they're famous! (well, kind of)

When Nate, Chris and Dan go on a manventure, it is often times completed with a stop at Wayne's Chicago Hot Dogs on MLK. It's all about the Cubs, their favorite team, and their world famous hot dogs that are served at Wrigley Field.

The owner, Wayne, updated his website recently and put a link to the boys singing "Take me Out To The Ballgame" on it. Check it out......and Go Cubs!

Cape Lookout campers

Since Big Tim didn't make it out to Oregon this weekend for a visit, we changed plans and decided to go camping again. I was lucky and found a cancellation reservation at a campground called Cape Lookout, in Tillamook. It was great--and on the Oregon Coast. We drove on Hwy. 6 through the Tillamook Forest, and on the way stopped at the Tillamook Forestry Center. What a fun spot! There was so much to look at and learn about the history in that area. The boys hung out with Smokey the Bear.
Dan and the boys climbed to the top of this lookout tour at the museum. If you look closely (or double-click on the picture to enlarge it), you will see 3 heads peering over at the very top. Good news----they did not spot any new forest fires from way up high.
Cooking dinner on the firepit. It was a really tasty meal----corn on the cob, baked potatoes, grilled red peppers and mushrooms, and cilantro/chicken sausages. Nate ate 2 corns...he said about 25 times that it was "the best he'd ever tasted!"

We made a night time snack of Jiffy Pop Popcorn...always a crowd pleaser with the bulbous silver ball of popcorn. Nate doesn't quite get it--he calls it "Jiffy-Lube" popcorn.
Again, the boys LOVE the fire...complete pyro's who just can't stop putting their sticks in the coals and then writing with smoke, and snuffing out the fire on the tip. This whole love of fire must have it's origins in caveman days.
Perfectly roasted marshmallows again. They've got that skill down to a science! Yum.
Playing football on the beach and scooping sand. It was about a 3 minute walk from our campsite to the beach. Playing at the beach, and getting dirty around the campsite are two of their favorite things to do in the whole world... this place had the best of both worlds!
Chris and Nate proudly display their fashion jewelry that they made with daddy at the beach. A couple of sand-dollars and some stringy seaweed worked perfectly to make these necklaces!

Nana's Birthday

Happy Birthday, Nana! We're sending good wishes to you all the way across the U.S.A.!

We hope that you had a very special day. We love you!

miracle healing

Oh the drama. Nate "hurt" his leg this morning. He just couldn't walk, had to lay on the couch and take purple pills (tylenol). He tried to get up and hobble towards me.
"I can't walk!" he said, with extra whining and sadness, and getting around like a horse with a broken leg.
Suspecting he was adding a little extra drama on this one, I told him "Oh rats! we're going to have to go and see Dr. Vestergaard and have her check out this poor leg...maybe do an x-ray!" Like a miracle healing on one of those Benny Hinn t.v. church shows, Nate magically walked across the room without a limp. He's healed!

movin' on up in swim class

Yay! The boys had their last swim class tonight at Dishman where they successfully completed their Goldfish level...they are officially Penguins now. So proud.

camping

What a wonderful weekend we had! If you know Chris and Nate, then you know that camping would be a perfect adventure for them....and it was. We went to Clackamas Lake campground which was south of Mt. Hood. It was a hot and sunny weekend which made it all the better.
The Mistkawi's went with us and they were tons of fun! They brought their raft out for it's maiden voyage on Timothy Lake, and other than the 2 holes that Patricia had to stuff with her toes, it was great. (sometimes that's a reality of our addiction to going thrifting, huh Patricia?) Notice the boys with no life vests? Fear not---although it looks like they're out in the middle of the lake, they were really 10 feet from us in quite shallow water.
We were able to Celebrate Patricia's birthday this weekend. I brought cupcakes and they brought left over decadent chocolate cake from the day before when they celebrated. yum!
One of the highlights of the evening was when everyone joined in to help wash the dishes in Patricia's new pails. I think the dishes were washed about 3 times each, because the kiddos were having so much fun with the process!
Maya, Chris, Nate, and Liv at the end of the pier which led to Clackamas Lake. It was more like a pond, and not user-friendly. It sure was pretty though!
Campfire! Everyone took a shot at roasting their marshmallows. Both Chris and Nate did amazingly well at toasting them to a golden brown. I guess that our practice from roasting them in our fireplace throughout the Winter paid off!
Can't you just feel the excitement in this picture? It's finally bedtime in the tent, with the lanterns, and the sleeping bags. It doesn't get much better than this! After I put the boys in there I went back over to the campfire and I could hear them telling "ghost" stories to each other...although they really were not scary stories at all, I guess that they had heard that's what you do when you go camping. :)
Nate warming up by the fire in the morning...it was cold out there! He loved his big stick. Daddy carved his name on it.
Chillin' by the fire as the sun comes up. Both boys slept really well, and woke up raring to go...filthy feet and all.
Mama makes breakfast for the troops. French toast, sausage, and juice. Pretty darn good!
Time to head back to Portland. We can't wait to camp again!

