Whirlwind Travels

May has been wonderful!  We have had lots of opportunities to travel!  From Lakeview to Government Camp to see Melissa and Matt, back to Bend.  The girls and I cheered on Team OSP SWAT at the Pole, Peddle, Paddle!  It was fun to spend some time at Mt. Bachelor, but really disappointing that we did not get to ski.  Only daddy made a really great run to lead his team.  

The girls paying at the Old Mill District after the big race.  

Winner, winner, winner!  Okay, so they didn't get the gold but they had a great time.

We got to spend some time with the Roth family and their precious baby Hunter.  Here I am with Ginny...soon we will live closer.  Our girls are the same ages, hopefully we will have more playdates soon!

Awe, my FAVORITE!  Me and my girl Elise.  Yep, gotta love the aviators.

From Bend, we took a brief detour to Las Vegas.  And by we, I mean Scott and I.  It was lovely and we had a chance to spend some time with family in Reno.  The girls stayed with Dammy and Papa, they had a great time!

From Reno, we took a brief pit stop in Lakeview to unpack, repack, and work a little.  We loaded up the camp trailer and headed to Sheldon-Hart Mountain.  We had the chance to spend the weekend at Duferrena, God's Country!  Wow, it was beautiful!  Here is the gorge, and the pictures don't do it justice.

And we took a trip to see a petrified tree, wow!  And, an old homestead with a rock fence.  

Now, back to laundry...

Can I hold her?

We finally made it to Bend to spend a little time with friends.  Here is Baby Addison.  Elise and Lauren are in love with her and constantly asking to hold her.  It's really special watching Lauren interact, and attempt to be gentle with Addie, who is almost 2 weeks old.

It's a time in our lives we are thankful for our friends and their babies.  We have enjoyed our fair share of baby snuggles, but as our girls grow, we can't help but love the stage in life we have made it to.  With the exception of the endless questions of how babies are born.....ugg.

Here are a few of my favorite pics.  Thanks D & Rob for sharing your precious baby with our family.

Those girls are going to make many memories!

Pretty Fingers

When Elise was about 2, she got into my make-up.  It was really pretty funny.  She had tons of blush on and cried when I plopped her in front of the mirror.  

I learned my lesson. 

My make-up is safe up in the bathroom cabinet, out of reach of little fingers.  

Lauren, however, cannot reach my make-up for an evening of mischief.  She found the bag filled with finger nail polishes.  After an a quiet evening downstairs, I wandered upstairs to check on my sleeping beauties.  

Lauren was not sleeping.  She was applying finger nail polish...all by herself.  "Mommy!  Look, pretty nails!" She was smiling from ear to ear and I couldn't help but let my enthusiasm fade as I noticed the rainbow of colors all over her carpet.  

None the less, I know I will look back and smile so we went and found the camera.  

What a cutie!

I spent the next hour scrubbing the carpet.  I didn't get it out and after a blister and watching my carpet start to come out I gave up.  And called Scott to report that we need to add new carpet to the list of future house needs.  (He was in John Day at training.)  

Life does go on.  Here she is sleeping soundly as I scrubbed the carpets in her room....she looks so innocent!

Princesses

The plan for the evening was for the girls to have an evening at Dammy and Papa's home while Scott and I headed the Emergency Services banquet dinner.  However, Elise came down with a stomach bug last night so plans changed.  The girls were really disappointed that they could not go play at Dammy and Papa's house.  So we improvised!

After a bath the girls donned their beautiful dresses and we enjoyed a family movie night.  Actually the girls are watching a movie while I blog (Lauren here in my lap) ....score for both of us!

Oh, and we upgraded our camera.  That always elicits lots of picture taking.  So far, I love it!  So here are some favorites:

Spring Was Here!

As many know, spring in Lakeview is a very confusing time.  Elise asks why she cannot wear her "summer" clothes when it appears to be beautiful outside.  I usually reply with something like, "it will be snowing in an hour."  This is usually a very true statement.  Today it has been beautiful, snowed on several different occasions, hailed, and generally overcast.  But, we had a beautiful St. Patricks Day.  We ventured out for the parade and festivities that our community has to offer.  The girls loved it!

With Alida & Matthew Finetti.  

We have been enjoying some down time at home.  Here is what is happening around our house these days:

* We have some intense games of Hide and Go Seek.  It's really cute when it's just the two girls playing.  Lauren usually covers her eyes and says, "1-2-9-20, I toming!"  Actually, Lauren is a great hider.  She it really quite when she hides, something Elise is still unable to do.  They love to hide in the kitchen cabinets.

