Fire Station Field Trip

 Allison's class had a field trip to the local fire station!  I signed up to go along.  And since I know our buddy, Benji, loves fire trucks I invited him along.  Both kiddos really did like the fire engine, they just weren't so much into smiling (and I didn't have much time!).  Allison actually got to ride in a fire engine recently when they were doing a birthday party up the street.

 The kids got to climb through an engine and an ambulance.  All of the kids loved it, especially these two!  We all enjoyed the trip - and the big highlight was the red plastic fireman hats the kids came home with (bummer I didn't get a picture of those!).

Hooked on Ballet

We recently had the opportunity to attend a ballet recital that our friend, Bekah, was performing in.  Well, Allison & I did, Mark stayed far away.  Allison really enjoyed the performance, Mel & I even caught her dancing on her own at one point.  Bekah's dance was a highlight and she enjoyed any other dance that included pink outfits!  Allison brought Bekah some flowers (not actually pictured here) and Bekah was thoroughly excited to receive them.  Based on Allison's response to the recital we're hoping to begin a Creative Movement class in the fall - here's to hoping we have many more ballet recitals in the future (unless you are Mark or Nate, then you are dreading you have many more ballet recitals in the future)!

Carrot Thief

 This silly girl definitely is of the opinion that she can 'steal' anything she wants off of our plates.  I recently put dinner on the table and went to tell Mark dinner was ready.  I came back to find this - a sneaky little girl stealing all of Mark's carrots off of his salad!  Good thing we want her eating carrots and there were plenty more to spare!

The Duck Park

 We recently realized that the baby ducklings should have hatched at one of our favorite parks.  Last weekend we picked up fried chicken and headed to the duck park for a picnic.  After dinner we enjoyed wandering around the pond looking at all of the ducks, especially the baby ducks.

 Love the cute & fuzzy little ducklings.  They were pretty cute and small.  If we stood in one place they would eventyally come by pretty close (there were other kids running around that they were trying to avoid).

We're all  very thankful to have such a fun park so close for us to enjoy - especially Allison!

Almost Three

 Every so often I manage to get a random (and cute) picture of Allison that really shows the different things that make different ages and stages entertaining (and challenging).  These pictures were from a recent Sunday.  She's wearing a sun hat.  We've been encouraging her to since she sometimes gets rashes from the sun / sun screen combination.  She has her backpack on.  She loves this back pack and would wear it everywhere if she could.  If she doesn't have this backpack she has another bag (or several) in tow - most of which she wear slung across her chest like I wear my purse.  She has a big smear of yogurt down the front of her dress demonstrating two things: (1) she likes to do everything herself including the tube yogurts from Panera and (2) we've entirely given up on bibs unless she's eating spaghetti.  And those pink flip-flops (or 'slip-slops' in Allison-ese).  She had the exact same shoes last year so I decided to go back to Famous Footwear to see if they had them again this year.  They did.  We bought a pair.  She's worn them every possible moment since we purchased them.  In the car on the way home from the store she wore the shoes.  The entire way home she said 'I'm wearing my special shoes!' and 'I love my Special Shoes!' and 'Thank you Mommy for my special slip slops!'  It warms a mother's heart, I tell you, even if the hard-plastic-loud-slapping-light-up-slip-slops are as obnoxious as they come!

A Sunny Mother's Day

It just so happened that Mother's Day was beautiful in this part of the country.  Bright, blue skies and temps in the 80s.  We decided to make the most of it.  Our friends, the Wagners, joined us for dinner.  The ladies all congregated outside at the pool, the little ones jumped right in!

 The girls of course had to wear goggles!

 

And Jodi and I lounged around.  Until Allison stole my chair!

 And the men did some serious work in the kitchen and on the grill!  I had to get a picture of our friend, Nate, working in the kitchen - apparently it is quite rare.  We had an amazing dinner of grilled pizza (Mark's new specialty, he even kneads the dough himself!), grilled shrimp skewers and some sort of 'paper chicken' along with salad.  And chocolate cake.  Sorry, no pictures of the food, Jodi & I were too busy eating and the men too busy cooking!  I'm very thankful for the little girl whom I get to mother and a husband who likes to make his wife feel special!

