Beach Trip 2012

 We did it again~our annual beach trip with the Slater-Cotter-Moore families.  This time we were at a new house that was in Lincoln Beach. We loved it, and it's already booked again for next summer!

The weather was great, and we literally didn't leave the house this year. 

One of the highlights of this house was the hot tub that was on the deck overlooking the ocean.

When you vacation with Aunt Susie, you have to get your workout in.  Here is Chris working those arm muscles.  Notice the STRENGTHstudio t-shirt?

Cousins.
 These 7 love each other so very much and have so much fun together.

Uncle Greg and Grandma drove over for a day trip and joined in the fun.  Greg's aeronautical skills helped to get this kite up.

Cousins on the rocks. 

This group is really good at posing for cute pictures.......

......until the threat of a wave approaching from behind!

Guess who that is with Aunt Susie?  Yep, it's Will with his way-cool back-to-school hooded face  sweatshirt.

Fireworks and a fire on the beach at dusk.  So exciting.

Sister Susan and me.  Suh-Suh.

It was a windy beach, so we tried to move logs to make a wind-block.  Such a strong group.  Somebody had to take the picture!  :)

Some of the crew after a beach combing and hiking morning adventure.

A fiercely competitive game of ladder ball between Chris and Susan.  Chris won. 

The view from the top of the stairs that led us down to the beach. 

The whole gang on the last night. 

Greg, Susan, Mom, Me, Mark. 

The whole gang on the last night. With the way that time flies, we'll be back before you know it!

Back to School Shopping

"Hey Nate, do you want to try on everything for our first day of school outfits when we get home?"  I heard from the back seat of the car on our way home from Target.  

"No."  Nate replied.  End of story.  

It was so funny and interesting shopping for some back to school clothes with these boys today.  

Christopher has very clear ideas about what he will wear...he's into the 'skateboarder' look~cargo shorts, cool t-shirts, hoodies, black socks and fashionable shoes.

Nate, on the other hand, could care less about the whole thing.

I seriously think that he would be just fine if he showed up at school on the first day with absolutely nothing new.  It doesn't seem to matter too him at all, and all  he wanted to do was get out of the clothing department and check out the toy department.  I kept asking him if we could get him some cargo shorts too.  Absolutely not.  He really wanted nothing to do with them.  We did come to the conclusion that Chris is 'cargo' shorts guy, and Nate is 'sport' shorts guy.  So, I tossed a pair of athletic shorts in the cart and called it good.

Oh, and Chris looked super 'tight' with his 1st day of school outfit that he tried on.  We'll see what Nate ends up with on September 5th.

Good Times in Seattle

I may never drive to Seattle again.  Last Friday, the boys and I took the train to Seattle for a long weekend, and we had a GREAT time!  Riding the rails is a fun way to get there.

 Upon our arrival, we were introduced to the Cotter's newest member of the family...Truffle the hamster.  I'm not usually fond of these types of critters, but let me tell you~this hamster was extremely cute and cuddly.  She would fall asleep in in your hand almost every time that she was held.  Of course, Chris and Nate fell in L-O-V-E.  And no, this doesn't mean that we want a hamster of our own. 

On Saturday, we went downtown to Ride the Duck.  What a fun adventure and sightseeing tour of Seattle!  We rode through the city learning all kinds of fun facts,  then rode right into the water on this amphibious vehicle.  Susan's friend Deirdre and her 3 boys us joined us too, to celebrate her birthday. 

 Space Needle!  Nate was really disappointed that he didn't get to 'touch' the Space Needle.  

Next trip, I guess!

 We always eat really well when we visit Seattle!  This was the fresh salmon/green salad dinner. 

Mmmmmmm.  Aunt Susie is the hostess with the mostess.

 On Sunday we went down to the waterfront and rode on the Great Wheel...Seattle's newest attraction.

After the ride we played some games in the arcade, then we had a picnic lunch on the pier.  Lots of fun!

 It was a hot and sunny afternoon, so we walked over and checked out the International Fountain that is part of the Seattle Center.  It's kind of hard to see how massive this fountain is, but it was huge!  Of course, Nate and Caroline just couldn't resist, so they went home soaking wet. 

Cousins. 

 Aside from the adventures that we went on, these 5 had so much fun jumping on the trampoline next door, making scavenger hunts, and playing all kinds of fun stuff.  We love going to Seattle.  Thanks, Cotters! 

