Camping on the Oregon coast, 2010

Just got home yesterday from a fun-filled weekend of camping at South Beach campground in Newport, OR. There were 12 adults, 5 little ones under 3 and one 5 year old. The kids all played until they were beyond filthy and got along wonderfully. It was fun for Will to get to know some of my friend's husbands a bit more and of course fun for me to get to chat with the ladies.

We got to the campground at about 3pm on Friday and go all set up. We bbq'd hamburgers and my dear friend Jennifer made shmores for everyone. We stayed up too late and paid for it because on Saturday we were all woken up early by the most obnoxious crows ever. After going on a wagon ride to the playground, Will, Wyatt and I went into town to shop for a sling shot- unfortunately they were sold out everywhere. After our failed mission, we drove down to the dock area and I bought a whole Tuna fish which I had filleted right there. When we returned we found that the squirrels had attacked 2 Tupperware container's full of Will's cookies. The containers were so chewed up we had to throw out the cookies and the containers :( Too bad for not finding that sling shot! That night for dinner we had squirrel (j/k) a big potluck dinner- I grilled up some of the tuna, but there were veggie skewers, beans, sour dough bread, veggie salad, clam chowder, grilled mushrooms and chicken etc. What a feast! The next day everyone packed up and headed home, but we made sure and got to the beach first. We popped Wyatt in our wagon and moseyed on out. It was mostly foggy and 60 ish all weekend, but once we got to the beach the clouds cleared and warmed up nicely. Wyatt had a blast and didn't want to leave. He keeps telling me he wants to "go to the beach!" This morning we were meeting friends at a park and he said "no park- want beach!" haha Yep, he had a blast. He even stole a couple kisses from the girls.. Thinking we're going to have to watch this ladies man closely!

catching up is hard to dooo

Here's a run down of our fabulously busy last couple weeks.. On July 22nd, I picked up my grandma and aunt in Portland when they flew in from L.A. We all went out to dinner that night for my grandma's birthday. The following day we all went out to Audra's house for a nice lunch and relaxing day out in the country. On Saturday we ran some pre-party errands as well as went to the Farmer's market. That evening my aunt and grandma helped me prep food for Wyatt's 2nd birthday party. On Sunday morning Will and I raced around the park getting the site ready for the big party. We blew up lots of balloons (many got away), filled up a mini pool for the kiddies, set up the tent filled with balls (my mom actually did this), arranged food, drinks etc. and actually ENJOYED ourselves. Will bbq'd hot dogs and hamburgers. We had chili, mac n cheese, Caesar salad, watermelon and of course a Thomas the Train cake. The kids seemed to have a blast as did we. Wyatt got wonderful gifts (although he wasn't totally into opening them), but mostly enjoyed running all over and playing in the ball-house.



We were pretty exhausted that night so my mom graciously ordered us pizza. The next day Will and I unpacked more party stuff and then packed up for our 2 night camping trip at the coast with Will's mom, step dad Rene and niece, Faye. We left the 90 degree weather of Corvallis for the foggy 60 degree weather of Waldport. It was cold and foggy so the campfire felt great. Wyatt slept rather well (until 8am both mornings) and was a trooper. We are looking forward to our next camping trip with friends in a couple weeks.

Yesterday (Friday) Wyatt and I met friends at Slappy cakes in Portland for pancakes and then went to the zoo. Wyatt stayed in his stroller most of the day (which was great because it was pretty packed) and was amazing. He was such a trooper, we even decided to stop at Claim Jumper for dinner than night. What a treat! I think my 2 year old is growing up!

This morning we went to Mikey's 4th birthday party at the park in Monroe. It was a fun party with the family and Wyatt loved running around with his cousins. Wy fell asleep on the way home and then we were off to another party at my friend Jessica's house. We had lots to celebrate because our other friend Sara and family had finally returned home after a 6 week vacation and it was our other friend Jennifer's birthday. We all swam and ate way too much! I think Will and I are hoping for a nice relaxing Sunday at home!!

4th of July 2010 etc.

