Portland

We decided to head to Portland over Labor Day Weekend. We had such a wonderful time. The weather was going to be nice so decided to head to the zoo. We went to the Portland zoo last year but it down poured the whole time so we didn't get to really enjoy it. It was really nice to see the animals and it was fun to see the black bears that used to be at Hogle Zoo. We also enjoyed the bird show and Isaac was very upset that the birds didn't land on his arm. It was pretty amusing.

The next day we decided to go to the Children's Museum and we LOVED IT!

We were there for 5 hours. The kids had so much fun playing with all the different activities.
We enjoyed the water section for quite a while and it took Sarah some time before she figured out she could play in the water. After that she was all smiles.

They also enjoyed the supermarket, the vets office, construction area and many more. It was worth the money!


On Monday it was Gary's and my turn to enjoy ourselves before heading back home so we hit IKEA (Isaac is finally tall enough to play in the kid area) and then off to the outlet mall. We wanted to stop at the waterfalls on the way home but with it being Labor Day the exit was closed because of too many visitors, so it will have to wait till the next outing. Hope you enjoy the photos.

Isaac turns FOUR!

I can't believe my little boy is already 4 years old. He is so much fun and has brought so much joy into our lives. He has grown so much this past year. He went to preschool and has learned so much. He can count to 30, knows all his letters and can write his name. He loves being outside and enjoys sports. He is so good to his baby sister and they play pretty well together (most of the time)!
We had a birthday party for him on Sat. the 28th and that is one sure way to confuse them by telling them their party is on a different day than their birthday. We just let him say he was four after that. My friend, Dusty, helped me create the Lightning McQueen cake he asked for. It turned out great and I learned some cool new tricks for future decorating.
We invited a couple of friends to West Valley Park and had a fun time. I purchased a pinata and it took us a good half hour trying to break that thing open. Most of the adults got in a few good swings as well.


On his birthday we let him open one gift in the morning and then we headed out to the driving range so Isaac could test out his new clubs.

He thought it was so neat to have his own clubs.

He does a great job of making contact with the ball too!

After that we headed back home and just relaxed for awhile. After Gary came home from work we went to Red Robin for dinner and had a nice time. Gary took Isaac to the movie store so he could rent a movie that he wanted and of course we came home with 2 Scooby-doo videos. I didn't make another cake so Isaac had a birthday donut instead. We then finished opening presents and watched his movie! What a wonderful day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISAAC! We love you!

Going private

So we have decided to make our blog private. If you are a reader and would like to continue reading our blog please email me your email address and I will send you an invite. Or you can leave it in the comment section. Hope everyone is doing well!

Camping

This past weekend we went up to Camp Z with a bunch of people and had a wonderful time. We drove up late Friday night and had some sandwiches for dinner. Unfortunately they have a ban on campfires right now so that was my first experience without a fire! Actually it was really nice because that was once less thing I had to watch out for with the kids. They had such a great time. Isaac and Rachel (his babysitter) took off and I didn't see him for about an hour. Another one of our friends took Sarah so Gary and I could put up the tent. Isaac loved going down to the lake and he wanted to throw rocks in constantly. We wouldn't let him for awhile because people were trying to fish. Later that evening we roasted marshmallows over a grill and made smores! Not exactly like a campfire, but we sure tried. We finally tried to go to bed around 10:30 and the kids were wide awake. We finally just let Sarah climb around in the tent till she tuckered herself out. It got very cold that night and so I didn't sleep very well, not to mention I was sharing my sleeping bag with Sarah. Isaac couldn't figure out that he had to sleep IN his sleeping bag. He kept trying to put it on top of him. So by 6 am we were up and ready for the day. Gary took Isaac out on the lake in the canoe for about 2 hours.

They did a ton of sightseeing and Isaac was in heaven.
After breakfast we all went back out on the lake and had a wonderful time.
The area was gorgeous and it was fun being out and enjoying nature. We packed up around 11am and the kids both crashed in the car and slept the whole way home. We had a wonderful time!

Jumping off the diving board!

Swimming Lessons

The past two weeks Isaac had swimming lessons. He did really great the first 2 days and then all of a sudden he was scared of the water. I had to bribe him to get in and then he would cry if his teachers took him off the stairs. It was really crazy. Then we had some friends invite us to their pool and after an hour of swimming with him he realized he could do it and even ventured into the deep end with a tube around his waist. The rest of his lessons went great again. He jumped off the diving board all by himself and even tried to do the kick board alone. He loves dropping a sinking toy and going and getting it. I am so proud of you Isaac! Now we just have to find more lessons to keep on going!