After returning from Texas, we stayed home long enough to do laundry and repack our bags. Then we piled into the van and headed down to spend a long weekend with Nana and Grandpa at their condo in Neskowin, Oregon.

The boys had a blast digging in the sand and playing in the creek. Kieron can entertain himself for a long time with a shovel and rake, and enjoys the feeling of sand running through his little fingers. Avery is all about building sand castles and sand kingdoms, often favoring the role of project manager over brut laborer. And Mommy and Daddy got in another date night while Nana and Grandpa watched the boys.

On our last afternoon we had a nice walk along the beach with Avery while Kieron napped. It was fun to get out with just him, since these days he usually has to share us with his little brother. There’s an ancient forest on the beach that becomes visible at low tide, and we checked out the tide pools around every tree stump looking for marine life. To get to many of the trees, we had to run out while the waves were out, take a quick look, and then book it back in before the waves “got us.” Of course Avery loved the thrill of it.

Posing with his sandcastle




Avery in front of Proposal Rock




Date Night!


13 week bump shot




For his sweetheart

Avery took this pic of Mommy & Daddy

This was our first time visiting Texas in August, and if there’s one word to describe it this time of year, it’s HOT. You certainly wouldn’t know it here in Washington, but there really are heat waves going on in much of the country! The day we travelled, we experienced a 40 degree increase in temperature, which was fine by me!

We got in lots of visits with Uncle Scott, Aunt Manivanh, and Nicole & Andrew. We also visited with my cousin Laura, and her family. I got out with Grammy one day to see a movie (The Help) and and have lunch with her Garden Club. On our anniversary, Grammy and Papa watched the boys and we went out to a nice French restaurant for dinner, but forgot to get a picture.

As you’ll see from the pics, we spent the majority of our time in the pool goofing off. Avery made great strides with his swimming. For the past month he’d been talking about how he was going to jump in the pool this year and launch off Daddy’s shoulders. Then when it came time, he froze up and wanted no such thing. On about the third day, we remembered Nicole’s old swim vest was in the pool bath, so we put it on Avery. It was all he needed to transform into a full-on stunt devil. This was Kieron’s first time in the pool, and he took to it like a natural. He really loved floating on his back, I think because the water felt good in his helmet. He also enjoyed observing the mayhem from his turtle raft.

Nicole, Avery, Kieron, & Andrew




Coloring paperdolls