Everyday Daddy and Carson water and check on the status of Carson's pumpkin seeds now planted happily in the back corner of the yard, along with a watermelon plant we thought had died, but that seems to have experienced a re-birth in our mulch bin. We've also harvested some peas and (very baby) carrots that Carson has been enjoying now and then. Not bad for a the first crops from Acorn Ct!

 

Carson started gym class tonight and loved it! An hour of tumbling, swinging on bars, running and jumping is right up his alley and teacher Alex did a great job of keeping all of the kids engaged. We were a little nervous when we first arrived and saw that the parents were all supposed to watch from the entry area since we assumed Carson would want us close-by, but he ran right in and joined the group like he's been coming for months. We'll be looking forward to our Tuesday night outings from now on...! Here are a few pictures - through the window of the observation area:)

 

We spent the weekend camping with our church group at Dorena Lake in Cottage Grove, OR. We've done the trip for the past few years and it's always been fun although the extremely hot weather we've been having this year made us realize that even really fun things turn miserable when you can't get away from the heat. By Saturday afternoon we had two tired boys who could not settle down in the sweltering trailer so we threw them in the air conditioned truck and drove south for nap time. They were happily sleeping away so we went all the way to the Wildlife Safari in Winston, OR and spent a few hours driving among the lions and tigers and bears (oh my!), as well as the elephants, yaks, elk and a giraffe that was just strolling down the side of the road. (To name just a few of the dozens of animals we saw...) It was a great way to beat the heat of the day and we were back in time to join the group for dinner. Thanks to everyone who joined us for the weekend... here's hoping the weather cools off soon so we can all return to to the things we enjoy! Like life in general.

 

Nolan has now gone three days without a pacifier (and almost two weeks without formula/bottles) so I took some time this afternoon to gather up all of his old friends and put them away... out of sight, out of mind! So long paci's! Mommy is done crawling around desperately on the floor in the middle of the night looking for you, but you did serve us well during those first crucial months. 

If you're in the area and can make it over to Evergreen Museum in the near future the close-up look at a 747 is amazing. Here's a pic of my boys inside one of the engines (they've been removed and are sitting nearby). Not something you get to do everyday!

Today was the Summerfest parade in Dallas and Carson has been looking forward to it for months. He got to see police cars, fire trucks, army trucks and horses - all of the things he was looking forward to and more. (The "more" being mostly in the form of candy - a lot of candy.)

 

It's rare that we're able to get together with members of the Burke family - outside of our immediate family in Washington, but...
Tonight Scott's dad brought his sister Kathy who is visiting from New Jersey down and we invited cousin Drew over with his family and ended up with 14 Burkes in our backyard for dinner!We ate, played ball (six of those Burkes are young boys) and enjoyed a fabulous evening together. Thanks all:)

   
 

I wish I could say I had as much fun with the new fan as Carson had with the box!

We said good-bye tonight to our old 1973 Shasta trailer that has served us faithfully (for the most part) for the past five years. Just 48 hours on Craigslist, and it was gone... off to spend the rest of its life sitting next to the Santiam River, somewhere near Mehama, OR. Good luck to the new owners, we hope it serves you well!

Thursday afternoon we headed out to Clear Lake on the inaugural run for the new trailer! It was also Nolan's first time at one of our favorite camping spots - as well as Grandpa and Nana who joined us on Friday. We hiked the Clear Lake Trail between the campground and the lodge, fished from the boat and from the shore, visited with Grandpa & Nana and played in the campfire for a few days of fun. Nolan could take or leave the boat (too much containment for him), but did enjoy chasing Carson all around camp whenever possible. We found a few things we want to change on the trailer before we take it out again at the end of the month, but overall it was great! A vast improvement over our old one when it comes to camping with two kids. More pictures of the weekend adventure are posted here.