All the Rest

After all the excitement of our first couple days in Oregon we really needed a nice, quiet Sunday. Luckily that is just what we got. We got up and went to church, but only stayed for Sacrament Meeting. The kids were more than ready for naps by then, so we headed home and everyone napped for a few hours. Aly and Ryan came home from part 1 of their honeymoon in downtown Portland that afternoon. They stopped at the house to get more of Aly's stuff and pick up her computer. They decided that they wanted to open presents that night instead of waiting until Tuesday, so after dinner we went over to their apartment and got to watch them open presents. The kids did pretty well, but ended up getting to bed a little later than I would have liked. Oh well.

On Monday afternoon we all drove out to the trout farm. I wasn't sure what to expect since I have never been to a trout farm, but it was more pond/pool like than like a lake. There were tons of fish. Weston only had to wait about a minute before he got his first bite. Unfortunately the fish broke his line when he was reeling him in. He tried again and was so excited to catch his first fish.
It was just too much fun to catch a fish, so he caught 4! We really all had a great time helping Weston and watching him get so excited about catching fish. I was so impressed that he didn't seem squeamish about holding them up by the gills either.
The first 3 fish Weston caught were all about average size, maybe 11 or 12 inches long, but the final fish was a beast. It was 17 inches!

After our fishing expedition it was time for Ian to pack up and head home so he could get back to work. We were sad to send him off, but it was nice to be able to spend a couple extra days with Grandma and Papa.

We had originally planned to go to the beach one day, but after Sunday the weather cooled way down and the beach was supposed to be rainy and only in the 50's, so we decided not to do the big beach trip. Instead Grandma and Papa took us all mini golfing at Bullwinkle's family fun center. It was a really fun day. Weston was much better at golfing this time around. I wish I had taken a video of him because his putting looked more like playing shuffleboard, but it worked. (**Please excuse the weird hue of these pictures. They are from my phone which apparently was set for incandescent lighting)
The day's outing at Bullwinkle's was significantly less fun for Davin who had to stay in his stroller while we golfed and we kept taking away "his" ball. There were many tears, but at this moment with "his" club and ball clutched tight, he was a happy camper.

Me and Weston being Rocky and Bullwinkle. :)
When we were finished mini golfing we went inside to the arcade games. Grandma and Papa got some tokens and we helped Weston play a few games. We earned just enough tickets to get Weston a little army plane and Davin a plastic heart bracelet. Finally, Papa and Weston and I raced on the go karts. It was really fun. I smoked the competition, but eventually had to slow down so I could wave to Weston. This part of the outing was also highly tragic for Davin. He was clinging to the fence screaming because I'm sure he thought I was abandoning him. Poor kid. We finished off our afternoon with some cold treats and tator tots from Sonic.

The kids were pretty worn out, but after some napping in the car they bounced back quickly. Good thing too because when we got home, Aunt Aly and Uncle Ryan were at the house washing their car and requested some help getting their apartment put together. I'm pretty sure we ended up being helpful overall, but with both kids and 5 adults working in a small 2 bedroom apartment it was interesting. The kids (but mostly me) watched Beauty and the Beast, we ate dinner and I helped out a little bit too. It ended up being a little bit of a late night for the kidlets.

Wednesday was nice and quiet. Weston helped Grandma make raspberry freezer jam in the morning while Davin napped. He really enjoyed smashing the berries.
After helping make jam, Weston headed outside to help Papa set up a new canopy for over his old bug. Weston LOVED helping his grandpa out and building a giant tent fort was also very exciting. Denny and I snuck out while the boys were working outside to go to lunch and do a little random shopping. We came home with fabric to make me a tablecloth and to make 3 grandkid aprons.

After we finished dinner, Uncle Eli called to say he was in the area and wanted to drop by to pick up some radio thing. Eli works for AMR driving an ambulance, so it was pretty exciting. We went and hung out in the front yard while we waited for his to get there.

See how close Davin is to walking?!? I am getting impatient with him.
Uncle Eli was very nice to show Weston the ambulance and they even turned on the flashing lights as they pulled into the driveway. I think Weston was a little unsure about sitting in the back of the ambulance though. As Eli drove away he said goodbye to Weston over the loudspeaker. Very fun. Thanks for humoring us Eli!
As soon as Uncle Eli left we went to Borders to get a couple good Scrabble dictionaries. We had been playing lots of Bananagrams (if you've never played it's SO much fun!) and really needed a good dictionary. While there I found so many fun things on sale and ended up getting a jump on some Christmas shopping. I do a Christmas book advent, so I have been looking for good Christmas books to add to my collection and there were a bunch in the clearance box! $4 apiece! I also got Weston this really great floor puzzle of the United States. I will save it for Christmas. My favorite thing though was a really cute early reader book all about Star Wars. Weston is somewhat obsessed with Star Wars and has already seen the whole original trilogy and some of the new movies too. He will love the Star Wars book when he gets it for Christmas. Weston wanted to go get ice cream somewhere that had a playplace, so we went to this McDonalds, but it was definitely a weird/bad experience. I don't know what the deal was, but there were so many scary, bizarre people there! We ended up hustling out of there as quick as we could.

Thursday we headed home. I was pretty frazzled trying to gather and pack that morning because Davin was being so fussy. I finally just went and put him in his bed without his blanket or anything and he conked out, so I let him sleep for half an hour before getting him up to go to the airport. I think the catnap helped though. The boys were SO good for me on the plane. I borrowed the Bowles' portable DVD player and it saved me. As soon as we got up in the air I turned on a movie and Davin just curled up with me and watched until he fell asleep, then about 20 minutes before we landed Weston fell asleep too. They both slept all the way to the gate. I had to shake Weston awake so we could get off the plane. It has been nice to finally be home for a little while and enjoy our lazy summer days. Today I am feeling like I am finally kind of caught up with the house. Laundry is done, the house is clean, and we are expecting a couple 100 degree days this weekend. Hello summer!