One Tired Little BOY!

This year we have had church at 1:00PM. For the most part, the timing hasn't been too bad but it does get in the way of a few naps. Taylor was so tired the last couple Sunday evenings and has fallen asleep in funny positions. McKenzie is so tender and tries in every way to make him comfortable when she is the one who has found him asleep the last couple times. This time we were watching a movie as a family and all of a sudden Kenzie spotted that he was not just laying there but he was actually sleeping. Does that even look comfortable!?

Taylor recently has fallen hard for Lightning McQueen and loves CARS. We took the kids to Cars 2 last weekend (they have been so excited to see it when it finally came out and also have been seeing lots of the previews on TV), so it was an exciting day for each of them. Taylor loves to watch Cars, eat any Cars snacks, play with any cars from the movie, wear only McQueen shirts-unless we talk him into something else including his Sunday best...good thing he now has about 5 shirts to rotate and when you see him he will most likely be wearing one of them, as well as pj's (which usually happen to be one of Payton's over sized McQueen shirts, eat off his McQueen plate, he even falls asleep with McQueen in hand...you get the picture. It is funny to see just how much he LOVES something and even has tag lines that he uses from the movie including: "We got ourselves a Nodder", "CaCHOW", "CaChiga", and can name several of the characters. I will admit that it is usually pretty cute, unless he takes it too far. However, I am wondering just how long this phase will last.

Grand Jean

We have been soaking up some family time and keeping busy while doing so. First of all, McKenzie LOVES to be my "Cooker". We picked up this cute little apron at a yard sale and now she totally fits the part. I can always count on her for some help in the kitchen and she will do any chore I let/allow her! Perhaps this is due to her love of food. She likes most things and will try everything.Not sure how much she actually got in her mouth though!

This weekend we decided to go on a short overnight camping trip to Grand Jean, it is less than 2 hours away. My extended family parks a few camp trailers there for the summer and were kind enough to let us say in them for the night. My mom and sister and her family joined in on the fun! It was a quick decision, but well worth all of the fun we crammed into a day! We got there just in time to unpack and make a campfire for SMORES. Taylor loved to sit in this little chair by the fire. The cousins enjoying their treats. Kenzie loves her Grandma.Daddy and Taylor, relaxing by the fire.

Then it was time to put the kids to bed (it was close to midnight by now)! I wondered how Taylor would do without a pack-n-play, but he slept like a champ his first night in a sleeping bag. The kids were fast asleep quickly. Taylor ready for bed.Kenzie with her teddy. Payton ready to crash.

The next morning Mckay took Payton on a hike to a nearby waterfall (he forgot to take the camera along). That put Mckay in the mood for an even more challenging hike. I didn't volunteer this time around (maybe, the fact that I only have a little over 5 weeks left in the pregnancy had something to do with it), so he took Mark and they disappeared for a while. While the men were gone us girls took the kids on a small nature trail and explored around the area a little. It was a pretty steep hike, but beautiful scenery. At the top!Nice view
When Mckay got home, we started talking about TICKS, not my favorite creature! It started off by finding one on Mckay's arm, but with further inspection...low and behold we ended up finding more like 6-7 total ticks! Yuck!! Boy I sure hope we got them all! It was hard to determine if it was a tick or just a mole, they were kind of blending in. After their hike we took the kids swimming at a pool they have near the campground. The water is warm like a great big bath and the kids had a blast!!

Taylor, Mckay, Grandma, and Kenzie. Taylor loved lounging in this little boat. Payton was doing jumps, dives, and other tricks into the pool.

After swimming we packed up camp and heading to a nearby fishing pond to fish in the rain. The rain didn't slow Payton down at all, he had been looking forward to fishing for quite some time now.I think Payton was the first one to catch a fish, and was so excited about it. He kept us all laughing with his sence of humor. We were all trying to give him tips and teach him how to cast and all of the in's and out's to fishing. So finally he got out his own little camp chair and found a little fishing hole all to himself. He told us all, "Now I'm gonna fish like a REAL man...when nobody tells me what to do!" It was so funny to watch him to his thing. If his cast was not far enough he quickly reeled it back in and did it over again. (Practice makes perfect). Then one time he reeled in the line and Mckay noticed that he had caught a little seaweed and suggested that he pull it off or the fish might now want his worm anymore. Payton threw his line in anyway and that same cast he caught his own FISH! Mckay couldn't believe it when Payton and I started yelling that he really did have one on the line. Now I don't think Payton will ever pull the seaweed off... he thinks it is the trick to why he was catching fish! He is so much like Mckay it makes me laugh!! He always has to check things out for himself.

My handsome fisherman!

Proof that I was there too! Kenzie and daddy enjoying the outdoors. She (well all of the kids for that matter) were so sad when it was time to head back home, but after all that fun and not a lot of pressure to nap the kids, we were all so tired headed home to get ready for church the next day.

Making Memories

On Memorial weekend we went on VACATION to the Oregon Coast with some of Mckay's family (a fun family trip before baby #4 comes) and had a great time, but it went by way too fast! Here is the sunset from our beach house. The living room area, it was beautiful and so close to the ocean.

The view from our bedroom window.

Some of our most favorite memories are the times spent on the beach. The kids could spend most of their time out there exploring and playing in the sand.

These two were great buddies and had a lot of fun together.

Taylor thought it was funny to be buried in the sand from the waist down.

Taylor did try eating the sand a few times.

Kenzie absolutely loved to run around the beach barefoot and loved playing in the sand, aside from the occasion when she would just get a little too cold. (She can't stand being cold and always wants to go indoors if it is too cold for comfort.)

The kids loved rolling down and playing on the small sand dunes that were right out our back door.

We had to constantly clean out sand from every pant pocket, tiny toes, coats, undies, diapers, noses, ears, etc...,before going back inside, but it was worth it!

The first moments being close to the ocean waves were interesting. Payton, Kenzie, and Taylor were getting close to the water, then they would run from the waves as they would rush across the sand. I think they were really having a great time, until...the waves got too close for comfort! This is normal for Payton because he pushes his luck and could really care less if he gets a little WET. He was the first to trip and get soaked by a wave. But it was not long before both McKenzie and Taylor soon followed suit and did the exact same thing. Payton went on playing and showed no signs of being cold or wanting to quit. McKenzie (as mentioned earlier) was immediately freezing and needed a break and to be warmed up. Taylor was a little cold too but then was content just staying away from the ocean waves the rest of the trip. He would let us know if he thought he was too close! It all happened within the first five or so minutes of letting the kids near the water. This is the before picture:

Payton is full of adventure, he went on long walks with Mckay and gathered cool shells and other things on the beach.We also spent some time at Seal Rock. It was really pretty.
We climbed rocks We hung out with family

Tasted a few rocks

Touched interesting things

Explored the tide pools

Played with buddies

Enjoyed the view

Counted cousins

Watched the waves, (but from a distance this time)

...and just had a great weekend. It is always sad when it is all said and done. But we look forward to more visits to the ocean soon!