Cannon Beach

Wow- I just had a very hard time choosing the pics to add for this post! There are so many great ones! We had a wonderful time with the Hawker clan and we were reminded that we need to do this often! It was our first time to Cannon Beach and we loved it. The cool weather was very welcome and the kids (and adults!) had a blast flying kites! The wind was so perfect that we basically just had to let go and it would fly into the air! Paul bought a serious two-string-with-handles one that we were sure was going to kill us all. When this thing came crashing down it sounded like a plane going down! Josh loved it- he did a pretty good job handling it on his own too! Lauren had a great time getting a ton of attention especially from Grandpa. She begged to ride with him EVERYWHERE we went. It was fun to see.

We had a great time going on the rides (tilt-a-whirl and bumper cars) in Seaside, collecting sand dollars on the beach, enjoying Grandpa's awesome cooking, and staying up late playing games. It was a blast- I can't wait for the next trip!

Livi's Birthday

Olivia's Birthday was so much fun. For the first time, we were able to have an outdoor party at our house! Livi is our first baby with a summer birthday and we love it. We set up the slip-n-slide and swimming pool, brought out the bikes and playsets, and had a great time. We are at the end of a cul-de-sac with no homes across from us so we pretty much claim the "circle" to ourselves. The kids were able to play and play while the adults got to visit. One interesting thing was Livi's reaction to her cake- she poked her finger in a little bit, but never dove in like Lauren did. She did like tasting the frosting on her fingers, though. She is still only walking behind a push toy. I was hoping that she would be walking before our camping trip next week so she isn't crawling in the mud- but no such luck! :-) She is a constant reminder that kids are on their own schedule and we don't have much say in it!

We had a wonderful trip to Cannon Beach with Grandpa Hawker and the rest of the Hawker clan a couple of weeks ago- I will download pics from that next time..