

The playdough provided hours of fun for a dozen kids aged 2-5, including the birthday boy (who decided that his shirt was just slowing him down).

 

 

 

 

Some of the grown ups even got in on the playdough fun.  Because really, who can resist?

 

 

After we picked up the tools and the big peices of playdough, the plastic tablecloth made clean up a cinch.  We packed the playdough into medium-sized ziplock bags and sent them home with kids after the party.

Then it was time for cake!  We got a Thomas the Tank Engine cake from the grocery store bakery.  It was a big hit with all the kids.  I do feel a little guilt about not making a homemade cake, but realistically I just didn't have time to bake the cake as well as do the other preparations.

 

Conan got a lot of great new toys and books for his birthday, and had a tremendous amount of fun. All in all, the playdough party idea was a total success. 

Happy Third Birthday, Conan!