Zade decided to make a giant hot dog out of Legos, and then gave him an upgrade with headphones and had him doing the "floss" dance. Very creative. :)
Crabbing
My dad took my boys and I out to Newport and we went crabbing. It was the boys first time. In roughly 2 hours we caught around 7 red rock crab and 1 dungeness. We all had a good time.
In an unrelated experience, Nova got a rainbow lollipop, which she thoroughly enjoyed.
Garden
Tara planted a bunch of flowers in the yard, and many of them have been in full bloom.
Last year we planted a quad tree, and this year it began producing delicious peaches.
Tara harvested the peaches and turned them into peach cobbler. It was sooo good!
Date Night
Tara and I went on a date, which consisted of grabbing dinner and then going for a bike ride near the rose garden and Willamette River. Good times.
Baking
The kids love baking, and decided to make banana bread. De-lish.
Aria had a dance performance after one of her dance camps this summer. Here she is with her friend Emma.
Fern Ridge
We had my nieces Gena and Vivi over and took them out to Fern Ridge. We got to try out the canoe that Tara's parents gave us.
Ducks
The 3 wild mallard ducks we raised have learned to fly. They flew around the yard for about a week or so, and have now finally flown away and don't appear to be coming back. We're glad we were able to help them survive.
In sad news, here's the last photo we were able to get with Splash in it (on the far left). Unfortunately, at around 5pm one evening a coyote came into our yard and stole her from us. I heard Brownie squaking and noticed Splash was gone. I then saw a coyote come out of the tall grass and start heading for Brownie and Waddles, so I raced outside and scared it away. It's really disappointing to have lost another duck, especially because we'd spent so much money the month before at the vet to help Splash recover from the 1st coyote attack. We've got to find a way to keep those coyotes away.
The only good news through all of this with the ducks is that now they're starting to lay eggs, so we're getting around 2 new eggs a day.
Cousin Time
Family Camp
While I attended the annual Conference of the Univerities of British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington up in Seattle, the rest of the family went to Big Lake Family camp. It was their 2nd time going, and they loved it.
Enchanted Forest
We made our annual trip out to the Enchanted Forest with my parents, siblings, and their kids. As my dad describes it, it's basically our family reunion. While not everyone was able to make it, it was still a nice time.
Dorena Lake
A week after the family got back from Big Lake, we all went camping at Baker Bay near Dorena Lake with the Yoregesons and Hallocks.