bad blogger, no donut

I am happy to report that the Moores are alive and well...sorry about my lack of posts lately. We have just been really busy!
We are heading out on a camping trip at Clackamas Lake near Mt. Hood this weekend----it should be a great time. The boys are sooooo excited! When Dave and the girls were here last weekend, Dave borrowed our cooler and it went North to Seattle, so he ordered us a new one. And a big one it is! It's like an 18 wheeler in length. We will be able to stay in the woods for 8 weeks if we need to with this much cooler space! The box has been the highlight around here for the past few days. It has been a police car, a fire truck, a pirate ship, an ambulance. Oh, to be 4 again!

summer fun in the berry fields

We went raspberry and blueberry picking at Krugers Farm this morning and had a good ol' time. Nate decided that he does like raspberries.
Both boys really got excited about the blueberries. They were good harvesters. Patricia, Maya, and Liv came out and joined us for some lunch and play at the farm.
Patricia made dandelion chains for all of the kids. Here is a close up of Liv smiling proudly with her new headgear.

celebrating Cousin Will

What a great 1st birthday celebration cousin Will had! The party started with a Korean custom called Dol, which honors a child's first birthday. Will wore the appropriate Korean attire and then he was to choose between colored thread, a bowl of rice, pencil and paper, and money--which ever one he chose would represent and be a peek into his future. He first chose the bowl of rice, but then after Aunt Mary pushed the money a little closer to the center, he went right for the green. It was fun to see this tradition. I learn something new everyday!
Here is Will looking so very handsome in his hanbok. He looks like samurai warrior!
The birthday dinner was an AMAZING meal with Sookie's 5 star ribs, as well as other tasty dishes. Then Will got his American birthday cake and his Korean rice cake after we sang to him.
Good times!
A major highlight of the weekend for the kids (well, yes, and some adults!) was the bouncy house that was set up in the backyard.

4th of July

We did some celebrating this 4th of July over at the Slater household. The cousins were in town from Seattle, so that was extra fun! Nate loved the sparklers and other fireworks that we did with the neighbors---he was a little bit pyro.
Chris being double-fisted with his sparklers. They sure don't make sparklers like they used to! Nate, Chris, Caroline, Grace, Catie and Ella. Cousin Will missed out on the firework action, but we'll be back over there tomorrow to celebrate his 1st birthday.

the toughest decision

We finally went. The dollar store. This is one of the boys' favorite places on earth. A store where everything is a possibility! Chris went shopping with 4 quarters which he carried in his pocket, Nate took one of his hard earned dollar bills which he carried proudly through the store. He absolutely didn't want me to hold it for him.
This is not a quick trip that we do. It takes time to shop the aisles of junk....i mean treasures. Chris kept telling me how hard it was this time--there was just too much to choose from! A squeeze frog that pops out the tongue? The photo album? The plastic flutes? A writing journal? Glow sticks? This kind of decision making is TOUGH.
Finally they both found their prize. Both boys returned their previously favored items for the winning purchase--a big bag of decorative shells!
We found our way up to the check out. "$1.00 please", the check-out gal said. Each boy handed over their dollar to complete their own transaction, complete with a receipt.

Being the sweet boys that they are, they are not planning to keep all of their shells for themselves. They made a plan on their own to deliver a shell to pretty much all of the people on our street that they know. Rhett, Cade, Mr. Nate, Sela, Paige, Oliver, Marlo, Finn, Stacy & Diane, Roberta, Marinie & Mickey. We made a checklist and set out to deliver.

days of old

I was looking at my friend Autumn's blog and she had posted a picture of her son Rhett on his first 4th of July. Seeing that sent me back to the archives of pictures on our computer to our first 4th of July celebration. Seriously, where did the past 4 years go? Those Jolie-Pitt twins that will be arriving soon won't hold a candle to these two!!