School Field Trip to see the Kokanee Salmon Spawn

I picked up the girls from school and headed over to Kaili's place this afternoon. We decided to have lunch at a nearby little town. We ate then shopped in a fun toy store and spent a couple of minutes sitting by the lake. All the while trying to have a conversation with each other while making sure that our kids weren't going to walk into the lake or throw rocks at each other by mistake (instead of throwing them into the water). Now how can you beat an afternoon like that, eh? Doesn't Jaia look so cute?

It's been a while since I last posted so I thought I would upload a few photos of my girls. As you can see they still like to dress up like princesses....and eat really sweet cereal in the morning.

Oh, and I get spoiled every day with beautiful artwork from my girls. The first two paintings were done by Rachel and the last one was done by Alex. I LOVE them. They just gave me these paintings today when they got home from school.

It seems like time has flown by so incredibly quickly since we got back from Oregon. So what else is new with us?...hmmmm let me think.
The girls started Music classes recently. We've only been to 2 lessons so far but so far so good. The teacher is teaching them rhythm with some cool handheld instruments, the name of the notes (they have only learned Dino-"D" so far) , we sing songs and they are learning to place their hands on the piano. They are suppose to learn a song by Christmas time that they play on the piano. Then do a concert for a Retirement Home during the holidays. Now that will be fun times!

The girls have settled into their preschool. They know about 1/2 the kids there from last year and the rest are new friends. One of the girls in their class is Asian and it was interesting hearing Alex tell me,....Julia looks a lot like Rachel, doesn't she? So when I asked her why she thought so...she replied...they have the same hair. It's very interesting to me how kids perceive other races. There are kids aged 3 to 5 in the same classroom and my kids are not the youngest ones anymore. It's amazing how big my kids look next to the 3 year olds. It was only a year ago that I was dropping off the kids worried that they wouldn't know where to get their snacks or where to go to the washroom, etc.... And here they are now, veterans of preschool.

Sorry that this post is all over the place, I have to go and put my kids down for their nap. Yes, they are 4 and still napping once a day. I like my kids a lot better in the afternoon when they do have a nap. Everything seems to run a lot smoother - no meltdowns or anything - which is great. And I get to snuggle them at night and read them books and not have to hurry through the bedtime routine because I have 2 sleepy zombies beside me.

I just saw this on postsecret and it actually made me tear up. It's so true.

Homeward Bound...Yeah!

We have left the Oregon coast today...sniff, sniff. The time has gone by so incredibly quickly. We love Oregon. Not only for the beaches but for the Outlet Shopping Malls. There is NO TAX folks (No wonder you love Oregon Christina) !!!!! James googled Outlet malls and found this awesome one in Woodburn.
We went into the Gymboree Outlet and had such a good time. The girls were picking out dresses and some other back to school clothes and we went into the dressing room and tried the clothes on. It's the first time that they got excited shopping and trying stuff on. Fun! But then they lost enthusiasm when it was Mama's turn to look around. So the beauty of RVing is that they could go back to the RV with Papa and hang out! Then I returned and gave Papa a chance to shop shop shop (he likes to shop more than me if you can believe it). Anyhow I thought of my sisters when I saw all the beautiful stuff there and if I had a job then I would have bought you guys stuff. It's the thought that counts right?

It was lots of driving again today and we have ended up near Seattle for the night. We pulled into this amazing RV site (I thought they were pretty much all the same - WRONG!). This one is pretty expensive for the night...$52 US (the other sites were around $32 US). But it has an amazing playground for the kids, is super duper clean, and it includes a pancake breakfast. Now one less meal that I have to make and clean up in this RV is GREAT NEWS.

So as all good things must come to an end this vacation is winding down. Rachel and Alex are a bit sad to have left the beach but are excited to go back home and start preschool on Monday morning.

Day 4....

We are eating too much. We had made every single meal so far in the RV (really good meals I might add). But we thought we should head out and try one of the local restaurants today. We headed to the Chowder Bowl for lunch in Newport. It was highly recommended so we were quite excited (well not the kids...they just wanted to stay on the beach). The portions were HUGE. I ordered the Albacore Tuna special which came with a side bowl of clam chowder and garlic toast. I was totally full on the chowder and bread... but picked away at the tuna and fries. My pepsi (they didn't have coke) was gigantic. I mentioned to James that I didn't know anyone who would be able to finish that glass. He reminded me that we know of one individual (a certain someone who lives in Calgary :) )

Anyhow we rolled out of there and went for a stroll with the girls to look in the cute shops in a tiny town called Depoe Bay. We just bought some beautiful fancy looking shells for the girls and some salt water taffy. In James' description the whole shopping experience there was like a huge Dollar Store specializing in Pirate stuff.

