Scout Day Camp

My boys once again loved their week of scout day camp.  They loved all the fun activities but especially bb guns and archery.  This years theme was "Adventure on the High Seas."  As a parent I had to volunteer one day per child so I was able to go to camp two of the days.  It was fun watching the boys play and explore outside.  Such a nice change from the hours of time they sit inside the house playing "mine craft" on the computer!

The boys getting ready for the bb gun range

Townsend showing off his bb gun bulls eyes!

Hanging Out

Emerson at the archery range...look how happy he was:)

Townsend takes aim

I just happened to be the volunteer when it was "dress up your leader" day...why me?

Lots of Fun with Rebecca Porter

My sister Kristen left her daughter Rebecca here to play with me for a few weeks.  It was so much fun having her here.  She was such a big helper and played really well with my boys.  I felt super sad the day I took her to the airport.  I could live with having an 11 year old daughter around to help me out:)

We went swimming...

...rode the train to the Portland Children's Museum...

...Becca got eaten by a crocodile while trying to help him brush his teeth...

...she helped Julian check out some groceries...

...worked really hard on a cool clay box...

...Julian and I took her mini-golfing...

...and to Panda Express (this girl was super easy to please!)

She picked a whole bucket of blueberries when we went blueberry picking...

...we ended up with over 40 pounds of blueberries!!!

She enjoyed a day at the Sauvie Island beach...

...and had fun playing with Hyrum's brothers dog "Noie"

We fed the ducks at the library pond...

...and had a bouncing good time at "Sky High" trampoline center

...and on her final night with us we went out to Krispy Kreme!

I hope she had fun while she was with us.  I know I had a lot of fun hanging out with her.  She was always so grateful and thoughtful...I could only wish some of her good manners would rub off on my boys:)  Thanks Kristen for sharing Becca with me, she is such a great girl!

Triathlon #2

On July 6th, I set out for another triathlon.  Right about the time they were counting down from 10 for my swim leg to start I began to think to myself..."Why am I here?  What am I doing this for?  I don't want to do this"...but then someone yelled GO and I just dove into the water and started swimming.  This triathlon was much tougher than the first one I did.  The bike ride was longer and very hilly and the run was also longer (and more hilly).  But I finished and I was so happy when I was done.  I even won the silver medal for my age group:)

My friend Cynthia (on the left) raced with me in Washington for my first triathlon.  Our friend Malia (in the middle) joined us for this race.  It was fun being with friends on race day.

Leaving the transition area to start the bike leg of my race.

Coming in at the finish line...so very happy to be done!

My times for this race were:

Swim 1/4 mile: 12 minutes 47 seconds

Bike 12 1/2 miles: 56 minutes 19 seconds

Run 3.2 miles: 35 minutes 17 seconds

Porter's Visit

My sister Kristen came to visit and stayed from July 4th to July 7th.  We had a fun time with the neighbors on the 4th of July.  Hyrum had to work on the 5th so Kristen and I had a quiet day at home and then took the kids to see "Monsters University" at the movies.  Saturday we all headed out to Canon Beach together for a fun day at the ocean.  It was windy (as it usually is at the beach in Oregon) but the sun was out and the cousins had a lot of fun playing together.  Kristen left after church on Sunday with 2 of her kids but left Rebecca here with me.  I get to play with Rebecca for a few more days and then she flies home on July 18th.  I'll post more about our fun times with Rebecca in a later post.  I'm so glad Kristen came to say hello.  She lives in Victor, Idaho (about 12 hours away) so it's not super easy for us to get together but I'm super happy she made the effort to come and play for a few days:)

Kristen and I at the beach

The cousins all had fun digging a giant hole in the sand

Kathryn Porter hauling water to put in the giant hole

Julian hanging out in the hole...it was pretty deep!

Rebecca looked and looked and was finally rewarded with a whole sand dollar.  Mostly you only find bits and pieces of sand dollars strewn about the beach but she persisted and found a whole one.

The boys spent a lot of time burying Jeremy.  He kept laughing and breaking up the sand so he looks dead in this picture because we told him to stop laughing:)

4th of July

We had a fun fourth of July here in Hillsboro, Oregon.  We went and saw the parade in downtown Hillsboro, my sister Kristen Porter came to visit that afternoon and brought 3 of her kids with her and we finished the evening with a neighborhood barbecue and "fireworks" display.

My boys at the 4th of July parade.  I sort of forgot to dress them in Red, White and Blue...

There were some pretty interesting parade entries:)

Emerson, Rebecca Porter and Townsend in our front yard tree.

Kathryn Porter playing with a sparkler

My boys figured out they could write on the road with their sparklers:)

The extent of our fireworks display.  I really wanted to head out and see a real fireworks show but Hyrum and my sister Kristen out voted me saying the kids would just be tired if they stayed up too late. I really love fireworks so next year I'm determined to see a real display.

Trillium Lake

On Friday, June 28th, Hyrum took a half day off work and we headed out of town with our tent trailer and a canoe up to Trillium Lake near Mt. Hood.  It was a quick one night trip but we had lots of fun, especially canoeing around the lake.

