Cannon Beach 2008!

Todd and I have started a family vacation tradition of going to Cannon Beach, Oregon each summer. We started going when Jaden was 20 months old, and we were hooked! The beach is so beautiful (especially with the big "rocks" as a backdrop), the town is quaint and the shops and restaurants are wonderful. The 1st year we took Jaden we camped, last year we stayed at a hotel, and this year we decided to camp again (we skipped the year that I was 7+ months pregnant with B). The campground is nice, it has decent restrooms/showers and tons of bunnies running/hopping around. It is also connected to a ranch with horses. We left Thursday afternoon and returned on Monday. Friday and Saturday were gorgeous and we had a torrential downpour of rain on Sunday! Our friends Keith and Laura joined us and Grandpa Albert and Nana drove down and stayed Friday night through Sunday.
Now I will share our plethora of pictures!

The boys on Thursday after we arrived (they were so happy to stretch their legs after the 4 hr. drive!).

Scootin' at the campground.

Having fun at the beach on Friday.




Laura, Keith and their dog Reggie.

Baby B has some sandcastle building skillz!

Jaden workin' the skimboard

J helping daddy with the kite.

Later Friday afternoon the boys enjoyed feeding the bunny's (or as Bryson called them the "hop hops")


That evening we drove to Mo's for dinner and took some pic's in front of haystack rock.


The beautiful sunset that night.

Afterwards we had just enough time to feed some horses.

On Saturday we had some more fun at the beach.


Kite flying with Grandpa.





On our way to dinner on Saturday night (behind us is the horse pasture).


Grandpa, Jaden and Nana at dinner.

On Sunday it was a lot cooler and it started to rain around 11 (luckily Todd and Keith set up the tarps before it started to pour!).


B in the rain jacket that I bought J in Cannon Beach back in '05.

Playing in the mud puddles back at camp!

Our tent city!

J feeding some more "hop hops".

Which reminded me of the last time we camped at Cannon Beach (J 20 mo. old)!

The boys and I on Monday right before we left for home.

We definitely had a great time at Cannon Beach this year and can't wait to go back next year. One last thing I have to mention Bryson said his 1st sentence while we were there, "Where da (the) hop hops go?" Now we are off to the lake house for Labor Day weekend, praying for sun!

Jaden and Bryson's future wives. . .

Our friends who used to live in Seattle, but originated from Idaho and now live in Beantown (aka Boston) came to visit us for a week in the beginning of August. Jenny, Matt and their daughters Claire and Rose flew in on Saturday, August 2nd. Jenny and I met while pregnant with our firstborns and the four of us even took childbirth classes together! Jaden and Claire were born only 2 days apart in the same hospital (even though our due dates were 3 weeks apart) and met for the 1st time when Claire was 3 days and Jaden was not yet 24 hrs. old!
Here's a picture of Todd and Matt with the babies.

The four of us have always joked that we have set up an arranged marriage for Jaden and Claire and after they had Rose, Jenny called me with the news, "We now have a wife for Bryson!" This was the first time that we got to meet their baby Rose who is 9 mo. old! We had a nice time visiting and catching up with them throughout the week. We went to their favorite Seattle Chinese restaurant, the farmers market, Alki for pizza and the park, the wading pool, a girls night out, etc. Matt even took Claire and Jaden blueberry picking and out to a movie (Space Chimps). Here are a few pictures of the week:

Claire on the whale tale sculpture.

Sweet baby Rose at the park.

The whole gang (even Claire's bear Shnoofy!)

The amazing standing baby!

Claire and Jaden playing in the kiddie pool on the deck.

Bryson and Rose playing in B's room.

Look at the height/size difference between these 2, and they are only 13 mo. apart!


Jenny and I got to work planning their double wedding which apparently will take place in our backyard, LOL!

The Big One!

Todd got a fishing boat last year so that he would be able to fish for salmon in Elliott Bay and also use it to go crabbing. Todd and Gramps (Todd's grandfather) set it up with downriggers and got lots of new fishing equipment needed for salmon fishing. They went out a LOT last summer and never caught a thing, not even a bite. Todd was determined to finally catch one this year. After work he would stop by the boat launch to ask the fish counter if many had been caught to see if the salmon were running yet. On Friday, August 1st he found out that 40 had been caught so he decided that he would go out early the following morning. Unfortunately, Gramps had just hurt his back so he wasn't able to go out this time.

Todd woke at 3am Saturday morning and after only an hour of trolling he caught the BIG ONE!!!

A 34 in., 18 lb. King salmon!


The proud fisherman!


The fish was almost as big as Bryson!



Needless to say Todd was pretty happy and the salmon tasted delicious!

The Blue Angels

The highlight of Seafair (Seattle's summer celebration) for us is always seeing the Blue Angels. I took the boys down to Mount Baker Park Beach to view both of their practice flights on Thursday, July 31st and on Friday, August 1st.

On Thursday, my neighbor Erin and her children came with us and on Friday my friend Chandra and her son Graison joined us. We set up on the beach had a picnic lunch, played in the sand and water and watched the Blue Angels perform.
Bryson with his boat.

Jaden wearing his aviators and his Blue Angels shirt!

Kailee came with us on Thursday too! I love this picture of her posing:)

B showing me the sand on his fingers.

Bryson and Evan so cute in diapers and hats! The pic is a bit foggy b/c I think I got sunscreen on the lense.

Babies in the wild!

Laurel, Jaden, Kailee, Bryson and Evan up front. . . I took about 20 of these pic's and this is the closest one to having all 5 look at the camera!

Bryson is soooooo BIG!

Which reminded me of him from last year doing "Sooo Big" while watching the Blue Angels!