Out of This World Pizza Fun

Today we went to Out of This World Pizza for more play time together. The kids loved running around, riding bikes, and going down the 20-foot slide. We had birthday cookies to celebrate Ruby's one year birthday. Too bad she couldn't be there to enjoy her party!

Anniversary Picnic

On Sunday we had a great time celebrating Mom and Dad's 40-year anniversary. After a little golf, we had a picnic at Rood Bridge Park. The highlight of the picnic was family races. McKenzie won the award as the fastest child, and I probably won the award as the slowest adult. Many of the younger kids asked to race me because they knew they could beat me! It's great to see how much fun all of the cousins have with each other!

Another Camping Adventure

This weekend we were off to Scout Lake, which is very close to Sisters. We went camping with some of our great friends who we have known for many years. We enjoyed swimming in the lake and playing on a huge log that was in the middle of the lake. The kids had fun seeing how long they could stand on the rolling log. We went on a 5 1/2 mile hike around Suttle Lake where we saw some river otters, a view of Mt. Washington, and other pretty scenery. Of course, we ate some great food (Denise's mom's homemade marionberry pie, Bekki's grilled Walla Walla onions, and Peter's burgers cooked over the campfire). We have a couple of weekends at home before Peter and I leave for our 10-day Major League Baseball parks adventure.

Our Weekend Adventure

We just returned from our super fun camping adventure with the Hearings! We enjoyed playing in the (very cold) river, sitting by the camp fire, eating great food, going on walks, riding our scooters, playing card games, eating smores, doing talent shows, taking naps, running through the sprinkler, swinging on the swings, chopping lots of wood, etc.! The kids loved being able to sleep in the Hearing's camper, and we all were grateful for not having to use the outhouses :) We only had a couple of scraped knees and two burned toes - not too bad for 3 days of camping!

After camping we went to visit Peter's friend who just finished building a house on the river. We spent about 3 hours kayaking and swinging in the hammock swings. On our way home we stopped for soft serve ice cream in Cascade Locks - a perfect way to end the weekend.

4th of July Parade

For the 12th year in a row (maybe we skipped a year), we attended the Hillsboro Happy Days 4th of July Parade. The kids brought their bags to fill with candy that was thrown to them. Conner surprisingly gave Alex all of the candy that he caught. Aunt Amy especially enjoyed having tiny black bugs cover her white sweater. We left just in time before a downpour and returned home for a 4th of July barbecue at our house.

All Star Game

We had lots of fun cheering on our nephew, Michael, at his All Star games! He had some good hits, struck out several batters, and made some good plays. The cousins had lots of time to play together and Grandma and Grandpa bought them many treats from the concession stand. Zack and Grandma also seemed to enjoy themselves.

Oaks Park Adventure

McKenzie had a birthday party at Oaks Park, so we all decided to go have some fun. Both Conner and McKenzie went on their first roller coaster ride with a loop - they were pretty excited; however, it changed their appearance just a little bit :) Kelsey and Sami had tons of fun going on all of the rides that make people like me pretty ill!

Half Marathon Walk

In November my mom was hospitalized for chest pain. During this time we were inspired to do something to become healthier. We decided to start training for a half-marathon walk. Peter and I trained for about 4 months and kept trying to recruit a few other people. Amy agreed and decided to train a couple of weeks before the walk :) All three of us walked without any problem for the first 12 miles. At mile 12, we all began to feel our aching muscles - I felt like my hips were going to pop out of my sockets! We all finished together and then ate a Helvetia burger at the end. It seems like kind of a long way to have to walk to earn a hamburger, but we'll do anything for food!

First Family Run

We started off the summer with a 5K run to raise money for Rock Creek and Stoller. We thought that some of us would walk the 5K and some of us run the 1 mile. When we arrived, we all decided to do the 5K, and we all ended up running almost the whole distance. We were quite proud of ourselves since both Peter and Tricia thought that they couldn't run more than 1/4 of a mile!!