A sneak peak

I had my first doctor's appointment today and we had an ultrasound. What a gift it is to see the baby moving around in there. It was fairly busy and was sucking its thumb when we first had a glimpse. Then later, it waved and gave us a thumbs up! We all laughed. It is such a miracle that that small life is growing within me! Here are the ultrasound photos!


Looking right at us--head and tummy




Right hand--thumbs up!



Profile



All curled up--back and head



Another one looking at us...

Precocious

As Ava approaches her 2nd birthday, we've noticed she's coming into her own more and more. She is more able all the time to communicate what she wants. We've found this is a double-edged sword because when she doesn't or can't get her way she throws a fairly major tantrum. This is unusual for our mild-mannered girl! She is still just as loving and fun and so precious to us. While Carl was gone on a trip this week she was playing with the cash register Henry got for Christmas. She opened the till, reached in and grabbed a handful of bills, and announced (several times over), "I love money! I love money!". Uh oh....

My favorite things

It was a long, cold spring here in the Northwest, but when we returned from our trip--the warm weather was upon us! A special treat after leaving with a high of 58. Carl's hard work in the garden was (and is) paying off and we are greeted with a bountiful harvest of strawberries from our yard each morning. Here is the picking our first morning home!

CuzFest Summary

Here is a summary of our week at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri! Again, our camera was not in action as much as I would have liked (but I do have some photos!).

Day 1: Sunday
We drive from St. Louis (about 3 hours), get settled, have Rico's famous grilled quesadillas, put the kids to bed, and visit on the dock down on the water. There were (amazingly) very few bugs at the lake. I didn't use our insect repellant once! Oh yeah, we practically drove through a tornado getting there--green sky, concave clouds, wind, sirens, the whole bit...



Henry experiencing Uncle Tom's famous 'pick you up by your ears trick'.


Day 2: Monday
We explore the lake. After vowing that my children would not step foot on the dock (for fear that they would jump in and be lost forever in the murky water), we got our suits on and the kids not only swam in the lake, but also went down the water slide (sometimes with great enthusiasm and other times more tentatively). Mostly we just relaxed and enjoyed life lakeside.
This was board game night for the adults and boy did we have a great time!


With enthusiasm!


...and more tentatively


Ava doing what 2 year olds do best.

Day 3: Tuesday
We lost a few of the family on Tuesday and loved having them there even for a short time. I can't remember too much about activities although Ava had to have her daily fix of going to the coy pond and visiting the resident goggy (aka doggy) in his pen. We took a family swim and I had my one and only lake water swim. And me, oh my, we were all (23 of us) treated to a delicious Italian meal to celebrate Beryl and Louise's 60th wedding anniversary. Wow. What an amazing gift to make it to sixty years! We were all so blessed to celebrate with them. Also, let me not forget that there was a fair amount of Nintendo Wii played and this evening we were all introduced to Guitar Hero complete with the psychological analyses of one's playing position! Abbey wowed us all.




Morning stories with Cousin Katy. She does the BEST voices!


Henry and Nicholas enjoying a contemplative moment by the lake.



Since there wasn't a carousel and no real horses to speak of, Ava made the most of things and rode the goose statue with Nicholas!


Day 4: Wednesday
Wonderful morning walk with the girls only. They walked each morning but I did not join them until Wednesday--boy did I miss out! It was a beautiful day. We rented a ski boat and most everyone had a turn (Ava and I excluded--my own bad). The little boys played baseball and stomp rockets and some even joined in on kuub (a viking game with wooden rectangles)! We had super delicious burgers, roasted veggies, and strawberry pie to feast upon.



Ava and Rachel taking some time together to color. So sweet.


Riding on the ski boat with Eric.


Henry and Nicholas doing some stomp rocket negotiation



Quiet reading time with Grandpa B. Henry could have stayed and sat and talked with him for hours.

Day 5: Thursday
Went to the Bridal Cave. It was amazing (though Ava and I only made it through the first 3 rooms. She's not much of a cave dweller and oh how that screaming echoes! Henry finally took a nap (the first in 10 days) so he was able to stay up to catch fireflies--a true highlight as we don't have them in Oregon! Yummy salad/omelette bar and sundaes for dinner!


