Catching up

Well, I'm still posting on the distant past but I am catching up. Last weekend (not this one) we went camping with the Ervings, the Joplins and the Greshams up near Tillamook. The campground was along the Kilchis River and is a good spot for fishing. Steve brought along his fishing rod and also Emily and Kayla. Kayla's fishing rod is also known as her "rockin' fish". Both Emily and Kayla are quite good at casting but I still kept my distance when the real hooks came out. Alas, no notable fish were caught that weekend but the Ervings hold out hope for Labor Day weekend when they go camping up there again.

Here's a picture of Kayla with her rockin fish:

Emily and Steve with their fancy fishin' rods:


Brent and Gen arrived on Friday night and I was mightily impressed with Brent's camping chops. I have never seen a better dish washing station while camping in my whole life-no lie! I also was in awe of the many tools that came along with him on this trip. Just in case, he brought a full size axe, hatchet and maul. In case of what I'm not sure but we had them and I was glad.
Gen holding Niko--she's a natural!:
The Joplins as well as Jas and I brought rain/sun canopies and they were much needed because it began to lightly drizzle when the Greshams arrived in the afternoon on Saturday. We had a nice dry place to eat our dinner Saturday night and the canopies were even arranged so we could all sit by the fire without getting wet. I can't say sleeping Saturday night was much fun in our tent. It was cozy in there but we had a few areas where water got in--thankfully no where near Niko. He was oblivious to the rain and was warm and secure on his pallet.

Tracy with beautiful baby Skylar:



The next morning my first thoughts were, "Let's pack up and get the hell out of here" but I wanted to catch up on my sleep, not pack up in the rain. Jason and Niko got out of the tent and with Brent stoked up the fire and started breakfast. Miraculously the rain stopped and it turned out to be a decent day. The guys played a little horseshoes, Emily and Kayla went swimming, we at a lot of junk food and the girls sat around talking about the gossip magazines Keri had brought.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Kayla hanging with Niko:


Jason smooching on me!:


This is camping? I had no idea!:


Keri, Kayla, Genevieve, me and Lorleen loving on Niko:


Oh yeah, it was my birthday too this weekend. Emily and Kayla helped me blow out the candles on my cake--I know a birthday cake while camping! My friends rock!!!


Brent and Emily giving the camping trip a thumbs up!:

A long time coming...an update!

I’m finally updating the blog—even if it’s after all the events have happened. With this in mind I may forget a few things but I will try and get the big stuff down.

We had a great visit with the Habalars from Pennsylvania who came to visit the end of July-beginning of August. YaYa, Poppie, Uncle Mike,Aunt T, Port and Lee all came to visit. This was the second time Port came to Portland (or three times if you count his conception) and the first time Lee has been here. I think they liked their time here. They played a lot in the back yard. They are such awesome players—they have very active imaginations and can play with almost anything—sticks and rocks are favorites. They had fun finding all the little treasures Uncle Jas had hidden around the yard. They also enjoyed using the hot tub and so did Mike and T. It was a favorite hang out spot.

While they were here we did some really fun stuff. We celebrated T’s birthday by having a piñata (and doing the piñata dance!), going to the Zoo, finger painting, Laurelhurst and Edmonds park, going to Saturday market, playing in the fountain at Tom McCall waterfront park, visiting Oaks Park, seeing Multnomah Falls and hiking to the top (good job Lee!), going to Bonneville Dam, Port and Lee wrestled with Emily and Kayla, Mike, T, Jas and I went out to dinner at the Sapphire Hotel, and probably more stuff that is elusive at the moment. Here are a few pictures of their trip.





While the Pennsylvania Habalars were here Niko tried his first solid food. He had some brown rice cereal. He loved it! Since then he has also tried applesauce and bananas. He seems to prefer the rice cereal. The applesauce makes his face pucker and the banana doesn’t impress him much. Maybe peas or sweet potatoes next? Here are a few recent pics of Niko:

Another BIG thing that has occurred since my last update is that I went back to work and Niko has started going to daycare. It was a sad day, the 7th of August, when Jason and I dropped off Niko at daycare. I cried and had to leave before Jason because it hurt my heart to leave him there. Everyday has gotten better since then. Jason drops off Niko in the mornings and I usually pick him up in the afternoons. He is happy, well taken care of, and seems to enjoy hanging out with the other children. I’m very thankful that he has taken so well to it. Eventually I think I would like to get him into a Waldorf inspired daycare in our neighborhood but for now where he is at is working.

Hmmm….I feel I may be missing other big news but cannot think of what. I will continue to update with more recent events and pictures. Until then—adios!

Withdrawal is likely

I know I have been very bad about updating Niko’s blog lately—but I have a few excuses—guests in from out of town, going back to work, putting Niko in daycare, laundry…..But there is big news…….We have decided to quit t.v. As of Sunday our satellite and Tivo will be cut off. I’m hoping this means we will have more time to do things we enjoy—such as filling everyone in on what’s happening on Niko’s blog.

Stay tuned—more to come later.