It's been busy around here so I don't even know where to start.. Let me back up a week or so. Last weekend was the 4th of July. I went to Old Navy that morning, to do some shopping by myself and came home with a cat. Yup, I found her in the parking lot and decided that I couldn't leave her to possibly get run over. I took her to the local 'pound' to see if she had a microchip, but she didn't. They said she is probably 3 years old, spayed and very pretty :) I did a couple 'lost' reports but so far it looks like she's ours. She has the sweetest disposition and Wyatt LOVES her. Yesterday she even brought us some 'presents' on our front porch. We are thrilled she is going to keep the mouse/mole/snake population down around here. Yesterday I also noticed another cat hanging around. I think he/she is trying to adopt us too.. uh oh its getting to be a farm around here! We are trying to come up with a name for her- Will wants to name her Mable and I like Clarabelle. Wyatt just calls her Meow Meow.

So back to the 4th- we had a nice day at home and then met up with friends for dinner at one of my new favorite restaurants in town, Flat tail brewery. Everyone's food was great and the kids did wonderfully (woohoo!). After dinner and brews Wyatt and his friend Sloane road in our wagon and we all enjoyed the "pre firework' extravaganza in Corvallis. They got to play in bounce houses, go down ginormous slides and watch people set off random fireworks. Wyatt LOVED the loudness of everything and usually had a smile on his face. We had to wait until 10:10pm for fireworks and we were all pretty exhausted by then. Side note: I have never worn jeans on the 4th before so this was a first for me. The weather was perfect though (high 60's I think).

The next day we rode to Newport AKA the Oregon coast, with my parents. We packed dinner too bbq and played on the sand for hours. It was sunny, windy and cool. Wyatt enjoyed making sand castles with daddy and knocking then down. He also REALLY enjoyed the small waves and had a fit when mom and dad's feet were numb and wanted to get out of the water. After we bbq'd hamburgers and veggies we headed home. It was a very long weekend for Wyatt with little sleep.

The following Friday we had plans to go to the Portland zoo with friends however it was going to be 95 degrees out so we opted to hit the beach instead. It was a fun day with friends. We all met at the Hatfield Science center, then picked up some sea food at a local restaurant and took it to the beach. The kids enjoyed playing in the sand, throwing rocks in the river (that feeds into the ocean) and looking for sea life.

Saturday Will, Wyatt and I went to town, ran errands and went to our weekly swim lesson. Wyatt was cranky and did not enjoy his lesson :( After the lesson, we had sandwiches and then played at the water park for a bit (which he enjoyed). We ran a couple more birthday related errands and headed home. Last night for dinner I made a terriyaki steak salad. It was SOOO simple and yummy. Just what we needed after a long, hot day.

This week ahead promises to be busy as well. Tomorrow I am "coordinating" a training In Eugene, in order to get continuing education units to keep my therapy license up to date. Being the Coordinator allows me to do the training for much cheaper than normal. The downfall is that I have to leave the house at 5am- ugh. It's going to be a LONG day.

On Friday we have hopes of going to the zoo since its supposed to be much cooler this week (its been mid 90's for the last few days and I'm ready for a cool down!)This weekend we'll just be getting the house ready for my Aunt Jacque and Grandma Rosie's visit for Wyatt's 2nd birthday, along with party errands. Can't wait!!

Ok- Wyatt just woke up form a 3.5+ hr nap so I must run. He's bound to be thirsty and hungry..

Have a great week!

dinner time blues

So after last week's dinner out at a restaurant, which we spent mostly mortified by our toddler's out of control behavior, I did a little research, polled some moms with kids Wyatt's age and figured out a plan of action for his terrible dinner time behavior. Now we mastered sleep training when he was a baby, so you would think we'd have the eating thing down right? apparently not.. :(

It all started a few months back when he started refusing his high chair (would scream/tantrum etc). We had already bought a booster seat so I let him start using it. In the beginning we strapped him him but he started 'arguing' so we got lax and stopped buckling him in. Then about a month or so ago, he started fighting the booster seat, wanting "the big seat," so I stacked and tied a couple chair pads on the adult size chairs and that's where he's been eating since. Concurrently, Will and I noticed one night how much more peaceful it was when we set Wyatt's food in front of him and let him leave the table whenever he pleased. He would go play and then come back and pick at his food- over and over, but we would eat in peace (no power struggles over food, sitting in the chair etc). It was a pleasant month... until we go out to eat. So after last week's dinner out, we decided something had to change.

So on Sunday night we started 'dinner boot camp.' We sat Wy's food in front of him and I explained to him that he could choose to sit in the baby seat and eat or the big chair and eat, but that he could not get down until we were all done eating. Surprise surprise, he never screamed or had a fit, although I did have to remind him throughout the meal of his 'choices.' All week I would remind him at mealtime something to the effect of "if you get down you will sit on a time out' and this reminder kept him motivated to stay seated at the table.

