Introducing...

our newest little friend:
Addison Grace

Levi and I have been talking about her arrival for about a week.  Alexis and Eric are a few of Levi's favorite people, he's been know to call them his best friends.  So when she finally arrived on Wednesday, Levi couldn't wait to meet her and asked me several times when we'd be able to go.  Then he got a little shy when he finally did get to meet her on Friday evening.  Silly kid!
Levi has made several comments to both Gabe and I (separately I should add) about wanting a little sister.  Maybe Addison can bee Levi's "little sister".  After all she won't ever have a big brother, and Levi will never have a little sister.

That introductory meeting was the kick off of our weekend.
We've also spent the weekend getting stuff off the to-do list.
Hanging out at Jen and Rich's BBQ.
Driving out to the gorge to do a quick morning hike to Upper Horsetail Falls.

Levi loves this Lego headlamp we got him for his birthday.  This "cave" behind the waterfall is why we let him wear it on the hike.  But honestly, it's on him much of the day at home anyway.

And since we were out that way, we had to do a quick stop at Multnomah Falls.  I'm hopeful Levi will be up for the hike to the top next year.  Very hopeful.

To conclude the weekend Gabe made the most amazing Kalua pork.  I'm being totally honest when I say it was better than some of the Kalua pork we've eaten in Hawaii.  It was that good!  He rubbed it with green tea, salt and pepper.  (Thanks for the recipe America's Test Kitchen!) Smoked it in the BBQ for a few hours and then braised it in the oven for a few more.  Seriously delicious!  If only waves were crashing out our window...maybe next summer.

Oaks Park

Levi and I decided we needed to end summer vacation with a BANG!
So on Wednesday we spent our last day of summer vacation at Oaks Amusement Park.  I heard from a friend that they open early two days a week for kids under 6 so we decided it would be fun to try it out.  Levi was excited about the bumper cars (which it turns out he's too little to do.)  I was glad Levi and I could do one more big fun thing together before I go back to work.

The rides were pretty scary for Levi at first.  (And the first ride was on the carousel.)  But once he got comfortable, and saw how much fun everyone was having, he did too!  Some rides he could go on by himself.

On others I got to join in on the fun!
Here we are on the Tilt-a-Whirl.

We had a blast.  Oaks Park will definitely be on our list of summer adventures next year!

I'll be back tomorrow to share some things about our weekend and introduce a wonderful new friend we met last night!  After that, I might be MIA for awhile since I'll be back to the grind.

All good things must come to an end

Thankfully, not quite yet!

Levi and I have one more week of summer vacation.  Next week at this time I'll be gearing up to head back to school.  Prepping my classroom and planning lessons to welcome 200+ new 8th graders to American History.  (Technically, 4 days.  I have to go to a planning meeting all day on Thursday! Yuck!)

We've been making every moment count.
Here's what we've been up to over the last week:
Levi had to go in for his yearly check up at the doctor.  I'm happy to report he's almost 40 inches and almost 39 lbs!
We went to the zoo with friends.
We finally filled up Levi's pool to splash and swim in the 100 degree afternoon.

We picked peaches at the farm.  (Well, I picked while Levi played in the dirt.)

Took Levi's first MAX ride down to Saturday market.
Bought the most amazing Chester blackberries from the farmer's market.
And of course we had to play with all Levi's new toys.
Here is our young scholar at work learning his letters.  Levi can identify about 10 letters in the alphabet but we haven't really worked at writing them.  (We aren't even sure yet if he's a lefty or a righty.  He uses both hands for so many things still.)  At dinner tonight we started talking about things that start with "F" so I decided after dinner I'd show him how to write "F".  I showed him, wrote one with him, and this is the one he wrote all by himself.

He's saying: "F".  Having him say something is about the only way I can get him to look at the camera.

I just noticed how bad this guys buck teeth are!  Guess we should start saving for corrective orthodontic treatment now.  Braces aren't covered in our dental plan...

Levi's 3rd Birthday

Fishing and Crawdads

We joined Grandpa Tom and Grammy Joey down at their property near Yachats this weekend.  On the agenda was a great weekend fishing, chasing down crawdads, and spending some great time with  grandparents.
Levi and I were ready for some fishing on Siltcoos Lake.  Here Levi is showing off his fishing shirt, proof that he's ready catch fish!

The captain and all his crew enjoyed a beautiful morning on the lake.

The morning was beautiful but the fish just weren't biting.  We didn't do much catching.  Gabe (and Levi) were the only successful fishermen.  Gabe caught 2 newts, a little squawfish and this little trout!  Like a true fisher man, Levi will tell you he caught a fish on the lake...and Daddy helped him.

After an unsuccessful morning on the lake.  We headed to Indian Creek to find our dinner!  Thank goodness the crawdads were plentiful.  In just an hour and a half in the creek, we caught 277 crawdads.

There's a tradition of kissing crawdads on this adventure.  Levi would only follow the tradition of kissing the crawdads after they were cooked.  (Not sure that should really count!  The risk of having one hang onto your lip is part of the "fun".)

Dinner still took some work.  We had to shell those 277 crawdads before we could eat them.

Of course we also spent the weekend enjoying camp fires and munching on roasted marshmallows.
And taking a walk (or ride for one of us) down at the beach.  Levi was loving all the little pools made by the low tide!

It's so much fun to see Levi making memories.
Grandpa Tom and Grammy Joey, thank you for having us!