The RV seems to be getting smaller as the days go by. It's still cozy but kind of cramped. It's weird to do everything that's needed in life (eating, sleeping, bathing not to mention driving) in this 20 foot space. Lets put it this way, we need to do lots of activites outside of the RV not to go crazy. It's so small that it always seems messy. Make one meal and we have used up every plate and fork we have. Come back from the beach and undress and the whole floor is filled with sand and dirty clothes. You get the picture. So today I did a clean up/tidy up of the place. I even cleaned our dirty clothes at the laundry facilities this afternoon. Funny how this one act made me feel very mature. It reminded me of my own mother. She always would do that for our family on holiday and now I am doing the same for my family.

Anyhow everyone is already asleep. Even James. I can't believe it but getting up early with the kids and walking on the beach and exploring really poops us out. Good night guys.

The Oregon coast is absolutely beautiful. Yesterday started off rainy so we decided to head over to the Aquarium in Newport. We didn't tell the girls where we were going. We just told them we had a huge surprise for them. So they were giddy with excitement getting there and had so much fun when we arrived. Our favorite exhibit was the Sea Otters. They are so cute, chubby, silly (they kind of reminded us of Tobi) and playful and great swimmers. Loved the Aquarium.
In the afternoon the sun came out so we headed back to the beach for more seashell hunting & sandcastle making.


























































We stopped off at the town of Newport on the way back from the Aquarium. Papa was craving all this fresh seafood. All these boats had signs that read fresh Tuna and Crab. And there were so many sea lions everywhere. But when we parked the RV we noticed that both girls were fast asleep...zonked from all the excitement. Oh well....so we didn't get a chance to explore yesterday but we are planning to go back there today.

We have arrived! There is nobody left on the beach. It's the end of the long weekend and everyone has headed back home. Yeah! That means that we have the beach almost to ourselves. Lucky us!

I love the smell of the salty ocean air and the sound of crashing waves.

It's been a really relaxing afternoon. We gobbled up delicious wieners (the girls) and yummy steaks (us) and we are going to go out for a long walk to work off dinner. And if we have energy left we are planning smores on the fire before bed.

And something very strange has happened. Papa is doing all the work down here. Driving the RV, bar-b-q-ing the meat. Even doing the dishes last night and tonight. Weird. He even just made me a cup of hot tea. Hey I'm not complaining, it's just that I don't know what to do....I guess just say thank you, eh?

1st day of our Adventure

We saw a lot of this. Highway. It took us 12 hours to get to our first destination...Mt St Helen's in Washington state. It was a long day but the girls did great. We had no problems at the US border crossing since Tobi growled at the border guard to let him know who was boss. We stocked up with groceries at a Safeway and had a delicious lunch & dinner cooked up in the RV. There is so much more selection in the states. Everything looks so delicious, large and sweet. And our experience so far has been that everyone is very friendly. We were passing the bakery section of the Safeway when I glanced over at the Ding Dongs and said to James...I wonder what those taste like. In an instant a worker came over to give us one to taste. Now a free Ding Dong tasting is always welcome with me.



The girls kept saying that the RV looked just like our home. A table just like at home. A sofa to sit on just like at home. A kitchen just like at home, etc....

Papa doing all the driving.

So the first day has come and gone and we are having a lot of fun. I like the RV. I won't say I love it because I don't love the fact that I have to shower in a tiny stall with low water pressure and use a tiny toilet with the door almost hitting my knees (and I'm short). What I do love though is sleeping in the RV under warm blankets with my family close by feeling the cold night air on the tip of my nose. First day was lots of traveling but quite an experience getting to know our RV.

Our Sweet Ride

This will be our home for the next few days. Our idea of camping! We are looking forward to cozy sleeps (there are 2 double beds)....yummy meals made in the cute little kitchen (brings back memories of our RV trip to Las Vegas)....and campfires where we will roast marshmellows and make smores for the very first time. If only we could find someone to look after our Tobi while we are gone then we will be all set. If not, a very lucky dog is coming on vacation with us.

Mini Adventure

We went on a little train adventure with friends this morning and had a great time. The weather was sunny and it was great to feel the wind on our faces as we rode the outdoor compartment on the train and looked around the beautiful scenery. The conductor gave each of the kids a sheet of paper with pictures of about 20 things or so to look out for while on the train ride. And to circle the picture with the crayon if you see the object...like a bird, bear, flower, fruit tree, etc.... The kids thought this was so much fun and was looking around at the scenery trying to spot these items. Afterwards we went out for lunch and are resting back at home. It was a great way to start off the long weekend.