Ainsworth and Moore

Today was a great day!!

I was offered a teaching position at Ainsworth Elementary.

I will be teaching 1st grade there, and I am beyond thrilled about it.

Dan took this photo today right near our house at the corner of Moore and Ainsworth~

I'm thinking that it's the perfect intersection.

A Sad Day in the 'Neigh'borhood

 Remember the horses that live at the curb next door?

Well, there's been a sad event, and Silver is no longer with us. 

 Two nights ago a group of hipsters (well, actually, they looked like roller-derby girls) on roller skates rolled down the street and one of them grabbed and stole the white horse.   I saw it all go down, and yelled at her from the porch at the

 top of my lungs that she needed to "bring it back or I was going to call the police!"

 She took off at full speed to catch up with her friends with the horse named Silver in her hands. She turned the corner and I thought that she was gone.  However, a few minutes later, she skated back by and I saw that she still had the horse.  I was so mad about the theft that I got in my car and chased her down several blocks away, and demanded that she give me the horse back. We exchanged some words, but in the end, I won and she handed the horse back to me. She told me that I was stupid and that this should be an episode of Portlandia; which at the time, I couldn't agree more.  Who chases down plastic horse thieves on roller skates?  

 I brought Silver back to the house, put him at the curb, and shared my story with Judy, my next door neighbor who owns the horses.  The story gathered a lot of attention of Facebook, as my friends thought that I was a hero, and that the gal who stole it was a complete thug with no respect for her community. 

Judy tied a new collar on the horse that was made of wire, fancied up the fence, and put a miniature 'Neighborhood Watch' sign up right next to the horse.  All was good in the world.  Until we woke up this morning.  When I looked out the window and didn't see a white horse, I knew that there was trouble.

This is the scene that we woke up to.  I walked out to the curb and my heart sank.  The horse and the sign had been stolen, the fence and Clyde were knocked over, a Lone Ranger doll (and 2 miniature horses) were added to the curb, and bright red paint representing blood was splattered all over the curb and horse corral.  The hipster roller derby gal had come back for revenge! What a senseless act which left us feeling sad.  Clearly, this loser of a person has some anger issues.  I'm certain that the karma is going to be extra tough on her for this one.

Crawdads, knives, and Joe's Donuts!

We had an awesome camping trip this weekend at Timothy Lake, Hoodview Campground. Our campsite was amazing (#26) and was right on the lake. 

Lots of water time, looking for salamanders (no luck!), catching crawdads, swimming, and just enjoying the sunny and warm weekend.  We sure lucked out with the perfect weather!

 Dan and the boys went out in the lake for some swimming.  Dan taught them about skinny-dipping.   They call it "SDC" (skinny dipping club).  The boys thought that it was so racy and fun, even though they never fully took their drawers off, they pulled them down far enough to qualify. 

Fishing at dusk off of the dock.  Mt. Hood in the background. 

This trip was officially the beginning of a new camping tradition for trips that are in Mt. Hood National Forest.  As we approached Sandy, one of the boys remembered  Joe's Donuts from a trip last year.  We had to stop and get a dozen to take into the woods.  They ate a lot of donuts!!  We will never again be able to cruise past Joe's Donuts without stopping.

Big excitement this camping trip as the boys each earned their own real pocket knife and flint fire starter.  Overall, they did great with this new responsibility.  Chris earned his the first night, Nate had to wait until the 2nd day.   A rite of passage, for sure.  No blood or cuts, either.  Just a bunch of whittled sticks.  

 

 

 

 On Saturday, our friends the Wileys came and joined us at the campsite.  Mike brought a generator to run the blender, and Mary made special cocktails with spicy vodka and pureed watermelon.  They were tasty!

 On Saturday night, we had a craw fish boil from all of the little fellas that fell victim to our trap. 

We had quite the bounty!

Lots of fishing, but not a single catch. 

The Wiley's dog, Max, kept us safe and was lots of fun on the trip.  Oh, Max!

Their summertime job....bat boys!

Remember how much Chris and Nate loved the Concordia Cavaliers baseball team in the spring?  Well, like all good things, that season came to and end.  But several of their favorite players (I can even tell you who they are since they talk about them all the time..... I have heard these names over and over and over.....Sheldon Austria, Jared Young, Jordan Keeker)  moved on to a summer league that plays many of their games at Hilkin Stadium. After Chris and Nate showed up to cheer on the new team, the Toros, Dan got a phone call asking if two very dedicated fans would like to be the bat boys for the season.  You can only imagine their excitement over this summer job.   

