More from the Beach

Okay, I am having way too much fun playing with the photo editing on my iPhone. So here are a couple of more pictures from the beach I was playing with. Dash was hilarious crawling through the sand laughing and making raspberry/motor noises as he flung sand while shooting down the beach at warp speed.  I'm having so much fun having a boy, can you tell?

Wintler Park

Yesterday afternoon we met some friends for a very fun, though very cold, afternoon at the beach. (Translation: parents froze our hineys off while the kids had the "Best.  Play date. EVER!") The girls made sand villages, buried each other, and started a tunnel to China. Elora fed some bread from our picnic to the ducks, who seemed ever so grateful.  Amarra was the sand castle queen, and had fun flying the micro kite she got from Auntie Stacey. Dashiell crawled at high speed through the sand, making manly sounds as he went, and laughed and laughed with total delight. (He also thought the sand was quite tasty.) A few times he,quite proud of himself, walked a few steps in the sand before plopping back down to do some more digging. Seleia and the gang ran the beach from end to end, climbing on everything they possibly could and loving every minute of it.  Then a storm rolled in, so we rolled out! But I have a feeling we'll be back soon!

Playin' at the Park

Nothing beats pure, unplugged family time away from everything and playing outside. Joel is pretty good on the bubblegum pink trick scooter, non?(See, Heather you're practicing your francais by reading my blog! Oui, oui!) The scooting, climbing, wrestling, the goofiness, the ganging up on Daddy...Dashiell could barely contain himself he sooo wanted in on the action, and I'm sure he'll be in on it all too soon. Swinging, sliding, rolling down hills, watching a mama duck and her ducklings...So. Much. Fun.

Finding Spring

Seleia and Elora started the spring semester yesterday at Northwest Children's Theater. Seleia is taking a "write your own melodrama" course and Elora is in a Frog & Toad play lab entitled Finding Spring. (Save the date, folks, they'll both be performing on Friday, June 3rd.) How fitting that during their class Amarra, Dashiell and I wandered around Northwest Portland finding, well.....Spring! We had an actual day of sun! As we walked around running a few errands and heading to the playground Amarra collected mementos of springtime: flowers, leaves, pine cones, more flowers. Blossoms were everywhere, and the sky had been so gray that before yesterday no one had really even noticed they were there! "Mama!" she shouted, "Take my picture by all of this green! It's my favorite!"  Her collection filled all of the nooks and crannies on the stroller by the time we left the park.  I love such simple reminders of the beauty around us! Nothing compares to the awe and perspective of a child.

Horseshoe Lake

Spring in the Northwest has been consistent if nothing else.............45 degrees, gray and raining. (Okay, except for the March SNOW.) Yesterday we saw this big, shining yellow thing in the sky and were thrown off until we realized that it was the sun. It was beautiful. The kiddos and I headed to Horseshoe Lake Park (Dash's first trip there) for the afternoon and Joel came and met us there when he got off of work.  The girls wanted desperately to bring their sand toys and wear their swimsuits (after all, 65 degrees felt downright balmy) but settled for wearing shorts and wading in the water.  Amarra insisted that I take her picture as she jumped down on the playground as everyone ran back and forth between the playground and the lake itself. Little Man had his very first time on the swings and couldn't stop laughing. It seems we have another daredevil in the making, for the higher he went, the louder he laughed and bigger he smiled!  Daddy showed up while Dash was swinging and boy was Little Man proud to show off his new big boy skill! Then the girls splashed around in the water awhile before we went to the produce stand and headed home. The lake...the produce stand...the sun...I'M READY FOR SUMMER! Said Elora after getting out of the water: "I'm a little bit cold, but I don't care.  I  like it!"