Great weather to fly a kite

You don't get too many days like this on the Oregon Coast!!

Kangaroo Bday Party

 M's cute little gymastics friend invited her to her bday party. I went with her, since the actual party was at a Christmas tree/kangaroo farm over an hour away. I had been a bit dubious about whether it was going to be worth the trek and trouble, but check out these pics to see for yourself.


The kids feeding the mama donkey. The baby was only a day old. I didn't know a donkey could be so cute!

 M petting their male African tortoise. She was very surprised and announced that he wasn't soft at all. I was surprised at how speedy he was. He followed our group around and kept up the whole time.

 Seriously, how cute are the wallabies and kangaroos?

Such funny little creatures. M was all brave, and loved being around them, feeding them, petting them.

 This is their big male kangaroo sunning himself. How funny does he look? The owner had to work really hard to convince him to get up from his rest. He has reason to be tired though. He's the only full-grown male, and has quite a few mates to keep track of. That and the tours coming through a few times a day wanting him to play.

But he's super nice and gentle and lets all the kids hug him. Seriously funny looking creatures!

At the end all the kids who wanted to got to hold the tiny baby kangaroo. She was happy about it I promise. In fact, M couldn't stop laughing about the fact that it was wrapped in a blanket. The farm sells the little guys. I couldn't have imagined owning a kangaroo, until you see how cute they are. Fortunately, M didn't know they could be bought as pets, so I haven't had to start deflecting that request. Oh, and then M spent the next hour sprinting around the park, having me time her laps. She just kept going. What I wouldn't give for that kind of energy!

Summer funnin'

Hilarious. All three of them. In their own "special" way.

That's one serious tea party.

Huh? What are you guys doin' over there?

Although it looks like M is trying to strangle her sister, this is actually a hug. Not to be confused.

One of the best things about Bend ... the swimming pool! So much fun!

And one of our favorite things about Nana and Bopa ... the kids wake up and jump in bed with them! The kiddos love it, especially as they get to watch cartoons, and mama and daddy love it because they sleep in!! Thanks Nana and Bopa!

Another thing to love about Bend ... all the awesome parks! What I sadly didn't get pics or video of were the endless hours spent riding bikes at a nearby school parking lot. They had quite the routine and Bopa was just a horn honk away. He was amazing. And thanks to him, both our girlies are now riding bikes without training wheels, and quite proud of it!

And he's just cute. No getting around that.

Aah! I'm so behind!

So between that and the fact that I'm too tired to cipher through all these pictures, here are basically all the good ones from the 4th of July. Starting with the festival. Here's J in the gunny sack race:

And here's Blondie being swallowed by the gunny sack:

Flush-A-Duck race:

Flip-the-frog:

Hula Hoopin':

Red seriously working the bubble-blowin' station:

M sadly having quite a bit more trouble at the same place:

4 Happy girls excited to do some fireworks:

And way to go Nana with the yummy dessert:

And the winner is ...

M won a coloring contest! She won Albertson's 4th of July coloring contest for her age division in Bend. They told her they picked her picture because she had made it so uniquely hers. That nobody but her could have colored that in that way. They could possibly be referring to the purple bear with pink paws and a half-purple, half-orange bow tie. Good thing she didn't listen to her mom who kept trying to encourage her to use red, white, and blue (which all the other kids did)! She was so stinkin' cute when I told her the store had just called and said she won. We were down by the river and her eyes went from side to side a few times as she tried to figure out what I was talking about. Then the light bulb when off and she remembered. It was like a dog perking up when it sees a squirrel. On second thought, perhaps I shouldn't compare my daughter to a dog. But she suddenly sat straight up (picture the little doggie ears going up), and her eyes got all huge and sparkly. And she gushed, "I won?! I winned da prize?!" And yes, she might have gone to the store to collect her prize in her jammies. And they did indeed take a picture of her that way to put on the wall next to her drawing (Does that make me a bad mom?). J had a bit of trouble initially with the whole thing since she had entered as well (in the 5-8 year category where an 8 year-old won that colored better than Cooper. By his admission. I didn't say it.) and had not won. But after lots of parental attempts to talk her through it and after the inevitable tears and after some more tears anytime she thought about it or it came up, she was very happy for her sister. We even caught her giving M a spontaneous hug later and whispering I'm so happy for you! Aahhh. And she was especially happy when her sis shared her loot. So way to go M! Mommy's so proud.

Flying the red, white, and blue ... and the dog

 Nothing says happy fourth of July like the flying dog in Bend's pet parade. Can't help but feel a little sorry for the dog. And a little jealous. That's a pretty sweet way to travel through the ridiculous crowds.

By the way, I have so many awesome pictures from the fantastic time we spent in Bend. I'll get to them soon, I promise!

La Pine Rodeo

Isn't it fun sometimes to go somewhere totally outside your normal sphere of experience? Like a rodeo for example. It's like stepping into a whole other world that I didn't really knew existed. It was surprisingly entertaining even if it was a bit hot, dusty, and stinky. I can't say I have the slightest idea why people would do those crazy things but, you know. I guess good for them for doing what they love? The girls sadly lost interest rather quickly but then happily drew designs in the dirt, occasionally looking up to count how long somebody stayed on a bucking, 1-ton piece of beef.

Little dude was amazingly happy, especially for missing a nap. I think he enjoyed people watching as much as I did.

And he enjoyed being tickled. He just makes me smile.

The girls did perk up quite a bit when various rodeo princesses and queens from counties all across Oregon showed up. They posed for photos, handed out necklaces, and autographed pictures for all the kids brave enough to ask. The girls were quite determined and tracked down every princess on the grounds. Who knew princesses wore cowboy boots?!