* I am a little embarrassed to share this story, but they love to "play doggie."  Lauren is the dog and crawls around barking.  Elise is usually shouting commands to her sister and giving her pets on the head.  

* Elise continues to be really into playing "restaurant."  She is the "cooker" and serves up some delicious food to her sister.  

* And I can't forget the laundry basket....its a race car some days and a wild ride others.  They take turns pushing each other around in it.  They occasionally get a ride from mommy....it always elicits huge smiles!

* They have learned some amazing fort building skills from Scott.  They are always dragging out numerous blankets to make forts or have sleepovers.

*Right now they are really into hot chocolate.  It's the favorite of the month at our home.  Both girls love it and ask for it daily.  Oh, and drinking tea like mommy.

* Elise is more interested in what we do when we leave home.  She is really curious about daddy's job.  We have had some interesting dinner conversations about what he does.  We usually just try to tell her that daddy helps keep people safe, but that doesn't seems to be enough anymore.  She likes to ask about jail and why daddy has a gun.  Hmmm...not something they teach you in recruit school.  None the less, their favorite part about daddy leaving is his lights.  After Elise figured out that daddy's car is equipped with some flashy lights she is constantly requesting to see them.  He usually cooperates and I wish he could hear the cheering and excitement that goes on as we watch him pull away.  

As usual, not many dull moments here in Lakeview.  I better get back to the laundry before the girls wake up....I am sure they will be wanting some hot chocolate. 

Our favorite places...

SEASIDE: one of our favorite Oregon Coast locations.  Too bad it's a really long drive....and I did it alone with the girls.  It was much more painful for me than Elise & Lauren.  This entitles me to brag a little: we did it with three stops, something that would not have been possible with Scott.  We enjoyed a long break for lunch in Eugene, enough to put the girls back to sleep.  Yes, I was the mom chasing her girls all over...

Scott was training at Camp Rilea (between Seaside & Astoria) and eagerly awaiting our arrival.  Actually, the promise of dinner with daddy made our trek across Oregon much more enjoyable.  Scott tells me the weather was beautiful the whole week, sadly Friday was our only decent day.  None the less, it is the Oregon Coast...in March.  Elise enjoyed digging in the sand and searching for shells and Lauren was mesmerized by the water.

Much of the trip was a "staycation"  as we enjoyed the views from the comfort of our room.  The girls played for hours with Lego's and we had a couple family movie nights.  As you can see, Lauren brought her baby doll, which she is tucking into bed.  The girls did really great sharing a room, it was a big highlight.  Along with the morning spent in bed watching cartoons, a novelty in itself.

Saturday we ventured back into the city.  Scott spent the day with the girls at the Children's Museum, always a golden ticket.  It was perfect for the rainy day and the girls had a blast! I headed over to the convention center for a scrap show.  I meet my mom and Melinda and we had a fantastic day.  We finished the night with some shopping downtown and dinner.  It's always a treat to ride the Max, the girls love it!  Again, it's the small things!

It was a wonderful family vacation!  And here is how it ended:

We woke up to snow on the beach.  It was beautiful, and yes it was raining when we arrived home in Lakeview.  Who would have thought.  

Sick Butterfly

Our Lauren Bug was a sick girl on her 2nd Birthday.  She was just getting over a really bad cold and her eyes were still infected.  We spent most of the night snuggling, all she really wanted on this particular day.

What's all the fuss about?

Presents opening was a little difficult.  The usual gusto was long gone.  Here we are trying to get her excited for the gifts Elise chose for her sister.  

Yes, Elise chose clothes for her little sister.  Those who know me, know I hate toys...and no I didn't force Elise to choose clothes for Lauren.  It was pretty cute when Elise was shopping, she wanted to find the perfect outfit for sissy...purple shirt, shorts, and flower sandals.  I was happy to oblige :)

Here is the party girl, getting some snuggles from Grandma Lou.  There were plenty of laps she was welcome in this particular night.

Lauren loves books!  We decided to have "A Very Hungry Caterpillar" party.  Super cute, thanks Pinterest for the fantastic ideas!

This is all the smile she could muster...poor thing!

Despite the look on her face, the biggest highlight for Lauren was blowing out the candles.  That girl is obsessed with fire!

Enjoying some delicious cupcakes!

And one of big sister.  Elise was a super helper and did a great job letting Lauren enjoy her special day.  Sadly, Elise was not the center of attention (for a change).  But she was over her cold, and was more able to enjoy the festivities than Lauren.

Awe.  My baby is 2.

I couldn't help but feel bittersweet on this particular birthday.  

But what a joy to watch these two grow up.