Our little superstar



Carl and Henry in the cave


A shot of the cave--pretty crazy huh?



Firefly closeup in Henry's hand. He was so proud!


Owen and Ava enjoying some stick gathering and flower picking.



Nicholas showing his intense aggressive affection (though this time hands off) with Miss Ava! Check out that facial expression!

Day 6: Friday
We head home. After saying our goodbyes, we hit the road for a 3 hour drive to the Kansas City airport. We took some serious backroads and even saw a mennonite father and son in their horse drawn carriage. What an amazing contrast to our week plus of travels! We thought about the joys of the simplicity of that life for a few minutes as we drove. The kids did fairly well on the drive but were definitely ready to get out of the car. The flight home did not go quite as smoothly as the flight out (thank goodness for the DVD player in times of great need!). Henry had a high fever (103.5) that spiked about an hour before we landed. And after a bumpy landing (when all the passengers were up but not yet deplaned) I lost my lunch in one of those handy white bags (thank goodness for them because it was not possible to get to the restroom). We were greeted by Auntie Bev who picked us up at the airport and made that leg of the trip much easier. We had a great time but were so grateful to be home!

Chances are, knowing me, that I have left out some fairly significant details but we were especially glad to have the Codys, Halpins, Caroline and Karen join us this year. This is a truly remarkable family of which I am blessed to be a part.

P.S. For more details you can check out Cousin Rachel and Jeremy's blog (link on the left)! She is an amazing photographer, kind, sweet mother, and a ferocious blogger!

Pre-Fest in St. Louis

We headed out mid-morning on July 11th bound for St. Louis--five days before the actual CuzFest was to begin (this is the name granted to the annual family get-together on Carl's side which is held in various locations and hosted by a new couple each year). Our goal: to have some quality time in St. Louis with Cabrini (Carl's sister), Tom, and their two kiddos--Nicholas (almost 4) and Charlotte (8 months). I have to say the travel was amazing. The kids were wonderful in the airport, on the plane, and on the 4 hour drive from Kansas City to St. Louis. We made it and had a fun, relaxing time with the Kings. We hit the St. Louis Zoo (and even got stuck on the train there), the Science Center (amazing), and Henry and Carl were treated to a Cardinals game in the Luxury Suite. Not bad for Henry's first MLB game! I was pretty tired from all we had done to get ready and did not have my camera handy (I think my brain is not firing on all cylinders most days) so I have a few photos from Cabrini of the zoo (thank you!).




The waterfall near the zoo entrance. Both the zoo and the science center are free for EVERYONE to enter (and the few parts that you have to pay to go into are Emerson perks--thanks Tom!



Ava admiring the chimps...she was enamored.




The darling train that circles the entire zoo. Ours, unfortunately broken down (while the weather was 98), and here is the replacement conductor trying to get it going again. After a 10 minute pit stop, we were off and running again.




The carousel...all endangered animals....Henry was on a polar bear, Nicholas a rhino, and Ava was on the other side on some sort of hare. She cried and cried when she had to get off.



The misters...Henry and Nicholas essentially showered in it and Ava watched from the sidelines.




The boys on our way out. What a wonderful time we had!

Make way for ducklings

We recently checked out Robert McCloskey's Make Way for Ducklings from the library. We read it over and over and over. When Henry's new travel bed arrived, he quickly made use of the packing materials to create a duck nest. He and Ava spent hours hatching their eggs and playing in their nest. I am quickly reminded that sometimes the best and most creative toys need not be bought. Here are our little ducklings...



Henry so proud of his duckling egg




Oh yeah, the box was good fun too...





Like brother, like sister

Global cooling

Now, I am not a scientist, but I have to say that if we did not live in a world of much technology, newscasts, and the like, I would certainly be a believer in global cooling. Now I am definitely a fan of doing our part to live more 'greenly'--don't get me wrong, but the weather here is FREEZING! Our furnace is running as I type...we are dressed in fleece pants, sweatshirts, etc.

Now Oregon is not known for particularly balmy June weather, but it is scheduled to rain everyday this week with sun finally on Sunday--and a HIGH of 58. Needless to say, I am more than ready for summer (Cabrini assures me that we'll have it in St. Louis!).