June

 Our June whirlwind... during cousins camp, Shannon and sweet Ahna got to hang out with Thomas and I in La Grande.  Or I should say we got to hang out with them.  Shannon was a big help with packing and just keeping my nerves sane.

Out on a lovely June hike with Shannon, Ahna and Thomas.  Henry was having the time of his life. 

We fit in a trip to Hammond's Candy factory on our quick house hunting trip to Denver because, well, there is always time for sugar :) and nifty hats

 Right after the kids got out of school we headed out on our long planned for and much needed family vacation.  We spent one night at the kids favorite Great Wolf Lodge and enjoyed the indoor water park there (Howlin' Tornado made my stomach drop every time...so fun), then headed up to explore the Olympic Peninsula.  We did some hiking in the rain forest, which surprisingly only sprinkled on us once and then headed up for 3 nights at a cabin on pretty much the most northwesterly beach in the US- Hobuck beach.  We had to brave some pretty windy roads to get there, but it was so worth it.  Very secluded beach, stunning sunsets.  It was coolish and damp the whole time, but we put on our jackets and hats and made sand castles just the same.  To get to the best tide pools we had to cross a 'stream' flowing constantly down the sand that cut the beach in two.  I say stream, as it was consistently only 5 ish inches deep, but at 20-30 feet wide, one got ones shoes fairly soggy.  All the following pics are from a hike we did the second day that really was to the most nw-erly point.  My phone was obnoxious beeping every 2 minutes with the 'you have left the united states' message (even though we obviously hadn't)...after that got turned off we had a great time.  As it is a moist area, the majority of the hike is on boardwalks.

when in doubt, hug a tree

-

at a stunning cove towards the end...wholly expected a to see a mermaid lazing around

.

 Canada was just beyond this finger of land.

who could resist that face?

sighting #37 of an 'overripe' banana slug (yellow with black spots)

Bananas were a theme on this trip...slugs, the fruit, and a little diddy that Sean sang (and is still singing) continually in honor of the a fore mentioned slug.

We finished our trip with a couple nights in Vancouver, Canada for the sole purpose of seeing the belugas at the Vancouver aquarium...at Catherines request.  The belugas were charming, but my favorite part was when we got to see the dolphin show from the vantage point of underground windows.  We could see the dolphins building up speed in preparation for a jump, they would disappear above water and then we saw them splash back down and immediately turn 90 degrees after entering the water (to avoid hitting the bottom of the tank).  Their agility and speed was really astounding.    Good times. 

Car fun

Here is the branch...

Here is the van...

Put them together and you get $6500 worth of damage and a month without transportation.

After the pre move chaos of being without a husband, packing, trying to keep a clean house for viewing, planning kid goodbye parties and dealing with Henry getting run over and crippled, I thought nothing else could happen to add stress to my life.  Then 2 days before we were to set off on our road trip out of La Grande we had a 5 minute wind storm and my neighbor's maple lost a limb right on my van.  Although every side of the van needed repair, we were blessed that the windshield didn't break, all the doors could open and shut, and it was completely drivable.  I couldn't get it in for repairs until August 20th...the first day of school.  Consequently, though, it made for a good excuse to get Thomas' on his bike and have some precious time together each day.  So I'm not complaining.  Although I will feel alot less stranded when I get the van back on the 19th (fingers crossed)!  Note to fam: double check the car policy to make sure you actually have that rental coverage you thought you did. :)

My Thomas

  

So we had some friends visit from La Grande last weekend as the husband and Brandon attended the Bronco-Steelers game. (This friend is a long time Broncos fan.  I think he enjoyed the game a little more than Brandon).  Anyhow, earlier we were all chatting and the subject of Thomas came up.  I was trying to explain what Thomas is like and what he likes to do and, as well as I know Thomas, found it a difficult topic.  He loves to move but isn't really into sports, he likes having friends around but prefers his own company, he likes
...well the list of contradictions went on.  So today I saw these old pics on my phone and thought, this is Thomas.  He was off with my phone exploring (he did ask first).  Thomas learns visually and likes experiencing motion.  He studies details...the 4 sidewalk pics below are just a small sampling of the sidewalk pics he took at our old house.  The various face scrunchings above are self portraits.  Thomas loves spinning, being upside down, getting off balance, finding different ways to fall, jarring his bike this way and that as he rides (yes he is getting fairly comfortable riding after 3 weeks of 3 miles a day to school and back, and yes he has learned to start on his own, and yes he is loving it and YES he is scaring me!).  Good thing he is amazing at rolling out of a fall and rarely gets injured ("Don't worry, I'm okay!").  His favorite way to give hugs? He holds himself in an 'about to leap' stance 3 feet away from you and says, "wait for it, wait for it, wait for it..." and before you know it he has jumped into your arms.  Makes a person feel pretty special.