Puzzling

Emma and Daddy needed a quick nap in the middle of their puzzle this morning!

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Break it down!

Emma wanted to show us how to break dance:

Hip hop and pop - don't stop!!

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Hiking

Today we went for a hike at Tryon Creek State Park. It's actually not that far away from downtown Portland, but it feels like you're really far out in the forest! This also felt like a real hike in that the paths were not paved, and were also quite muddy.

Here's Emma at High Bridge. Despite the name, it wasn't too high.


Emma loved to stop us and read her map (which was actually a "Pets in the Park" brochure). She would say things like "Okay, we're at hollow tree and we need to go to the bridge." She would also lick her finger to open it up each time. We got such a kick out of that!

We even got to bring Zoe with us! She had quite the dirty belly and paws when we were done, but we brought towels to clean her up.

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Sing a song

Today Emma sang a few songs with the other preschoolers at Bible class. I had the perfect spot to videotape her, and then I was soon blocked out a couple of rows in front of me! I tried my best to lean over and get videos without sitting on my neighbor's lap :)




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Whatcha got cookin'?

If it were up to Emma, she would have pancakes for breakfast every day! At least she asks for them nearly every single morning :)

She wants to help pour and flip her own pancake, so I'm trying to teach her how to hold the handle and not touch the stove or griddle. She ran and got on her fuzzy gloves so she wouldn't burn herself!


Waiting is the hardest part!

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Parade and carnival

On Saturday we headed to the Irrigation Festival in Sequim. Miranda and her band were marching in the parade, and we were excited to get a chance to see her perform! Cuz is in the middle holding her saxophone, but unfortunately they weren't playing music as they walked by us!


Emma got a lot of hard candy, but one little robot gave her a blue and gold necklace!


A webbed friend joined us for the parade!


Zoe was not at all impressed with the parade and the people, but she finally stopped her nervous shaking and sat under a chair for most of it. She even closed her eyes a few times, but that was a rare sight!


We planned to take Emma to the carnival afterwards. She was SO excited about riding a ferris wheel. I only hoped they actually had one there! Well they did. And she was tall enough to ride!


She LOVED it. As we would go around she'd say "Whoaaaaaaaa" and then break into laughter. I wish I could have recorded her voice!




How would she fare on a roller coaster? This was the Go Gator. She wanted to try! She really enjoyed this one too! Just look at the joy on her face :)




Then Emma and Daddy rode on the strawberry ride. You can spin it around like a tea cup, but they took some leisurely spins!


This ride was called Bulgy. The operator let them ride for five minutes! The kids were all having a blast and there was no line. You can hear her excitement on the video!

She also got to lift up in a rocket ship and hot air balloon!

There was one more thing about the carnival that Emma was looking forward to. A corn dog!

This fair was a success!
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Memorial and family

Last week we headed north for a memorial. It was the first time Emma has been to one, but we did our best to explain things to her before, during and after. She did well in the church and seemed to understand it. Afterwards, I snapped this picture of her with Daddy and Uncle Jay (and Cheetah!) because I thought it was a sweet moment :)

The next day we were able to visit with family from far and wide, including baby Ruthie (I guess I can't call her baby anymore, she's a big one year old now!). This was a bright side of a sad time.

We tried to teach Ruthie how to answer the phone, but she had more fun just playing with it!

Ruthie loved Zoe!

Emma and Ruthie danced to music on a iPod (in R's hand). I'm thinking both girls need one for Christmas now!!

Sun! Pink ladies and Ed on the deck!

Since it was nice out, we stopped and had a picnic lunch at a park.

We wanted Emma to pretend she caught this giant fish, but instead she fled!

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Happy Mother's Day!

Today at church, the teachers helped the kids write out some of their favorite things to do with their mom. I thought this was very cool!

(AEMM = EMMA!)
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Neon golf

When we got up this morning, Emma asked if we could go golfing. We were wanting to go for a walk, but it was raining out. We found some cool indoor golf that is under black lights. I couldn't get a clear picture and most were blurry, but it's still cool to see the course and Emma glow!


Then Emma and Daddy played a handful or arcade games. She loves the driving games! She's Fast & Furious!


When we got home, it was sleep on Daddy time!

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Phone message

I enlisted Emma's help to write a reminder for Ed when he gets home from work.  She had to look at her alphabet chart for help on a few letters!

(Call Papa John!)
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Who are the creatures in your neighborhood?

In your neighborhood, in your neigh-bor-hood....!

When we walk Zoe, Emma usually rides her bike. She frequently hops off to greet the neighborhood animals! There are several dogs and cats that we always look for.

This gray kitty is very friendly, and usually there's a little white cat that also comes out to be petted when we walk by. I hold Zoe tight from a distance so sister can pet the cats!


We love going up to a pond to see the ducks and geese. Recently there have been two batches of baby geese. First off this spring were seven babies:


This weekend a neighbor told us four more babies have hatched, and we saw them swimming today!

Of course no pond would be complete without all the resident ducks!

There's never a dull moment just around the block!
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May Day

This weekend we went to church on Saturday night so that we could get up and go on Sunday morning. It was going to be a beautiful day around town (they forecasted 70 degrees), and so we headed to Multnomah Falls! Emma couldn't wait to see waterfalls - she asked several times in the car if we were there yet, where were the waterfalls, etc.! Thumbs up on the little hike:

There were many folks there from Search & Rescue. We saw several of them practicing rappelling over the sides of this bridge and the trail, and while they were at it they were cleaning up all the litter that was down there! Emma really liked watching them in action!

It was both sunny and misty at the bottom of the falls, which made photographing kind of challenging!

Emma wanted to take pictures herself, so while I took pictures of her, she took pictures of us!

She wanted to take a picture of us in front of the waterfall. Hey, she got us in the whole frame!

Here are a couple of her other pictures that I really liked:

Meanwhile, back at the entrance there were several Search & Rescue booths to learn more about what they do. This included several dogs! Emma wanted to pet as many of them as she could. This is Brodie, a 7 year old hound. The news even filmed her petting him! (But alas, we didn't see her last night on tv!)

She also got to meet Doc, a Sheriff's horse:

After the falls, we went a little further East to the Bonneville Dam and fish hatcheries.

Emma was really hoping to see a sea lion, and we saw two out there bobbing up and down!

We walked down to a little fishing area on the river.

Emma collected and tossed rocks into the water!

We even continued on to Cascade Locks, and got to play at a playground for a bit. Then it was time to head home, as we were all sleepy from the fun and the sun!
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