Visit to the Sterretts in New Hampshire

We had a grand time in New Hampshire visiting my brother and his family. Olivia and Drew really enjoyed Sabrina and all her toys. It was a very relaxing week of reading, eating and talking. The kids were real troopers on the way home when our flight was canceled and it ended up taking two days to get home. When we arrived in Portland after 24 hours of travel, Olivia said, "Mom, I like the airplane"...Ignorance is bliss.

Blessed are the hearts that Bend...Albert Camus

We had a great weekend living it up in Bend for Chau's B-day - We actually went canueing, but I didn't want to inflict the dangers of water on my fancy camera. the weather was perfect and we spent about 60% of the time trying out some new restaurants. it just smells so good there - i love the pine trees and the sweet smell of sage. here are a few pics.

Beach Pose

The kids a little unwillingly sat on this bench with me - This was our day at Cannon Beach a couple weeks ago. We actually left our CF card at home last weekend - oops!

South Sister Backpacking Trip

Last weekend I went backpacking with a few girls from church - We hiked to Marine Lake and on Friday and set up our base camp, summit ed on Saturday and hiked out Sunday morning. Our campsite was unbeatable with views of Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top and the South Sister. I was only a little sore on Monday and Tuesday and survived with only a couple mosquito bites. (I still don't know why God created those bugs - honestly!)

Olivia had her first week of summer camp at Jake's Place...It is a warm-up for real pre-school which starts in September. I was only a little teary-eyed when she turned her head, tossed her braids and scooped up her princess lunch box without even a good-bye or a look back at Mom. She has been so looking forward to this since last year when we previewed the school. I consoled myself with a Starbucks americano and a cocoa for Drew and a nice run in the paths of West Linn.

So that's the update for this week - We are off to the beach tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get some good pics to post.