Julian by the canoe...such a cutie!

We paddled around the lake a bit after we first got there on Friday night.  The boys got brave enough to jump into the lake from the canoe.

I love to see my boys happy and enjoying life.  I wish I saw this smile on Townsend more often:)

Julian even got brave enough to jump off the canoe...but only if Townsend would catch him.

Mt. Hood at night with Trillium Lake in the foreground.

The next morning we set out in the canoe again around the lake.  Townsend wanted to take a turn paddling.  It was such a scenic lake with Mt. Hood in the background.

We saw baby ducks:)

After our canoe ride we hiked all the way around the lake (about 2 miles)  Part of the trail is a boardwalk and the boys loved riding their bikes along the wooden path.

Julian gets around pretty good on his little scooter

Townsend found a dead log to jump over on his bike.  I guess we should have made him wear his helmet...ooops

Our last stop was Timberline Lodge.  This wooden lodge was built in the late 1930's and is pretty cool inside.  There are huge beams and pillars made from single trees, back in the days when giant trees were cut down and used for buildings.  Julian mostly had fun playing in the leftover snow along part of the trail.  None of the boys were very interested in the beauty of the lodge...maybe when they are a bit older:)

Can you tell from Emerson (laying on the couch) they just weren't that interested in the lodge:)

It was a quick trip but I'm so happy we took the chance to get away and head into the mountains for a night.  It is so much work to pack and get the trailer loaded up and hooked onto the van.  I just hope the boys will have good memories or our trips together.

Some fun with Grandma and Grandpa

After our visit with the Christensen's the boys and I headed over to visit my parents.  We enjoyed an evening with them on Sunday night, my dad got out his ukulele and played "dance dance" for the boys.  I didn't get any pictures but it's pretty cute to watch my boys dance around the little apartment.  Monday we headed to Sequim for a drive through the Olympic Animal Park.  Usually these animal parks are kind of lame, you just drive through and the animals are off by themselves and it's not that exciting.  At this particular park you buy bread as you drive in and then as you drive through the park the animals come right up to your car to get bread...sometimes even putting their whole heads into your car to get at the bread.  It was so much fun.  Julian and I were laughing the whole time.  My mom and dad got a kick out of it as well.  I don't think the twins were big fans of large animals sticking their heads into our car...but it was just so hilarious!

Julian feeding a deer.  You can tell by his face that he was having a great time feeding the animals.

My mom and dad at a lookout tower at the park.

A llama looking for some bread

Julian was busting up laughing the whole time, he thought it was great!

That buffalo didn't mind at all that his horns were too big to fit in my car, he just stuck his nose right in the window!

After the animal park we drove to Costco for a quick lunch and then off to a park to let the boys get some wiggles out.

We went for a little hike around the park and my mom showed the boys how to cross this little stream on stepping stones.

Julian at the park.

After the park we made one more stop at a beach near Sequim.  It was such a beautiful sunny day, I'm glad we spent it outside:)

Grandpa and the boys skipping rocks.

Townsend waded out to pick up a giant clam shell

His prize clam shell

Emerson had to try and get one too

Julian didn't have to worry about getting his clothes wet when he waded out into the water:)

My mom and dad at the beach

Proof I was there too:)

We saw an American Bald Eagle...pretty cool!

The next day (Tuesday) My mom and I headed over to Bainbridge Island for a fun day with the boys.

We found a really fun playground on the island.

It even had a fun sandpit to play in

When Julian got tired of playing on the playground we spent some time feeding the crows our cheezits. It was pretty cool to watch the crows pick them up in their beaks.  They would pick up one and then stack it onto another and then stack those two onto another.  The most we saw a crow pick up was 5 cheezits!

After the playground we went to a yummy cafe for some pizza and then it was off to the Bainbridge Island swimming pool.  I didn't get any pictures but my boys love this pool because it has a fun slide and a rope swing and a high diving board.

On Wednesday my parents had a missionary conference they needed to attend so I took the boys over to Suquamish to visit with some friends.  The Richards live right on the water so we had fun playing and looking for crabs that were hiding under the rocks by the water.  After we left the Richard's I took the boys mini golfing.  We did all 18 holes twice, it was a lot of fun.  We were the only people on the course.

Emerson was super brave and picked up all the little crabs he could find.

Maddie Richards, Townsend and Emerson playing by the water

Townsend golfing

Emerson had to fish his ball out of a water trap:)

All three boys had a lot of fun

Emerson playing a game with Grandma on Wednesday night.

We were heading back home on Thursday morning but we had enough time to squeeze in one more activity with my mom.  We headed to the Navy Undersea museum in Bremerton.  There is a Navy base in Bremerton where my parents are Military Relations missionaries.  The museum was really neat but my boys had too much energy to really appreciate all the cool exhibits.  We only stayed for about a half hour and then we said goodbye to Grandma and headed home to Portland.  It's always lots of fun to visit with my parents.  I'm glad my boys get to hang out with their grandparents and get to know them a bit.  

Outside the Navy museum

Inside the museum my boys were little monkeys...too much energy for a museum!