More July Fun

Summertime is rolling on!  Tyler's making some big transitions right now.  This past week, he gave up his beloved pacifier (aka nini).  He only had nini at bedtime, but it was still a very tough goodbye.  He would have kept nini around forever if we let him, but it's time to move forward!  The pacifier fairy came that night and took all the pacis to give to newborn babies that needed them, and in their place, she left Tyler a special Thomas the Train toy.  We had a few rough nights of falling asleep without nini, but now he is doing OK.  The first morning after letting go of nini, Tyler also lost his first tooth!  It was wiggly and ready, and with a little help from Mom, it popped right out.  Growing into such a big boy right before our very eyes!

We also took a family trip to Great America for the first time.  Erik and I had gone plenty of times growing up, but we'd never taken our crew.  It was a hit!  Everyone really enjoyed the rides (and all the refreshments - it was a super hot day).  Erik and Gavin teamed up to tackle the big coasters - The Demon and The Eagle!

Gavin's baseball season came to an end, and we enjoyed having the team and their families over for a season wrap-up party.  We ate hot dogs and showed "The Sandlot" in the backyard, and the kids had a great time playing together.  Party favors were Big League Chew and Cracker Jack.  Some things never change! Those 2 snack have been part of baseball for years and the kids still love them!

We took a trip into the city, with 2 different destinations - Erik and Cassidy headed to the theatre to take in Hamilton (her 10th birthday gift!), and the boys and I spent an afternoon at the Chicago Sports Museum at Water Tower Place.  We started with lunch at Harry Caray's, and then had so much fun seeing all the memorabilia and trying out the interactive sports games.  We all love getting downtown to enjoy Chicago from time to time.

Visiting the Pacific Northwest

We had the most wonderful visit this month to the Pacific Northwest!  We flew into Portland, Oregon and spent our first night there, visiting Erik's cousin Molly and her family for a wonderful reunion dinner.  We got to spend the evening with Molly and Daniel and their two girls, as well Grammy Brown's sister Belinda, who drove over from her home less than an hour away.  And joining us on this lovely trip was Grammy & Grandpa Brown as well as the Tieman crew, so we all had a wonderful visit together!

The next day, we took a day trip up to Mount St. Helens, just across the border into Washington.  What an amazing sight!  The volcano had a major eruption back in 1980, and they have since built an observatory and visitors center, with walking trails around the volcano, that allowed us to take in the view, snap pictures, and learn some cool facts.  I'm so glad we took the time to see this landmark in person, it was breathtaking.

After we left Mount St. Helens, we drove back down to Oregon, over to the coast where we'd spend the remainder of our visit.  Grammy and Grandpa Brown rented the perfect house for us all to stay in together; right on the water with the most gorgeous sunset view.  It was in a little town called Arch Cape, just south of Cannon Beach.  We spent our days there exploring the beaches - there was so much amazing nature to take in!  The kids had the most wonderful time walking along the beach, picking up crabs and sand dollars, searching for starfish and exploring caves.  They even found a baby seal resting on the beach, a big highlight!  We also quickly realized that a few bald eagles were residents of the nearby trees, and each night at dusk they'd swoop in and catch their dinner right in front of our rental home as we were enjoying the sunset view.  We also had some more extended family come to the house to visit - it was so great to see Erik's Aunt Dee, who came in from Yakima, WA, and Erik's cousins Allison and Dan and their families.  Aunt Belinda came by again also and we loved spending a little more time with her, too!

The beautiful home where we spent the week

Cassie loved this reading nook by the fireplace!

The kids loved to make a big stack of rocks, and then try to topple it by throwing smaller rocks.  Fun for hours!

Found a crab leg!

It was the perfect place for kite-flying, as the wind blows constantly off the water.

Gavin and Erik found time for baseball!

Hiking day!

Searching for sand dollars

Cassie got quite the collection!

We loved this one; we called it "baby seal photobomb"

Look at this cute friend!

Exploring caves

One of the resident bald eagles, just keeping watch

The colors were so neat - nature is beautiful!

S'mores on a windy evening

Clean cousins after bathtimes!

Origami with Aunt Belinda

The owners of the home invite all of their guests to paint a rock and leave it within the landscape.

We went out to dinner with Mel & Aaron one evening!

Girls' shopping trip

Mel and I both got a new pair of sunglasses!

The landscape here would change daily with the tides and the scenery was just beautiful.  Some days were windy and eerily foggy, other days were filled with bright sun.  It was so neat to see what each new day would bring.  Below are just a few of our favorite photos of the changing beach and ocean scenery.  It was a really memorable trip!