Visitors from the East

Last month, my sister Rebekah and her husband flew all the way out from Washington, D.C. to hang out with us! Okay, so there was some debate thing out here in the great Pacific Northwest as well, but that is non-topical.

We started out the festivities with a visit to a local winery for some tastings and a lunch of dad's delicious smoked meats. A common theme you'll notice in this posting is that there are many descriptions of food and no pictures of it. It was delectable, and we ate it all up before anyone could think to grab a camera. We're bad food bloggers.

So, here we are at the winery....

Later that afternoon Matt and the boys joined us and properly welcomed Uncle Nathanael with a battery of nerf gun arrows. Silas and Titus had been taught that we only shoot uncles, so they had been planning and training for the event for weeks. 

We followed that trip up with a huge fondue spread - meats, apples, veggies, and breads in two kinds of cheese fondue; chicken and steak with more veggies grilled on kabobs and served over jasmine rice; and cheesecake, brownies, and fruit in dark, milk, and white chocolate fondues.

The next day we sent our visitors off on an 11-mile hike in the mountains with my parents, but then they got the night off while relaxing at our house and enjoying peach bellinis; sundried tomato, roasted garlic, and goat cheese appetizers; homemade pesto and cheese ravioli with marinara and alfredo sauces and grilled chicken; fresh tomato and cucumber salad; and my famous marionberry cream pie for dessert. Once again, it disappeared in minutes.

On the last day of their visit we headed out to the Oregon Coast. The boys hadn't been to the beach in quite a while, and they loved it. They loved different parts of it, though. Titus immediately started running, jumping, and throwing sand....

 

 

Silas was much more cautious about the water, and preferred kite flying.

And just looking at the water:

Of course, Aunt Bekah insisted he meet the ocean in person. First she tried coaxing:

When that didn't work, she just scooped him up:

And finally convinced him to get the tips of his feet wet: 

Meanwhile Titus managed to soak through several pairs of shorts and a couple shirts as he rolled around in the sand and the little river of water running across the beach. His lips turned blue and he was shivering but he didn't want to give it up!

At the end we built a sand castle...

 

 And we stayed until the tide chased us away!

We enjoyed lunch at Mo's and then returned to my parents house for a seafood feast of salmon and macadamia nut-encrusted halibut with mushroom risotto and fresh green beans. We topped it off with some homemade ice cream and then proceeded to fast for the rest of the week.

We had a great time and can't wait for them to come back!

For some additional laughs, check out the video below of Titus enjoying his time at the beach....

First Day of School

Silas started preschool last week. He was beyond excited and for about two weeks before it started would ask me every day how many days were left til preschool. I asked him how it was after the first day and he said, "I got to use scissors and I didn't cut my fingers off, see!?"

Yes, I'm one of those bad moms who doesn't let her kids use scissors. Apparently he assumed the reason for that was because he might cut his fingers off. Actually, it's because I don't want his brother's hair, or my curtains, or his favorite shirt, or my beautiful hand-knit afghan to be cut up! So I've just never gotten them scissors, and mine are kept very high above their heads. But it seems that this is a crucial skill for preschoolers so we may just have to break that trend and get a pair for him to practice with at home.

Anyway, he's been doing very well at school and is still super excited to get out the door four days a week. I wonder how long this love of school will last?

1,000 words

Up, Up, and Away

A couple weekends ago was the Art & Air Festival, and we arose bright and early Friday morning to watch the hot air balloons take off. Unfortunately, there had been a huge thunderstorm that night, and they decided not to take off. So back home we went.

We tried again Sunday morning, and this time our efforts were rewarded. We saw at least 40 hot air balloons fill up and take off. The boys were very impressed!

Lookin' pretty good for 6:45 am!

 

 

 

Some fun shots....

 

It was a lot of balloons!

We opted not to wait in the long line for the $5 tethered rides. Then yesterday, a hot air balloon landed in the field next to our house (they fly over us a lot during the summer), and we ran out to watch. The crew offered free tethered rides for the kids, so Silas got to go up (Titus didn't want to, he said he was scared.... maybe he's developing a sense of caution?).

 (You can just barely see Silas' head peeking over the top of the basket.)

As soon as he got out, I asked him what he thought, and he said, "I wouldn't have been scared even if it went higher into outer space." He's been really into flying and Superman and outer space for a while now. I think he inherited his Papa's interest in adventurous travel!