Sister turns 2!

Our tiny Laurel B turned 2! It is really crazy how fast the time has flown. This girl is seriously the funniest, sassiest, and sweetest little thing. She makes us laugh every day. She can be very loving and is super into her baby dolls right now. She is also very bossy. She told her brother the other day "Listen to me! Listen to me or I'll hit you!" and "Come here or I'll slap you!" Really not sure where she got that from, since we don't tell her that.

She loves playing with "brudder" and is learning her colors and ABC's. Most of the time it is ABABAB. She is obsessed with Wreck It Ralph and asks to watch it every day. If we request it, she will make muscles and proclaim "I'm gonna wreck it!" just like Ralph. She loves cars and trucks and Legos and is actually really coordinated at throwing and catching a ball. She is a super momma's girl and is always wanting me to pick her up "I want to hold you Momma." Very sweet this one, but also very lippy! She knows how to manipulate and get her way. Daddy is the real sucker - he can't resist the big blue eyes of his baby girl. We are definitely in for some trouble down the line but dang, are we lucky to have this precious little soul in our life.

We had a little family bday party for Sis, had a pinata and water balloon fight. Curtis and Brittany and I made Sister's cake, so it came out pretty much homely but she loved it and it actually did taste good. Laurel was very insistent she wanted a Dora and Princess cake so that's what she got.


Reaching her little hand up to touch her balloons - she loves balloons

So excited about her new baby doll. When we asked what she was going to name her, she stated very firmly, "The doll is Curtis."

Sister dancing to her musical card

Bday girl's parents

My tiny family running air traffic control

I horribly can't seem to fix the captions so that will have to do for now!

Lots of stuff

Cal played soccer this spring, Laurel did gymnastics, Cal lost his first tooth, and some other stuff.

These kids acted fascinated the first time I let them see a gas pump up close. Hopefully by the time they're able to drive, cars will be powered by ocean water or candy bars or something.

No, really, I AM the 'Time Traveler's Wife'

Yesterday I came across this in the hall. The watch and everything.




When I read the Time Traveler's Wife, I seriously knew exactly what that would be like when he would vanish, leaving behind a pile of clothes on a trip for who knows when and where.

My husband, bless his heart, works hard and when tired overcomes him, it just does. God love him.

Portland!

Curtis and I took our very first trip away from the kids - ever - for our 6 year anniversary in April. We went to Portland, Oregon and it was seriously the most amazing trip.

Why Portland? Well, Curtis knows how much I love to travel so he bought me a Southwest gift card for Christmas, along with another gift card for a bed and breakfast website. His intention was for me to use it for an upcoming girls trip, but I decided we should use it to take our first trip by ourselves. So I looked on Southwest to see where we could go that was kind of close that we could use the gift card for. It ended up between Portland or Denver and Portland had much better B&B's, so Portland it was. What a great choice!

Our first day there, we checked into our WONDERFUL bed and breakfast, Portland's White House, then mobbed around to check out the town. We HAD to stop at Powell's, the world's largest independent bookstore, which was so cool and fun, and also wandered into a Dr. Marten store - such fun! Then we headed back to the White House and Curtis ended up falling asleep at 6 PM so I hung out in the sitting room, writing and reading, and just relaxing with no one to take care of but myself. It was nice.

Our spectacular accommodations! We had the best and nicest innkeepers and the most amazing food every single day




The next day, we got Peet's coffee, and went to the Japanese garden which was super pretty and peaceful, but there were all these people doing photo shoots or something, so we just hung out there for a bit and bounced. I did want to walk around the neighborhood since the houses there are adorable and I loved them. Curtis humored me, even though it was really freaking cold.







Loved these houses - so different from our stucco cracker boxes in Vegas




Later that day, we met up with Curtis' cousin Mande and her husband and kids who live nearby. They were nice enough to let us jump in with them, and took us up to Multnomah Falls, even though it was raining. They are great, great people and it was like we hung out with them all the time.

The hike was wonderful and fun, even though the last part of the trail was closed due to being washed out. I was just excited to be up there! Super pretty waterfall and a great workout by default. After the hike, we went and picked up Mande's brother Mike, whom I hadn't met before, and we all went to the Widmer Bros Brewing Co for dinner. Good food, great company, and just a really good time. We stopped at Voodoo Doughnuts afterward, upon insistence. It was pretty good, but I had a hard time believing that people wait in line for up to 2 hours. There were like 2 people in line when we went, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten anything. To me, that's a sign you should not have something. That is a stupid long time to wait for a doughnut you don't need anyway.

We seriously had a great day with them, and just had the best time. We were so glad to have the chance to hang out with them.















Monday, we went downtown and mobbed around, hit up a little coffee shop that I kinda OD'd on - oops, went to Goodwill where I scored super cute stuff for way cheap(the thrifting there is fanfreakingtastic!), and a few delightful little bookstores. That nite was our actual anniversary, so we went to dinner at a cute little seafood restaurant. Great food, and nice and quiet. I had a fatty headache and was butt tired. Good times anyway.

Our last day, we rented bikes and biked the Columbia Gorge River for a couple hours. The weather was incredibly perfect, and it was just terribly fun and also a great bit of exercise! I loved being able to spend time with my handsome husband and just be able to be us, instead of parents for a little bit. We did miss the kids but really enjoyed the time we had on our own.

The view along the river - so pretty!






Love love loved our trip and were so glad to get the opportunity to go. Also glad our kids were home safe and sound with our mothers and we had nothing to worry about on that front. So that was extra nice. Plus we had the best sleep pretty much ever the whole time, which was a delightful bonus. So much fun!

Day at the museum

We took the kids to the new Discovery Museum the other day. We only had an hour and a half to play so we just stayed on the first floor, but the kids had such a blast anyway.

There is a great new water room that they were absolutely loving. The kids get so wet that the museum has little raincoats for them to wear in there. Our kids wanted no part of it, so it was good I had brought a change of clothes for them both.

They had the cutest pirate ship - this giant play structure, complete with costumes and a helm for "Captain Calahan." He was loving it.

The last hour, they had a cute little short puppet show. But not some cheesy little thing - a full on stage with lighting and these elaborate furry puppets. The kids had such a great time. Now I just need to brave taking them again by myself!