Random photo dump

 St. Paul Rodeo/Carnival 2012

 The fair-skinned one.

 McKinley salutes LCDR (sel) Ryan Campoamor.  Congrats Uncle Ryan!

           

 McKinley's first haircut on July 14.   Just a trim. 

 Piper's first ride in the backpack while we pick some more berries.

 Momma and her mini-me after church.

 Dadda and his bear cub.

 In and Out anyone?

 McKinley helps Dadda plant a chandler blueberry bush (the berries can grow the size of a quarter). 

Sunriver

We recently returned from a business trip to Sunriver.  Actually, it was our annual Girls Cross Country camping trip.  Only this year, we rented a house instead of camping.  It turned out to be a mini vacation for our family....one that I hope we'll repeat every year.  The day we arrived Bruce (head coach) and I took the girls on a short run along the Deschutes River; then we settled into the house and had burgers for dinner.  The second day we drove to Paulina Lake for another run. After the girls' afternoon nap, we went to the SHARC, which is the fancy-shmancy, new waterpark in Sunriver.  McKinley had a blast in the kiddie pool, jumping off the edge into the water over and over and over and over again. The third day we attempted to summit South Sister, but made it a little past treeline before we decided to turn around. After our hike we took the girls to The Village, where there were shops. restaurants, and a huge bouncy house play area.  The last night in Sunriver, after Dadda and the girls had gone to sleep, Momma went star-tipping. Overall, we had an amazing time.  Dadda got to spend some real quality time with his daughters during all of Momma's cross country excursions. And the girls did amazing, especially considering the sleeping arrangements.

 Enjoying some family time outside before dinner.

 McKinley blowing dandelions.

 "The Girls" before we ran an LSD run (long, slow distance) around Paulina Lake.

 The scenic overlook above Paulina Lake.

 Hannah, Irena, Deborah, Kristi, McKaelie & Rebecca pose with Piper after our LSD run.

McKinley holds the wildflowers we picked.

 Testing out the water fountain in the kiddie pool at the SHARC.

 McKinley's version of swimming: pulling herself while she walks with her arms.

 Sun-bathing beauties!

The bouncy house slide provides endless entertainment.

 Chillin' in The Village after playing in the bouncy house gym.

 The girls at the start of our hike up South Sister.

 Momma and the girls pose in front of the summit of South Sister before turning around due to bad footwear and too much snow. 

 A view of Broken Top summit during our lunch break. 

 Picturesque Mt. Bachelor from the parking lot at Todd Lake.

 A tree graveyard on the way back home.

Mama's baby is ocho

My second-born is eight months old. We finally had a weigh-in, and she tipped the scales at 17 lbs, 1 oz.  It seems like a lot has happened in the last month, but maybe that's not out of the ordinary?  Her right top tooth is dropping, which means every time she latches on to nurse, I get nipped.  She has also discovered she can click her teeth.  We've discovered that she's not crazy about bananas. As far as new foods go, she has tried whole blueberries and raspberries. But her favorite new food is puffs. She has learned to feed herself puffs, and it's the cutest thing to watch. She's getting more proficient at drinking water from the sippy cup as well.  She's not crawling yet, but she wants to.  She can manage to pull herself into the crawling position in order to reach for things she wants, but after a little rocking back and forth, she sprawls to her tummy.  Her newest trick, though, is clapping.  It's by far the sweetest thing I've ever seen! Her concentration, her excitement....too precious.  Her yeast infection in her neck finally cleared up after we got some prescription-strength ointment.  And we finally left her in the nursery during church.  Her new favorite toy is the activity table where she can stand and play.  Her favorite game is playing peekaboo with sissy behind the couch after each feeding. 

It was time to bring back the leg warmers for these photo shoots.

This expression cracks me up.  It looks like a frown, but it's not.

Finally, McKinley clapping got her to perk up.

Her pink t-shirt is Momma's old shirt.

Gotta see what sissy's doing.

My favorite.

[clapping] We're finally done!

Beach Day

Yesterday we drove to Lincoln City for a day at the beach.  We were blessed with amazing weather, for the coast.  Typically the temperatures on the coast are 20 degrees cooler than Newberg, so while it was in the 80's at home, it was 64 at the beach. But we were anticipating more clouds, more wind and no sun. It was just the opposite. McKinley was so funny at first.  After talking non-stop about going to the beach for the past couple of days, when Benji took off her shoes she started crying because she didn't want the sand on her feet.  She eventually warmed up to the sand and was fearless the rest of the day.  Piper, on the other hand, dove into the sand from our blanket, head first.  We ended our trip to the coast with a quick stop at the outlet stores and dinner at the Cedar Plank Buffet at Spirit Mountain Casino.  Such a fun day!  We can't wait to come back. 

 This way to the beach!

I'm cool, and I know it. 

 Piper's first toe dip in the Pacific.

 Song break.

 Piper pulls herself up to suck on her pacifier attached to the diaper bag.

 McKinley sits in her sand castle/pit dug by Dadda.