July 20

Will and I went to the zoo with Hannah, Sydney and their cousins today. The kids were so well behaved and we had a great time. (I was especially proud of Will, who shared and acted marvellously!) Highlights included riding a camel, feeding the budgies, and riding the carousel four times. We were literally there all day and didn't get home until after 4.

July 19

Marc worked hard on the yard all weekend and Will obviously missed hanging out with his Dad. After dinner tonight, Will looked at me and said, "I just want to be with Daddy." So, the two boys snuggled on the couch, ate popcorn and watched a little Hansel and Gretel.

July 18

Will and I spent time drawing at Roosevelt today. (Can't risk him drawing on our house now that it's cleaned and painted!)

July 17

Marc worked his hiney off in the yard today. Will and I kept ourselves busy; one of our activities was making cookies. We had one happy kiddo!

July 16

I found some Ewok cartoons on youtube. See the smile? 'Nuff said.

July 15

OMG. My child was a terror this evening - refusing to share anything with Hannah or Sydney and just being rude. Becky and the girls stayed for a while, but they ended up going home without even eating the food they brought over. Man, did I need an ice cold one tonight!

July 14

When I picked Will up from school today, he asked, "Are we going to Lakefair?" So we did. This may look like a smile, but you would be mistaken. Will was scared to go on most of the rides (thank goodness we didn't go to Legoland this year) and he actually had to have one of them stopped after only 3o seconds. Fun times.

July 13

Will and I met all of the ladies at Huntamer Park tonight to see a juggling acrobat. Will loved it - watching a man throw swords and knives around was right up his alley. The performer asked for volunteers several times throughout the show and I was surprised to see Will raise his hand to join in the fun. He jumped, flailed and waved like crazy trying to get the juggler's attention, but his on stage debut just wasn't in the cards today.

July 12

Happy 7th Anniversary! Marc and I spent the day cleaning and doing yard work - the first of what will be many days getting our house ready to sell. We anticipated vegging out at home with a Papa Murphy's pizza. Instead, thanks to Marc's nimble fingers, we ended up at Brewery City. Guess we did get to go out for dinner on our anniversary! (Yes, Marc was very annoyed that I told him to wait to clean up the mess until I got my camera!)

July 11

The love for all things Star Wars continues. Marc printed out some coloring pages today. Wil had to put on his Darth Vader mask to color in Yoda. I'm sure this violates many Jedi rules.

July 10

I took Will to a birthday party for one of his school buddies today. The kids were supposed to come dressed as their favorite superhero. Will stepped out the front door and said, "It's windy! Can I fly like superman?" I told him to try. He gave it a great running start, but just couldn't seem to get off of the ground.

July 9

We celebrated Marc's 36th birthday a day early today. Our celebration was early because Marc is spending his birthday looking at golf clubs tomorrow, so it worked. I love how Marc is looking at Will in this photo. Such a good Dad.

July 8

Our last day in Long Beach and we spent some time at the rides. I have taken many pictures of Will on this merry go round over the years, but I think this is my very first one where he is looking at the camera and smiling.

July 7

It is not often that temperatures on the coast reach 80 degrees and we kept saying how lucky we were to experience it. We had such a great time splashing in the surf!

July 6

Nothing says vacation like sitting in the sun, drinking beer. Lucky for us there was a Rogue brewery in Astoria!

July 5

Grandpa Gene just happened to have this hat at the house. Will was thrilled. He even wore it to bed last night.

July 4

We headed to the beach today. Before we went to set off fireworks, I gave Will a stern warning about their dangers. Perhaps I was a bit too effective, as he was absolutely terrified of them. Maybe next year!

July 3

No photo...too busy getting ready for the beach!

July 2

I can't believe I found this old Fisher Price record player at Value Village today. It even came with 5 records. Awesome!

July 1

I was glad it was raining today, as there's nothing better than a flower with rain drops!