Trip to Oregon

A couple weeks ago, Dave made a long trip/adventure to Oregon.  It started with Dave driving to NC to pick up his Mom....of course, it had to snow on the drive down there....in March.  Once he reached his Mom's place in NC, they hopped on a plane (with stops in Chicago and San Francisco) to Eugene, Oregon.   Dave's niece was getting married so it gave him a good reason to get his Mom out there to visit.

Here is the happy couple.  Rebecca and Aaron

Dave's Mom got to meet her third Great Grandchild, Zander.

 

Dave's nieces, Emma, Rebecca, Shelbie ("niece-in-law"), and Rachel 

Dave's sister, Wanda and her husband, Richard

Nanny (Dave's Mom) was so happy to be able to celebrate with the new couple.

Dave always has to be funny.  This time his nephew, Carson, joined in on the fun.

An arm wrestling match ensued.  Wonder who won.

Sorry Carson, but I heard that Dave won.  Hope he just wasn't telling me a story.  : )

Hiking Again

A couple weekends ago, we ventured on another hike to check out a trail we found on a map.  It was really cold this day, so we did a short trip, but it sure was fun.


This trail was shared with horses. We didn't see any horses out this day, but we could tell they were there by all the droppings left behind.   Aubrey was our official navigator through the horse droppings.  She pointed them all out to make sure we didn't step in any of it.

Chopsticks for Breakfast

Alex and Aubrey found the chopsticks in the utensil drawer and wanted to try them out for breakfast.  Fortunately, we were having pancakes and not cereal.

 

 

Zoo Time Again

A few months ago we went to the zoo.
We had so much fun that we did it again this last weekend.

Alex in front of the elephant. The elephant is way in the back.


They were able to get closer to this elephant. Alex and Aubrey just don't stay still for pictures. 

Gorilla Time

We took a fun ride on the carousel again. 

 

 

 

We had a Snow Day

We had a snow day last Wednesday.   The weathermen were saying that we could get anywhere from 4 to 10 inches.  So the federal government and all the schools in the area were closed.   We did get some snow, but it was mostly a slushy mess.  

Alex and Aubrey were so excited to shovel, but they were pretty much just shoveling water and a little slush.  But they sure did have fun and that was the most important part of it all. 

 

Alex had to resort to shoveling the grass in order to get some snow in the shovel.  He was determined to shovel all that he could.  Determination was on his mind.

This was great snowman making snow.  Aubrey and our neighbor had fun making this one in our yard.

Aubrey wanted to make a snow angel.  She has wanted to make one all winter.  The snow didn't really cooperate this time, but she sure did try.

It was great to finally get some snow...even if it was a slushy mess.

Sibling Love!

 

Snack Time

All of the time, I wonder how my kids are going to turn out.  It feels like they never listen.  I have to tell them things 100 times and then they still don't listen.  UGH.  I feel like a broken record.  

However, there are times when I realize that they are listening and everything is going to be all right.  We were at a neighbors house for a play date.  The kids all got snacks.  In the past, I have told my kids that when they get snacks at other people's homes (and even at our house), they should eat at the table to be considerate.  Everyone got to pick a snack from some options.   Aubrey chose fruit snacks...so she went downstairs with the rest of the kids and I figured it was fine this time since it was just fruit snacks and everyone else was going downstairs.  Alex wanted an apple.   He went downstairs too.  At first it didn't occur to me that he should probably eat the apple at the table since they can be a tad bit messy.  However, after he went downstairs for maybe 30 seconds, I see him coming back up the stairs and he stood in the kitchen, at the top of the stairs to eat. He stood there for maybe a whole minute...eating his apple.  All the parents were in the kitchen, but all the kids were downstairs.  Then I saw him move to the dining room table to eat his apple, even though he was all alone.  It broke my heart that he was all alone, but it also made me so happy inside that he remembered. There is hope after all.  : )