So fast forward to tonight.. Friday night. I had no motivation to cook dinner so we decided to go try out a BBQ place a friend had recommended saying it was "kid friendly." We held our breath and hoped for the best... but our little guy was AMAZING!! He did not scream, did not get down and run around and actually ATE some food!! We both felt relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed our food. Afterward we even felt like going to Target. It was a great Friday night... whew!

sqeeeeeeze

It's my bedtime soon and since it's my morning tomorrow to get up with Wyatt, I really need as much sleep as possible :) Periodically throughout my day I think to myself "I should blog about this" but then I totally forget; hence why I am trying to squeeze it all in tonight.

Well this weekend was Father's Day weekend and it was nice to get to spend it with my dad and my hubby. Wyatt had his last soccer class Saturday. Here is a pic of him playing.

Our party started on Saturday night when we met my parents and Audra and fam. at a Chinese buffet for dinner. Will and I cracked up over the oh so typical corny name "New China Buffet" which was posted on a permanent sign. (Maybe you had to be there..?) Anyways there was a sushi bar and tons of other great food and the best part was that I didn't get sick after (which happens sometimes when I eat too many different kinds of food). Dinner was good, but rough.. Wyatt was acting a little strange i.e. almost passing out on a chair after running wild at the restaurant (which I should add, prompted us to come home and start implementing more strict table manners for our DS (dear son)). After dinner we went to the Corvallis Knights baseball game at OSU. Wyatt ran wild for the first couple of hours and then I put him in my Ergo and although he protested a bit, he chilled out and we all got to watch fireworks (his first time seeing them!) He talked about the "boom boom boom" noises they made and how pink they were for a couple days after. It was our first baseball game since June 2008 when I was hugely pregnant with Wyatt in Fresno. It was also about 40 degrees cooler here. After the game, Will, Wyatt and I hit the McDonald's drivethru for a "ice cone" as Wy fondly calls them.


On Sunday Will got to sleep in a bit, I made breakfast burritos and then we took a drive over to Kings Valley with my parents to Fort Hoskins park (which used to be an old Civil War fort). We cooked up some hot dogs, ate calico beans and potato salad. Everything was yummy. After lunch we took a walk around the 'fort' and then went home.




Monday, Wyatt and I played at Avery park, hit the Dollar Tree, met friends for lunch at Papa's pizza, washed my car and cleaned house. Today we met some friends at Wildcat park, went grocery shopping, made cupcakes and relaxed some. Tomorrow we go to the gym in the a.m. and are meeting friends at Otter Beach to swim. If it's warm enough it should be fun :)

Ok, I'm heading to bed.. I have 8 minutes to spare before I start hurting. Night night..

wow, its been 4 years!?

This weekend was our 4th wedding anniversary mini vay-cay. Saturday morning we dropped Wyatt off at my sister's house and drove over to the Bend area (central Oregon), which was about a 3 hr drive. On the way we stopped in Sisters, had lunch at a BBQ restaurant and then walked through the town enjoying the perfect sunny weather. We also came across a bakery and shared a yummy chocolate mouse and brownie concoction.




After we drove around the town a little, we drove on toward Bend and explored there a bit too. We found "The Old Mill Mall" area which reminded me of Fresno's Riverpark shopping area a little bit, however the whole mall sat along the Deschutes river. We ended up going back to our hotel at the River House Hotel and checked in. We were really happy with our room which opened up directly onto the river. We relaxed for a bit and then went to the pool and swam and laid out. It was soooo relaxing. After we vegged at the pool, we got ready for dinner and went to our pool lounge area and got our free 'welcome' drinks. The lounge area was neat because it also sat directly along the river providing the best ambiance I think I've ever experienced at a bar :)

After our drink, we drove over to the downtown area of Bend, walked around a bit until it was time for our reservation at Stoccato's at the Fire House. My great uncle Bill who just recently passed away had told me about this place when I last saw him. It really was a great tip. The location was great (the old Fire house) and Will and I enjoyed a delicious dinner. Will had homemade ravioli's with elk and I had braised short ribs, mashers and vegies.

