Is Summer Finally Here?

It feels like summer! It is amazing how a three day work week, ninety degree weather, and a couple trips to the beach can make it feel like summer time. Brook and I had a fairly quiet Memorial Day weekend. We spent most of the weekend working around the house and then had a barbeque at Tom and Bev's house.

The nice part about a Monday holiday is that it creates a three day week for me since I don't work Friday's during the summer. While golf is normally on the agenda on Friday's, this week I took a break from the normal pattern and joined up with John Smith (my track coach from college) to go surfing at Pacific City. Surfing is actually what John does...I have my own style where I tend to ride the board on my stomach to the beach. None the less, it is still active and it is still fun.

Saturday night was spent watching our beloved Portland Timbers putting up two goals to defeat the Vancouver Whitecaps at PGE Park. Since the games start at 7:00 pm, we typically find ourselves up past our bed time by time we get home. But Saturday we felt wild and crazy and decided to take in the sights of the starlight parade in downtown Portland. I don't typically enjoy parades, which is a bit of a problem since Brook loves them. I don't think it is so much the parade that I hate as much as it brings back awful memories of the Bend Christmas Parade and me in a big fuzzy band cap marching in freezing cold weather. Have you ever tried to walk in snow, and play a saxaphone in freezing cold weather? So, after taking in the sights of the parade for a little while, I decided that I could lure my wife away from all the fun by promising deserts. And deserts is what we did...we both enjoyed the newest desert creations that Applebees is serving up. I must say...two thumbs up!

Sunday - after Church, we packed up the Tucson and the dog (we lamented about how much more we will be packing in a couple months) and headed to the beach. Our typical beach trip is to Seaside or Lincoln City, but it seems the theme of the weekend was wild and crazy. Yes, we switched it up and checked out Netards Bay. Kenji enjoyed the Ocean as much as always and even left a little bit of herself on the beach. It seems that she might have taken in too much salt water and found herself squirting out the backside in Multomah Falls size portions. All in all, a successful day. After seeing the aftermath of two different large traffic accidents, we feel blessed to be home safely. And here comes another week!

Busy Weekend

We survived another busy Mother's Day Weekend. For most families, Mother's Day Weekend is busy. But for us, it is always super busy. We get to cram in my sister's birthday (Abbey - May 9), Mother's Day (May 10) and my father's birthday (May 11) all in one fun-filled, action-packed weekend.

So with the Tucson loaded down, we headed north to visit the wonderful world of Seabeck, WA.

Friday was quite uneventful. Brook and I got to visit my Grandpa in his new apartment. He has recently moved out of his assisted-care facility that he was living in with my Grandma before she passed away. He is now living in a regular apartment, saving over $1,000/month. Being that he is ex-military, he was able to take us on base to visit the military exchange. I discovered that the store (exchange) did not live up to they hype that I had created in my brain. But, my Grandpa did buy us our first "onesies" for our baby.

Speaking of baby, it was the first time that my parents got to see "pregnant Brook." And pregnant she is...We have officially just over 80 days to go!

Saturday was an eventful day. Started out with an early morning tee time for the guys and an afternoon filled with Badminton. Brook and I both decided that our George Fox Education (Badminton 101) finally payed off.


And then of course...there was a birthday celebration...