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?!

Fun at the Zoo

So this was like two weeks ago, but I'm still going to go ahead and post pics of our fun trip to our little, local zoo. It was an incredibly gorgeous, perfect day to go and we all had fun enjoying the rare sighting of the sun, the view and the animals.

There were actually live animals too, it's just that the girls were a little more interested in the sculptures. And who can blame them ... they were awesome. Dude thought they were cool too when we let him down.

And the kids weren't the only ones who played with the sculptures.

We did come away having learned a few things about real animals too. First, emus are ugly, awkward looking creatures that seem to have got the bum deal of evolution. Second, tigers have a spray zone of up to 20 feet. View closely at your own peril. For multiple reasons really. Third, cranes find Cooper to be threatening. They kept trying to intimidate him with impressively stretched necks and flapping of wings. On the other hand, the parrots didn't think too much of him. When he tried to engage one in discussion, it stared at him for awhile before saying "bye bye." He took the hint. Fourth, little dude doesn't like deer licking his hand unannounced. Other than that, he thinks animals are fascinating. Most of the animals, especially a little wallaby thought the same thing about him. It's like they found it funny that a human would be that small. Fifth, the Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah currently does not have any cougars. They ran out. Bummer.

We love the Festival of the Arts!

 I look forward to the LO Festival of the Arts each year. It's such a cool event. And the Friday kids day is always hours of fun. Plus, this year, on Saturday they had a clay tent for the kids. For free! They spent quite awhile hand-building. It got a little messy. Then they got to use the wheel. How amazingly cute is this?!

 J really loved it. She had quite a bit of help from a patient volunteer, but she was way into it. M was slightly less enthusiastic, and her vase very nearly met a nasty end, but she was also proud of her creation. Now if only we had a kiln ... anyone have one lying around?

 And I won an Honorable Mention ribbon for my Columbia Gorge painting, which was exciting. Little dude very proudly wore my artist ribbon around, to the great amusement of many.

Heaven Help Us

She's been telling anyone who will listen that she's a 1st grader now. How did this happen? How did she grow up so fast? I miss kindergarten already. Why can't time slow down just a little? Sad.

Happy as a Clam

So I can hear his teenage self groaning when he looks back on these, but I can't help it. HE'S JUST TOO CUTE!

And if this is only the 40th percentile, what does the 100th look like?????

Buddies

Hey! Let us out! Just think of all the things we could get into out there!

Ah mom, you took a picture of me didn't you? Did I look cute?

Feeding is serious business (Coop had given lil' dude his sippy and laid him down. M jumped in to help give him a little lovin' while he ate so he wouldn't be so lonely). Could you swallow at that angle?

Good News!

Ok, so the picture has nothing to do with anything really. I just like his face. His cheeks are delicious. But check out my art blog to see the good news!

*Quick shameless plug that I'm a little embarrassed about - It would be REALLY cool if you became a follower of my art blog (alishabwhitman.blogspot.com) or linked to it. Cooper's working on making it so people can buy original art, prints, and greeting cards of my paintings directly from us through my website. We're hoping that the art blog will bring more traffic that way and followers and links help. You don't even have to read it to be a follower. It just gets it ranked higher, which makes it more likely that others will find it. Thanks so much!

The problem with having older sisters

When I don't get there first

 This is what I find! I don't think he minds the invasion of space much though. However, I did have to put the ixnay on J holding him so that he's sitting on the bar, looking out at the room. Bad idea. Also funny though is that Buddy has taken to letting us know he's awake by standing up, and pounding on the wall. Just smacking the heck out of it. Hilarious.