After dinner we explored the downtown area and found a candy store. Somehow we managed to spend $7 on candy alone (Will's sweet tooth was in high gear I guess). This worked out fine because we decided to go see the movie "Date Night." So we drove back over to the Old Mill mall area and strolled along the river until the movie started. We really liked the movie and found ourselves LOL (a lot!) ;)

We got back to our room at around 11:30pm and conked out. In the morning we ate a hot breakfast buffet at our hotel and then found the nearest Walmart so Will could pick up some boat shoes for our river rafting excursion as well as a waterproof camera. He had forgotten his Teva's at home and didn't want to water log his new hiking boots. Anyways we managed to get to the river rafting place on time and had a fabulous time. Our only complaint was it wasn't long enough and we wanted to go again :) The water was a bit chilly but the air was warm enough to offset it. It was a perfect day on the river. After we worked up an appetite rafting, we found an Abby's pizzeria (our favorite Oregon pizza place), and then drove to Smith's Rock State park which our guide had recommended. We werent disappointed either. It was gorgeous. Although we didn't make the hike down due to needing to get home, we got some great pictures. Apparently its one of the best rock climbing places in the country/world?



We got home safely and so appreciated our time away but by Sunday afternoon, we really missed our little guy. We knew he was having a blast with his aunt and uncle, cousin and grandparents though. Anyways it was nice for all of us to get a little vacation :)

fun times!

Today we met friends at the Wacky Indoor Bounce house and we all seemed to have a blast. Unfortunately I was one of 'those' moms who showed up with a sick kid. Well in all fairness his nose wasn't running when we got there and he's certainly on the tail end of it. Ugh. Anyways he had a jolly old time except for a few meltdowns when he got his feelings hurt or space invaded. I have been working on getting him to say "NO NO" when other kids do something he doesn't like in lieu of the terrible ear piercing scream that occurs here and there. We practice on our dogs who have terrible boundaries (especially when there is food in hand). Anyways after WIB we all went to lunch at Nearly Normals which had a nice big patio with a water fountain that the kids all loved. It was a bit chaotic at times (with kids trying to get in the fountain), but for the most part they were contained, so us moms were able to sit and chat a little. After lunch we walked down to the yogurt shop and all ate frozen yogurt. What a cool place! You decide what kind and how much yogurt and what toppings you want and they determine how much it cost by weight. It was a lot of fun for the kids to pick out toppings (although Wyatt was busy eating a sample cup (and I do mean he was eating the cup after he finished the sample), so I picked out ours- but boy did he enjoy his heaping spoons of yogurt he got when mom was too busy chatting to pay attention lol.

So after yogurt we all headed home. Wyatt stayed awake and chatted about his friends (so cute to see him forming friendships), but when we got home he went to his stuffed animals corner and laid down. Obviously the boy was tired.

Anyways tomorrow we have gymnastics and then a bee/honey event at the Toy Factory. Should be interesting. And then this weekend Wyatt's grandma and grandpa Orton are coming to visit. yeahhh! Supposedly the weather is going to be really nice.. woohoo. Actually it was pouring this a.m. but it let up when we went walking for lunch and yogurt and now its sunny and gorgeous.

Well tonight I am heading to Zumba at 5:30 (Wyatt is STILL napping). So I better go get ready. The boys are having spaghetti and spinach salad.. I should probably have a snack before I go so I don't pass out...

Is it summer YET????

This weekend was a great weekend- I must say! On Friday night, we went to dinner at a local bar and grill. Wyatt was a bit on the manicky side and could not sit still. He ended up behind the bar at one point, embarrassing his poor parents something fierce (he couldn't have been happier about this). Needless to say, we left as soon as we could scarf our food down.

On Saturday, Will, Wyatt and I all stayed home from soccer (Wyatt had developed a runny nose by Friday evening), I ditched the gym (after a tough abs workout Friday) and we laid low. We played outside a little bit and all took naps. When we woke up, my dad got here from CA. We hadn't seen him in a couple months so it was a nice reunion. We fired up the BBQ that night and had hamburgers and grilled chicken burgers and sweet potato fries.

On Sunday I had a 'mother's day' date with my g-friends. We drove up to Rickreall (just north of Corvallis or west of Salem)to Eola Hills winery for a yummy brunch. The brunch included 2 glasses of their wine too :) We had a lovely time and then stopped off at a lavender farm and then did some shopping.