Allison in the Big City

 We took Allison to the big city (Portland) this weekend.  We realized it was the first time she's been to downtown Portland and we certainly could have planned to be there longer and do a few more fun things.  Regardless we had a great time.  We went to Portland to see 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie,' a performance by the Oregon Children's Theatre.  We managed to get there early enough to go for a walk.  I vaguely remembered an ice cream place so we wandered in that direction since it was a beautiful and warm day.

 Sure enough we found ice cream.  Apparently it was COLD when these two started to eat it!

 Silly girl.

 This had to have been my favorite sight in all of Portland.  A grown man with an owl backpack.  It does attract some attention!

 Posing with the poster after the play.  It was after nap time so Allison was a bit tired!  She really enjoyed the play, saying she wanted to watch it again when it is was over.  However, she is one intense little girl.  She sat through the play completely mesmerized even though it was supposed to be humorous.  You wouldn't know it was funny by the look on her face.  We really enjoyed the experience and plan to be back for more performances next year, and plan to make a day of it in Portland.

Biking with Benji

 Sometimes I wonder if I post too many bike pictures.  Then I remember that one of the primary reasons I write this blog is for my Dad.  And I'm pretty sure there is no such thing as too many bike pictures in my Dad's mind.  So here we go, another bike post. 

 Allison has a new biking buddy, Benji, our neighbor!  Benji got a helmet last weekend so he and Allison had to go on a ride together!

 Allison learned pretty quickly that it doesn't work well to try to look behind her while riding - and took a spill into the grass. 

 And she does ride a little faster than Benji so she, of course, had to be adventuresome and ride off the sidewalk a bit.  She's also starting to live dangerously (for her) and ride off the curb at corners rather than down the ramps.  What a dare devil!

 Benji-boy is getting the hang of it!

And this one just cracked me up!  Love this kid!

Green Eating Machine!

One thing Mark and I find rather amazing about Allison is how well she eats green vegetables (broccoli, snow peas, sugar snap peas and green beans).  She eats green vegetables really, really well.  Better than Mark and I do (excluding spinach, of course!).  Recently we gave her some asparagus and she ate it up.  Crazy.  Neither Mark or I remember eating asparagus when we were little (I don't think I ate asparagus for the first time until I was in graduate school!).  We certainly can't complain about our little green eating machine!

Wedding Fun

Did I mention we had some tuxedos to return?  That was because we had the third wedding in the past year which one of us has been in on Saturday.  It was a beautiful wedding and we were very happy to celebrate with our friends.  Allison was the life of the party at the reception.  She could have danced all night.  If they would have dedicated the floor to her, of course.  Once the adults started dancing she was a bit upset.  It was a beautiful evening but I was so busy chasing a very busy 2-year-old I didn't get many pictures. 

My favorite moment of the night (other than my dear friend, Cara Lynn, sharing the wonderful history of the romance that brought us to the wedding of course!) was Allison arriving back at our table after getting cake.  We were the first people back to our table.  So, she asked loudly and in a rather exasperated tone 'WHERE'S MY GUYS?!'  Everyone at our table was glad to be considered one of 'Allison's Guys.'

Sunday Play Time

 We headed up to Salem this past Sunday to return some tuxedos.  We took advantage of the beautiful day to go to a park, let Allison ride her bike and the carousel.  After a hectic weekend it was the perfect ending.  We're very thankful the sun has been coming out!

Tractor Time

 I picked up a well used tractor at our neighborhood garage sale a few years ago.  Allison hasn't played with it much (although our neighbor Benji loves it so it has still been worth it).  A few weeks ago she finally started having fun with it, pushing it backwards of the patio.  Over and over and over again.  So much fun! 

Miss Leslie Came to Town

My good friend Leslie drove down from Seattle for a girls' weekend.  She knows exactly how to get a warm welcome in our house, bring Top Pot Donuts!  Allison, of course, picked one with pink frosting.

 We took another trip to the Tulip Festival in Woodburn.  Heidi and Janelle joined us, I just neglected to get a photo.  This time around I did manage to enjoy some bratwurst.  The other ladies ate some yummy looking Mexican food.

 The tulips were definitely more colorful for this trip, and many were past their prime. 

 It was an overcast day when we left home so I put Allison in a sweater.  The sweater was one that my Grandma Kroon knit for Brittney (there were two of them if I remember correctly - and don't worry - I'll tuck it away for Brittney once Allison outgrows it). 

Our little poser having a grand time enjoying the tulips!