Today was their first game.  Job well done!

Here goes Chris to pick up a bat.

 Nate's turn.  They took turns running out onto the field.

Lots of hustle!

 They sat at their post for all 11 innings of this game.  Nate in the red helmet, Chris in blue.  

They're officially part of the team.

Waiting and watching.  Just like the players.  They told us that it was fun getting the inside scoop from the dugout, with things like the players' nick-names, hand signals, and the fact that some of the players said 'bad words'.  We told them that it's o.k...that's just what guys do, and that they'll do the same thing when they're their age.  Both boys were impressed with the team and said that they were really nice. 

 After the game Chris and Nate had to collect all of the balls as the teams did their 'good game' high-fives.

When the job was over, they ran and found us in the bleachers. Those are the smiles of two boys who had an awesome time. They can hardly wait for the next game!

Camping at Champoeg

Slaters, Cotters, Moores and G'ma camping in yurts at Champoeg Park.  When you book a yurt 10 months in advance, you can only hope for a good-weather weekend.  We didn't luck out, and it was rainy, rainy, rainy.  But we still had fun!  

Slater siblings.  We missed Uncle Greg, but he was in Ashland celebrating his 47th birthday.

Some things never change.   The fire pit is always the biggest crowd pleaser on a camping trip.

I wonder if this had anything to do with Nate's big puke at 1:00 a.m.???

Group shot!

Glow sticks for the cousins at dusk. 

Junior Rose Parade

On Wednesday, the boys marched in the Junior Rose Parade with their school friends.

We have always been spectators at this annual tradition/event, but last year as we sat on the curb and watched, I told them that next year their school would be in it.  And they were. 

What a fun day it was!

This is the stuff that memories are made of. 

The Big Burn

The deck at the Slater household needed to go. Anyone who was a regular at our household growing up knew that many evenings and summer days were spent out on that deck with a gentle breeze and a view of the Willamette Valley.  But like everything else in life, it's time had come to say goodbye.  Brother Mark and his buddy Jim said that they would take care of it.  Today was declared as the day for the deck to go, and the big burn.  There were 2 massive piles of yard debris from our work party last summer, plus all of the decking wood.  It made for the perfect storm. 

 Burn pile #1.  This was a very impressive fire.  It only took about 1 1/2 hours to burn all of the wood that made up the deck and benches.  Was I freaking out?  Yes.  But Mark had it all under control.

 Oh yah, Mark.  Hot, hot, hot.  Feel the burn!

 This was burn pile #2 which was very large, but ended up with more smoldering due to all of the grass clippings.  Chris was excited that he got to light the fire with a flare.  G'ma was happy for all of the help.

 Yep.  I'm really helping to keep the flames where they belong with my big hose and massive water.

Mark Tebowing with Jim.  Raging fire in the background.  Dorks. 

While we're on the topic of fire, have you seen this video on You-Tube?  It went viral a while back and Dan showed it to the boys.  Nate must have found it again online, because he has memorized Sweet Brown's words.  Ain't nobody got time for that!

There's a new horse (and cowboy) in town!

Remember our neighbor horse, Clyde, from a post back in September?

Well, shortly after that picture was taken, there was some sort of a terrible accident, and Clyde was smashed to bits.  With a little bit of TLC from his owners, Tom and Judy, Clyde was able to make a full recovery (minus some hip and other bits) and a grand reappearance at the curb about a month ago, tucked safely behind his corral made of twigs.  

What fun it was today when a white horse appeared beside him without anyone seeing him make his way there.  A mystery horse.  When neighbor Judy discovered it, she thought we had done it...but we hadn't.  

Chris went out to chat with her about the horse, then returned home, and disappeared into the basement for about 10 minutes.  He came upstairs and had a little cowboy made out of construction paper, markers, and staples.  The perfect sized cowboy. 

"Judy said that she wished Clyde had someone to ride him" he told me.  Chris knew how to solve that problem.  Out he went with his scotch tape and attached him to the back of Clyde.

  I think that this cowboy and white horse companion made Clyde's day. 

 I think that it made Judy's day even more so.