Pirate tales

In search of Pirate ships, we wandered up the magnificent Columbia River Gorge.  We stopped up at Vista House and decided it is indeed, the most beautiful place on earth!

Every beautiful place needs to be topped off with Ice Cream... so we indulged!

A different view.  Emile made me hike out to this point on the rocks, and after grumbling, I was in love with the 360 view.

These Pirates didn't really need any more views, ice cream, or time wasted on adult mumbo-jumbo.  Show them the TREASURE!

... FOUND... Pirate's booty.

A rare new family shot.

These amazing people made it all happen! 

Thanks Mom & Dad/Gma & Papa for the great idea and fun filled get-away!

There she is... Lady Washington.  If YOU would like to see her, just go watch Pirates of the Caribbean.  Maybe Jack Sparrow can give you a tour.

After the Pirate adventure we spent the evening at one of our favorite places, Skamania Lodge. Emile's favorite time is the serenity of the golf course and sharing it with his minions.

Our home-made pirate ship was a little less impressive, but none-the-less a viable means of transportation on the great Columbia.

Catching up

 Here I am with 10 weeks left. I believe this was taken right after Valentines Day in February.

 This little green machine has worked hard for us for 11 years!!!  We have brought both of our babies home in it, and unfortunately it was time to say goodbye.  We did make some money on it though, which helped with the purchase of our new "swagger wagon".  I am a little embarrassed to say the Mini-van kinda rocks!

 So, for Spring Break we took it out for a spin to the beach.  We stopped at Camp 18 and ate Cinnamon Rolls and saw the logging artifacts throughout the property. 

 We made it out to Seaside, with a race to get to the Bumper Cars!!!  What fun those are!

Once on the beach, Trenton decided to dig a hole until he fell in upsidedown!

 I... didn't move much.  I am a little slower now...

 But, Simon is anything but slow when it came to showing his Flipper a real live seal!

We did as much a s possible during Spring Break!  I ended up getting sick, but still wanted to have fun with the kids, so we had sleep overs with cousins, went golfing, had lunch dates, did Easter crafts and prepared for our big hunt on Sunday.

 Look at these guys?  

They are the best of friends and we are lucky enough to know we will be a family forever!  

Happy Easter!

Simon's 5th Birthday @ Home Depot

So our little man, soon to be the middle man, Simon turned 5 today and we celebrated with a Home Depot themed party. We began by having a scavenger hunt inside of HD. The kids used the chart below to go around the store and find all the items pictured and they needed to write down the items prices. Normally I don't think HD likes kids running around the store screaming, but they seemed more than happy watching our little band of workers comb the aisles looking for each item.  

It was a blast!

  

After the hunt, we came back home and began the building part of the party. We decided that making catapults seemed like a safe and responsible project for 5 moderately supervised kids to take on.  The kids each got their own tools, aprons, and wood.....25 minutes later, we had projectiles flying everywhere (and nobody was hurt in the process, safety first right?).

We had lots of family here to sing Happy Birthday and enjoy the gift giving.  Thank you everyone for coming and sharing Simon with us!  I wish I could post all of his gifts, but he was smiling all night long!

Even our cupcakes were built by The Home Depot

Happy Birthday Simon!