Sunday night, we (Will) helped my dad unload his stuff into their storage unit. Afterwards my parents took us to dinner at Papa's Pizza where Wyatt had the time of his life. He didn't eat his pizza until the way home because he was unable to pry himself away from the 'fun house' room. We were surprised to find that the pizza was actually pretty darn good (after hearing some mixed reviews).



Today I skipped our usual playdate since Wyatt is still a bit snotty, but I have high hopes that he be fine very soon! Instead I made some blueberry/spinach/cholocate pancakes from the "Sneaky Chef." They were great (except that I kept burning them-sigh). Then for dinner I am doing my friend Sara's crock pot Cuban black beans and gonna grill up some sort of chicken for burritos. Should be yummy. Wyatt just woke up from a rather short nap, so I better go and get us a snack.

Our weather hasn't changed much lately. Its been cooler and rainy with some sun here and there BUT it's getting old- we want SUMMER!!!

Mother's day 2010

We had a nice Mother's day here in Oregon. The fam. came over to our house for an Italian themed lunch. Audra brought some great appetizers, my mom made a vegetarian lasagna and bbq'd sausages, Tanya made some home made rolls and focaccia bread and I made a Caesar salad and Eclair cake.. Everything was great. The boys tore it up outside and had a blast with grandma. We all eventually moved outside to enjoy the nice warm sunny weather but almost immediately the clouds rolled in and it started pouring! I guess some would say that's typical Oregon for ya, but now that we've lived here for 2 winters and 2 springs, it doesn't seem all that typical to me. Wyatt got me a beautiful pearl bracelet and Will made breakfast and took on most of the parenting duties for the day. NICE (which is also one of Wyatt's favorite words of late, I might add).

Not a whole lot going on this week (thankfully!) because I am exhausted. I have my regular gym appointments and class on Friday and a few playdate/get togethers in between, but I'm really just hoping the sun starts showing itself a bit more so we can veg out outside in the blow up pool we plan to get. I remember loving this time of year in Fresno but knowing the yucky heat was just around the corner. Well I say "bring on the heat!" since we aren't at risk of 105 degree weather here.

Just wanted to send a shout out to my long time friend, Harmony who is going in tomorrow to deliver baby #2, Matthew. Good luck girl :) & do me a favor and please just lie to me about how 'easy' having 2 babies is, ok?

Well I better get myself off the couch and onto my treadmill...otherwise tomorrow at the gym will be rough ;) Hope you all had a nice Sunday..

Mothering week 2010

Watching Oprah for the first time in months. Barbara Bush and twins are on so its rather interesting. I am on break from cleaning house and Wyatt is still napping. I'm throwing a Scentsy party (my sister's part time gig) on Thursday evening and have invited friends over so thats my motivation to get the house picked up and cleaned. It's soooo nice to have people coming over to encourage me to get on the ball. Tomorrow Wyatt and I have a gym appointment and then we'll hit Trader Joe's for food for the party.

Will, Wyatt and I are going out to dinner tomorrow night to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. I'm looking forward to a big margarita!

Not too much going on with Wy guy this week.. but he seems to be communicating "using his words" much more lately than just screaming. We went to Pet day at OSU this last weekend and because he's at the stage where he just wants to run, he wasn't happy holding our hands or being in the stroller. So we eventually left (tired of chasing after him in crowds) and he was very unhappy about this. We were frustrated with him as well but think we need to re-adjust our expectations sometimes, so we're not disapointed when activities don't work out as we had hoped. On the upside though, our dog Tasha was a sweetheart and got lots of compliments.

My class is going well. This week I have Mother's day activities planned. Speaking of mother's day, my mom, sister, Michael and Mikey are all coming over to our house to celebrate this year. We're planning on an Italian theme. Just wishing my dad would finish up with the house in CA and get himself up here!! We miss Papa!

My friends and I have a luncheon and movie planned for ourselves in a couple weeks to further celebrate mothering. That should be lots of fun. Wyatt's Orton-grandparents are coming up on Memorial weekend. We are so excited and can't wait to see them! I also just arranged a 'mom's night out' to go see the new Sex and the City movie in a few weeks. That should be fun too! Hmmmm what else is going on? I'm drawing a blank, so I guess thats it for now. Wow its 5pm and Wyatt is still napping. That was a long nap, but I bet my life that he will be a grouch for the next hour...Ahh the ups and downs of parenting ;)