Little Wins

If I am being honest, life has been a little rough lately.  It is the end of the school year which means that life it crazy busy and stressful.  On top of that we had an incident at preschool a few weeks ago that added a lot of worry and stress.  Plus, things aren't really going well with the house selling and there are serious and worrisome things going on in both sides of our extended family.

All that being said, I have been really trying to stay positive and that means looking for the good things in each day.  This week we had a few of those good moments.  We had school pictures taken and, since I don't have any of my own kids at the preschool for the first time in 7 years, I had my mom bring Elsie down so we could have our pictures taken together.  It was a highlight for sure.  Both older kids also had some good moments this week.  Carrigan got to stand up in front of the school and start morning meeting.  She also got new glasses this week after last ones got lost and then broken.  Merrick wrapped up his rec baseball season in the 2nd place spot and had a pizza party with his team to celebrate.  We have already started the summer tournament season with 10 hours of playing this weekend.  There is a LOT of baseball in our future.

As you can see, this week wasn't all bad.  It's hard to be too sad or discouraged for too long with these cute faces staring back at me everyday.  I sure do love them.

Cliffords go to the Circus

Have you ever been to the circus?  As far as I can remember, I have never been to the circus in my 35 years of life so I was really excited when I started seeing adds for a circus that was coming to town.  Jeremy and I talked about it and decided it would be the perfect Saturday activity for our family and a nice change of pace from all the house selling stress.

The performance was downtown so it was a full afternoon adventure.  We parked in Jeremy's regular parking spot and took the Max, which the kids were really excited about.  The circus itself was really cool.  I think they have really cut back on animal acts, but they had some people performing stunts on horseback and some dog tricks.  They had many different acrobatic and juggling acts, as well as clowns and motorcycles that they road around a spherical ball.  It was a lot of fun!

After the circus we got dinner and ice cream (the ice cream was to celebrate Merrick's first hit of the season!)  I am not really sure why it took me 35 years to make it to the circus but I hope to make it back before too long. It was a great night.

   

Mothers and Daughters/Fathers and Sons

Today is Mother's Day and as is tradition, this weekend was the annual fathers and sons campout.  I think Jeremy will give a report on that in a minute.  It's funny though because in the days leading up to the campout Merrick was getting really excited and said "Fathers and sons is getting closer and closer" to which Carrigan responded "and Mothers and daughters is getting closer and closer".  I am not sure who was more excited, Merrick or Carrigan, for the boys to go away.

For our part, our "mothers and daughters" lived up to the hype.  We got together with Becca and Isabel and our friends the Cannon's (Emily and Ainslee).  We started with the girls getting all dressed up and doing hair and makeup for a super yummy happy hour dinner at Claim Jumper.  After dinner we went back to Becca's for some spa time with manicures and pedicures.  The girls loved soaking their feet and even Elsie got in on the soaking.  We got home late and tired but it was worth it for a really fun evening.

Yesterday we wrapped up our girls time just hanging out at the ballfield.  Elsie decided she needed to take over Carrigan's seat and Carrigan just squoze on to the edge and shared.  It did my mama heart good.

Jeremy here.  As Sarah said, this weekend was the annual fathers and sons campout.  As is tradition, our camp was at Camp Meriwether, right outside of Tillamook.  It was a perfect weekend, weather wise.  No rain and about 75 degrees.  Our campsite is on a cliff overlooking the ocean.  As you can see from the picture below, it makes for a beautiful view of the sunset.  We roasted hot dogs for dinner and then marshmallows for s'mores.

The next morning, Merrick and I took a lap around the lake in a rowboat.  Usually, this is a peaceful outing that we both really enjoy.  However, this year, due to upgrades at the camp, including new sleeping mats and heaters in the adirondacks, and Merrick staying up until almost midnight playing "Capture the Flag" on the beach, Merrick slept really well and didn't wake up early.  So, there were a lot more people on the lake in the morning. 

After we packed everything up, we went, with five other families, to a place called Munson Creek Falls.  One of the other guys had been there before a few years prior.  We all expecting to see a small waterfall, instead we cam around the corner and saw this.

Turns out that Munson Creek Falls is the largest waterfall in the coastal range, I assume that would include Oregon and Washington.  It is 319 feet tall.  There was a lot of fallen trees in the falls that allowed the boys to climb everywhere and play in the water.  As you can see by the pictures, all the boys had fun.  It was another great campout.

Carrigan Turns 6

Yesterday the one and only Carrigan Leigh turned 6! The lucky duck got to have her party on her actual birthday since it fell on a Saturday and we experimented with how much fun you can pack into one day.  We started the day with cinnamon rolls and her softball team pictures.  After pictures it was time for Merrick's baseball game.  Lest you feel bad that Carrigan had to spend the day at her brother's game, during the game she got to play at the park with a few of her softball teammates, she got doughnuts, and got birthday gifts from two of our friends that were at the game.  Notice that I said "our" friends and not "her" friends.  That is because they are actually Merrick's friend's moms.  Earlier in the week she started telling them "it's going to be my birthday on Saturday.  You might want to get me a present".  They came through for her.

After the game we went to McDonald's for lunch (Carrigan's choice) and then came home to get ready for the party.  C.C. wanted to have a crafting party this year.  We invited all the girls from her kindergarten class plus a few extra friends.  We started with painting on canvases.  Then we made bracelets.  After bracelets we did perler beading.  We finished things off with decorating cupcakes.  It was a whirlwind but a lot of fun and the girls were really into it and engaged.  It was the perfect party for our craft-loving, creative girl.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures until half way through the party, but you will still get the jist.

After the party we went to dinner at Red Robbin (also Carrigan's choice) and then did round two on presents (family edition) and had cookie cake.

I am so thankful that Carrigan is part of our family.  She is so different from me personality wise so it is such a blessing to be her mom, learn from her, and watch her grow.  We love you C.C. girl!