chit chat

Guess what this girl says these days?
- snack
- milk (molk)
- NO
- bye-bye
- hi
- all done
- out
- up, down, up, down
- lovey (uvey)
- NO!
- Dada
- Mama
- Addy (Adda)
- NNNNNO!!!!!!!!
- please (pease)
- more (mo)
- ball
- outside
- NO NO NO NO!

15 months and so chatty. We love it.

swimmer

Someone dominated her first ever swim lessons. She owned that Catfish 1 class and we were terrifically proud and cocky. (Yeah, I admit it.)

The very last day they let them go down the water slide and off the diving board. They throw on life jackets and send them down alone. It was hilarious to see her just roll with it with very little hesitation.

Hello from the top!

Her second time flying down. The first time she came down head first on her back, completely out of control. Thankfully she loved it!

The first time she jumped off to her teacher. The second time she jumped to nobody. Braver than her mother.

potty training nightmare

Lately we've had accidents, stubbornness, and a lot of tears (from both parent and child). Potty training is a nightmare. 

At least she's really cute...

old friends

Oddly enough, I've lived in Hillsboro before. My family moved here in right when I turned 7 for my dad's job, and then we moved away when I was 10.

I have really warped memories of the area because I was old enough to notice things but too young to realllly know what was up. You know what I mean?

One awesome thing about coming full circle is seeing people again. Like my dear, dear friend Amy. She lived on my culdesac and we play all. the. time. Like ALL THE TIME. We managed to see each other a few times as teenagers, so now that she lives about 45 minutes away we decided it was high time to reunite.

So we did. With our 2 kids each. We talked husbands, childhoods, hilarious memories, and family updates. It was simply wonderful!

raincoats

It's still raining here (doesn't Oregon know it's summer?!), so we did the logical thing... a raincoat photo shoot.

the hops de hillsboro

Hillsboro got itself a minor league baseball team, so Doug's office got themselves some season tickets.

Opening night in the new stadium was lovely. Double rainbow, a 12-0 victory, and some (baseball) celebrity sightings for Doug.

Two of Doug's favs are on the coaching staff: Ben Petrik (navy blue) and Doug Drabek (number 15)

fort stevens

We camped at the very tip of the northwest corner of Oregon last weekend:

Fort Stevens is seriously such a gorgeous spot. You have the beach on the Pacific with a real-deal ship wreck, a beautiful jetty where the Columbia River and the ocean meet, and miles of green forests. So beautiful.

One of Gracie's BFFs, Jason

Hannah and Daisy

Sharing a picnic by a ship wreck. No biggie.

It was an operating fort until the end of World War II, so it also has a lot of history. Plus it's just 10 miles or so from historic Astoria.

Mountain biking around one of the old batteries

Astoria Column: we hiked up it for a

The Columbia meeting the Pacific

  

The Goonies house in Astoria, of course (disclaimer: I'm dressed for camping, not sight-seeing)

It was Gracie's first camping trip ever, and the first camping that Addy really remembered. It was chilly at night so Gracie wasn't amused, but I knew it would all be worth it when on our first night Addy looked up and said in awe, "Mom, look at all those trees!" That's called nature, Addy. Enjoy.

father's day

We camped, we churched, we made "grilled" cupcakes.

We really do love the dads in our lives!

'bama

Last week the girls and I visited Grandpa and Grandma in Alabama. We ate up all the sunshine and the attention.

Watching a storm come in (Addy relearned what thunder is, and she didn't trust it)

Happy to get her hair did

Making delicious dirt

Making s'mores in the kitchen (thankfully, we did this multiple times... mmmmm...)

Finally enjoying the bubbles in the mega-bath

Not yet enjoying the bubbles in the mega-bath

Enjoying every relaxing minute in 'Bama!

color me rad

If you ever have a chance to do a color run, DO IT.

So weird, so fun.

(We went up to Vancouver, Washington and threw colored powder with my sister, Stace, and fam and Doug's brother, Ben, and his wife. Totally awesome.)

costume change

Addy went down for her nap wearing a white t-shirt.

She came out of her "nap" wearing 4 shirts, 2 skirts, and a pair of pants.

I have a feeling there wasn't a lot of napping going on, and you can tell by her face that she fears I'm on to her.