Boy Heaven

Parker and Harrison get to spend a few days together every summer with Harrison's grandparents Mike and Diane. It has been dubbed "Boy Heaven". It's three days of video gaming, junk food eating, fun place visiting time together. Rules don't really exist during these visits, and the three of them (Mike, Harrison, and Parker) have way too much fun together.




This year they wen't camping on the Applegate river. The boys got to fish in Mike's aluminum boat, swim, jump off of very big rocks, and eat at at yummy resturants. The boys about drove everyone crazy with their discussions of the car company they plan to open after college. These two are very into cars right now. They discuss things at great length, with much detail. It's amazing that these two have been best little buds since they were 5. That's almost seven years!
It will be interesting to watch their friendship continue to grow over the next few years. All in all it was a great trip, and a wonderful tradition that I am so grateful that the Oliver's continue to include Parker in.

My Pheebs

Today was Phoebe's fifth birthday! What a huge milestone five is. So many things happen at five, you start school, you start loosing teeth, you learn to read and write. Five is a pretty big deal. For Phoebe's special day we did some pretty fun stuff. For breakfast we had waffles, her favorite. Then we gave Phoebe all of her gifts. It was so fun to watch her open everything, she was so grateful for all the clothes, and toys she received. I made her cake, before it got too hot. It was 95' on her birthday. After getting dressed and ready Phoebe and I left for some shopping. We met up with dad at "Ick Donalds" for lunch. After lunch with dad, Phoebe and I went and picked up her friend Bekah to go out for some birthday ice cream. I took the girls to Dairy Queen for a little lady treat, then we went back to our house for a play date. When we got home I had planned on frosting Phoebe's cake. Paxton had other ideas, he really likes cake. He ate over half of that thing! It was so hot, I couldn't stand the thought of turning the oven back on. So....we frosted the half eaten cake, Phoebe was just fine with it. Such a trooper! The Garcia's and Hewlett's came over for some half there cake.

Jason had to go over to the pear farm in Medford with the youth, so I made plans with Holly to come over with just Phoebe and have a little celebration with the Jensen's. Amazing Holly whipped up some yummy cupcakes, and a divine dinner for us. Phoebe got to have a super fun play date with Lily. Afterwards at the pear farm she got to see her Nana and Papa, and all of Keno branch sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She had a great birthday, and got to spend the whole day being super special getting one on one time with mom and dad.

Phoebe is my favorite five year old girl in the whole world. She has the quirkiest sense of humor, and constantly keeps us laughing. She loves music, dancing, swimming, riding bikes, cutting hair and her dog Penny. She is sweet, and thoughtful. She is kind to her friends, and is generous in so many ways. She is frustrating beyond belief, and stubborn. She is strong willed and confident in her own skin. She is beautiful, and the most fun person to hang out with that I know. I am in awe of her, and know that I am blessed to be the mother of such a special girl.

Portland Zoo

Last week the kids spent seven days with my parents up in Salem while I was at girls camp and Jason was at work. On Saturday as soon as I got home from camp and took a shower we got in the car and headed up to see the kids. We decided to make a long weekend out of the trip and spend a day in Portland at the zoo. It was a great time, and all of the kids did really well.

Phoebe and the Penguins.

Here is Phoebe in the petting zoo. She was the only one who was brave enough to go in.

Zebra

The girls had a fun time posing for pictures on the statues, whoo no hands!

Payton and Paxton on the bench.

Phoebe and the bear, posed by Payton.

Paxton and the Asian Bull Elephant. Most zoo's only have one bull elephant. The Portland zoo has six. They have to shuffle them around all day long to different areas, it's a huge job.

At the Sea Lion tank, the huge sea lion was being pretty active in the water since it was such a hot day. It's amazing to see them move their bodies underwater. It was so fun to watch.

Kids at the Sea Lion's tank.

Payton crawling through the tunnel.

Phoebe waited all day to so the Giraffe. I was only able to get two pictures before he went inside. At least her attention span is short, so as soon as she laid eyes on him she was satisfied.

We had a great day at the zoo. We were able to see tigers, hippos, polar bears, and black bears. Birds of prey, wolves, fruit bats, and tons of other interesting and beautiful animals. We'll have to go back as soon as they finish the new lion exhibit!