A Whale of A Time

While Scott and Wendy were here we took them on a whale watching tour. Brian and I have actually never done it in all of years here so we were all very excited. We lucked out and the weather was cooperative and the boat was not full at all! They can handle 130 people and there were only about 30 of us. Within the first 20 minutes we spotted 3 grey whales. We got to get so close to them it was unbelievable. I never knew that whales really stink! 

What was more unbelievable was that we saw a private boat come right up to the whales and actually hit one of the whales with the boat! Our captain said he had never seen that in all his years and it even made the local news. Luckily they think the whale is ok. It made for quite an adventure on the sound. I think in total we saw 5 or 6 whales and spent most of the tour right up close to them. It was amazing. 

G&G Visit!

The kids were so excited that Grandma and Grandpa were coming that they got up early on the day they were arriving and even earlier on the days they were here! We had warned Scott and Wendy that they better be ready to watch a lot of softball and t-ball because it was Little League Weekend for Addy. There was practice Thursday, game Friday, pictures & parade on Saturday and another game on Sunday. And that was just for Addy! Cameron also had his practice and game on Saturday. Luckily (or not) there was some rain so a few games were rained out. But Grandma and Grandpa still got to see the kids play (and Brian coach) and you could tell the kids were so proud to show off their skills.

The Bats and the Alley Cats

Spring weather may not have arrived, but spring training and softball and baseball is certainly in full swing! Addy has been playing on her softball team The Alley Cats for a couple weeks now and seems to really like it. It is fun to watch their games and see their progress each week.

Cameron started his first season of t-ball last week and is on the Bats team. His team is 3-5 year olds and they just look tiny and adorable. It is very cute to watch them play and try to figure out the game. He seems like a pro out there. Looks like Brian and I will be cheering for the cats and the bats!

Easter

Addy was up bright and early on Easter morning and went down immediately to check the status on her Easter basket. She had a million questions which all made me laugh "Why isn't my basket as full as Cameron's? Why did Cameron get more things than me? Why do I have to share my eggs with Cameron when I will find more?" We did our egg hunt in the house and then the annual egg cracking contest. Addy had the most wins, but the contest ended with Daddy currently in the winner's seat. 

This year the competition was even stronger at Kim and Rob's for the easter hunt. There were a lot of skilled hiders so Cameron and Addy had their work cut out for them. They were racing around the yard looking for the 102 hidden eggs (only 101 were ever found....) Cameron was running so fast that he fell more than once and dumped out all of his eggs. Lucky for him he has a pretty sweet and helpful big sister. It was a beautiful day (finally!) and the kids had a fantastic Easter. I can't believe how much candy and money they came home with. I swear we have a constant supply of candy in the house that tempts me. Between Valentine's Day, Easter, 4th of July and Halloween it feels like our candy drawer is never empty for long. 

Easter Prep!

The kids were so excited for Easter this year. They could not stop talking about decorating eggs or about going to Kim and Rob's for the egg hunt. We spent several hours on Saturday dyeing eggs and decorating Easter cookies. The kids were really into it and I couldn't believe how long they stayed focused on it. I think we were in the kitchen for like 3 hours decorating! Addy said she didn't even want to go to bed because she just wanted Easter be here already.

Oregon Fun

More pictures from our trip. The kids loved hanging out at the pool at the hotel. We went to the Astoria column on probably the windiest day of the year (Cameron was not amused). The kids had a great time on their scooters along the trolley path and Cameron got to help drive the 1913 trolley. We also got to watch (and listen!) to the sea lions and seals that call the docks in Astoria home. I couldn't believe how loud they were. We could hear them from our hotel room. 

Astoria....Australia?

It was spring break for the kids last week, so we spent four days on the Oregon coast in Astoria. We had a great time, even though the weather wasn't exactly cooperative. The kids had a blast and Cameron kept calling Astoria, Australia. As usual, all the kids really need for a successful trip is a swimming pool and pastries for breakfast and they were winners on both fronts. We did a ton of other things as well and had a really fun trip. There are actually a lot of movies that have been filmed in Astoria (The Goonies, Kindergarten Cop, Free Willy to name a few) so we also took in some of the famous sites of the city. We saw the bowling alley from the Goonies movie, the county jail (including the actual jeep with "bullet holes") and several of the houses featured in the movie. Brian and I answered a million questions from the kids about The Goonies since they've never seen it, but by the end of the trip they acted like experts and declared everything that they saw as "the Goonies house."