More Pics from Oregon

The Five Donoho Grandchildren at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm

Mommy and Cooper at the Tulip Farm - the rain in Oregon is a bit dreary but it sure does make a lovely backdrop for pictures

Emma Jo in the tulips at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm - "Really Dad? Do I have to pose here?"

Cooper kicking back in the Director's Chair at the Portland Children's Museum

Playing dress-up with Cooper - wearing Justin's old Tae Kwon Do safety gear - Justin is great at TKD. He's expected to be a black belt in the next couple of years. When we were visiting he was preparing for a tournament where he had the possibility of being named the top weapon's person in the state for his age group.

The little kids at the Bob the Builder exhibit at the Portland Children's Museum.

Pictures of the old tractors at the Tulip Farm for Grampa.

Back to Reality

Vacation was nice. Too often our lives are so busy we don't get to spend any time together. I enjoyed the week where the family could just be together, no laundry, no chores, no cleaning. No homework, no ballet or gymnastics, no set obligations. Just family and driving and movies and bickering and exploring. I liked seeing happy Cooper was to have all his people around him. When one of us would get out of the car without him he would plead over and over again for his missing person. I loved seeing Emma Jo helping her little brother and sister to play, or drink out of the water fountain, or throw a ball for the dog. I enjoyed listening to Grace's stories (which go on and on...). It was a long drive, but it was worth it.
Yesterday was the first day back to work and school. The family vacation feeling was quick to fade. When we arrived home from a long hot day, it felt like we had never been on vacation. We were back to homework, baths, dinner, stories, and bedtime. Everyone was hot and tired. Everyone wanted to just be, but we had too much to do. I'm hoping that we can start finding some more time to be together and enjoy each other without having to drive for two days.

Random Picture Challenge

Brittany is hosting a Random Picture Challenge again over at 4LittleMen. This week's picture is from April 2008, 42nd picture or 4th if you don't have that many. I wasn't that organized in 2008, so I picked the 4th picture taken in April 2008. We were playing "dress up the dude" and took this picture of Cooper in his new Baseball outfit. He wasn't too happy with our little game.

End of Vacation

We decided to come home from Oregon via the California coast. In Grants Pass we took a left and headed towards the ocean. We had a great drive through the redwoods and ended up in Cresent City. It was a beautiful drive and we arrived in Crescent City in time to explore a little bit. Before dinner we headed to the beach to look for sand dollars (or sand quarters according to Grace). It was very windy and we could only find broken shells, but it was still a nice excursion. We've promised the kids that we will go to the beach more often, especially since Bodega Bay is less than an hour away.

I tried to take a group photo of the kids, but it sure is hard to get them all to cooperate, especially when they are tired and hungry.

Spring Break

It really does rain just about every day in Oregon.
We picked up the kids from school on Thursday and started the 10+ hour drive to Oregon. We made it to Redding on Thursday and headed up to Corvallis on Friday. The kids were happy to be out of the car and Grandma and Grandpa were happy to see the grandkids.

Cooper was amazed to see the huge "Alli's" at Grandma & Grandpa's House.

There is a park across the street from their house and the kids had fun climbing and burning off some bundled up energy. Cooper amazed Grandma by climbing up to the top of the tallest slide and turning around and sliding down feet-first on his belly.

On Saturday, the whole family headed up to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn. It was beautiful with acres and acres of tulips, daffodils and other flowers. It was a little cold and windy, but it was great to feel the fresh air and enjoy all the flowers.

They are currently hosting the annual Tulip Festival so there are games and activities for the children.

Cooper got to sit in a giant wooden shoe and "drive" a little tractor.

Gracie played in a jumpy house with a giant slide and Emma Jo jumped on a huge trampoline/bungee jump.
Today we celebrated Easter at Stacy & Juancho's house with a neighborhood Easter Egg hunt.

Favorite Bedtime Stories

Shortly before Christmas, Grace received the book SkippyjonJones. It quickly became a favorite bedtime story of everyone in the family. For Christmas Jason and I bought her the rest of the Skippyjon books. They are great fun to listen to and you can even learn a little Spanish in the process. I would highly recommend for any family.

Grace has memorized her favorite part of the book and I love listening to her recite it.

Random Picture Challenge

4 Little Men & Girly Twins is hosting another Random Picture Challenge. This one is the 33rd Picture from February 2008.

This is a picture of Cooper in his Jumperoo at four months old. He loved that thing! He could jump in there for 10-15 minutes and just laugh and laugh. I was amazed one morning when I put him in there and the lights and sounds were not turned on. He jumped and then look around with a confused look on his face. It was the first time we realized that he was learning cause and effect.

Easter Play

Four-Year-Olds say the Darndest Things

The rule in our house that the only TV that can be watched in the morning in the news. This helps with the dilly-dallying that seems the plague our morning routine. Since Grace is usually my early bird, this means that she has watched her fair share of news in the last few months. It became apparent just how much she pays attention to the news when she started making comments about the presidency race last fall.

One morning in December, Grace asked me when Rock Bamma was going to be president. I explained to her that his name was actually Barrack Obama. She replied that she thought Rock was a better name, so she was going to call him Rock.

Another morning she asked me why the president wasn't allowed to change his clothes. I asked her what she was talking about and she commented that he is always wearing a suit and tie and that it just wasn't fair that he couldn't change his clothes. If you've ever seen Grace dress herself you would know that she has a keen since of style and is always paying attention to clothes and shoes. Last week her favorite outfit was when she matched a black soccer shirt with turquoise floral leggings and a red velvet skirt.

One morning in January she asked what was the name of the current President. I told her George Bush. Her reply was "what a silly name". I asked her "Barrack Obama or George Bush?" Her answer was "George Bush, why would anyone be named after a plant?"

Recently we uncovered a coloring book about the United States. Within the book there is a page for each state which includes details about each of the states including landmarks, state bird, state flower, etc. When we got to the page for South Dakota, Grace was intrigued by Mount Rushmore. She asked me who the faces belonged to. I told her they were four of the most famous former presidents, Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and Roosevelt. She quickly asked where they would fit Rock on the mountain. I told her that Mt. Rushmore was made a long time ago and they don't add presidents to it anymore. She replied that she was sure Rock would be added since he is going to be a great president.