Jameson Square Fountain

I don't know what took us so long, but this summer the kids and I FINALLY visited Jameson Square Fountain (downtown Portland). We met up with our fabulous friends the Pulvers there. The kids enjoyed playing in the water, having a picnic lunch and having a yummy ice cream treat. Looking forward to another hot day so that we can go back again!

Neighborhood Camp Out

Have we mentioned how much we LOVE our new neighborhood? 

This weekend was the "Camp Out Under the Stars". All those interested set up tents in the soccer field area, hang out, play tennis, play on the playground or swim until 9:30ish. Then we roasted marshmallows for s'mores. Jason and I ended up helping with that process. Alia and Jason had two :-) Max and I don't like marshmallows so we had two marshmallow-free ones instead. After that, we went back to our little spot and looked up at the stars and relaxed. Eventually we made it into our tents and listened to Max talk 100 miles an hour (where does he get that from?) until he eventually fell asleep a little after 11 o'clock. 

As is typical with camping and sleeping on the ground, we didn't really get that much sleep. We rolled out of our tents and enjoyed a little continental style breakfast ... bagels, muffins, fruit, etc. It was a great first camping experience for Max and Alia was thrilled to do it again. Jason is planning to take both kids for an overnight camp at an actual campsite in a few weeks. This was a great test run and a ton of fun. 

So excited to get our tents set up. We loaded all of our supplies in the kids bike trailer and Jason rode it the block from our house. It was nice to just ride it right up to a spot and unload. 

Girls tent on the left, boys tent on the right

A view of part of the field

Girls tent!!

Boys tent!

This is how things looked in the morning when we got home :-)

Little miss sassy pants posing in mommy's glasses

Planes!

Last week, I took the kids to see their very first movie in a theater, Disney's Planes. They were both VERY excited. Max inhaled the entire bag of popcorn in what I am certain must have been record time and stayed actively engaged in the movie for a solid hour. Alia got antsy about ten minutes in, after the initial excitement wore off. Somehow, we did manage to make it through the entire movie though.

Fountain Fun

This morning the kids had summer camp at Bethany Athletic while I got an oil change and touched up the paint on the trim in the living room (sounds fun, huh?). Afterwards, we had a picnic lunch at the Bethany Fountain, played in the water, went to the library to return books, get our summer reading prizes, check out books and then finished up with a little ice cream.

 It doesn't get much better than that. We love summer!

They were super hungry after camp. Max inhaled his lunch before going coo-coo in the fountain.

That's my silly guy. Never met a more lovable handful in my life!

Max's face is priceless

This photo was mid "happy dance"

Chillin' out and watching her little brother be goofy

And now he's an airplane

Alia eventually joined in the fun, but much more cautiously (of course).

Let's try to drink the water ...

Action shot :-)

That's one happy little girl right there.

The kids still don't quite have proper technique for eating ice cream from a cone so they decided to use spoons to help.

A very satisfied customer who wanted to go tell the girl working at the counter that "she made the best ice cream ever!"

Ice cream cone cheers!

Play Date

On Sunday, the Helbling family came over for a BBQ/swim/play date. The kids road their bikes to the pool and had a great time playing in the little splash pool. Good food + good wine + good friends = a great afternoon! As a bonus, the kids were so worn out the next day they slept in and I actually had time to myself in the morning :-)

ACTION shot!

Alia & McGruff the Crime Dog

Saturday was "National Night Out", a time for getting to know your neighbors and strengthening the sense of community in neighborhoods. Our street had a little block party. It was great for us to continue meeting the neighbors and hang out a bit. The police, fire department and crime prevention teams go around to the different parties and introduce themselves as well. The highlight for Alia was meeting and taking a picture with McGruff the Crime Dog. It was pretty cute. After this picture she literally followed him around like a puppy. Max however, was less interested.