Oaks Park

So I took the kids to Oaks Park yesterday. Oaks park is an old time amusement park located in Portland right along the Willamette River. On Tuesday mornings they open the only the kiddie rides and it's really inexpensive to take the kids where they can ride all the rides as many times as they want for two hours. After that they have this big giant chipmunk guy come out, SCARY, and he reads a story then they serve cookies and milk.

It was Hayden's first time riding on a theme park ride (unless you count Disneyland at 8 weeks) and he loved it although most of the time he had a blank stare on his face... but as his mother I know he loved it because when it was time to go he was kicking and screaming in protest. It's definitely a place we'll go to again and next time we'll bring daddy because there were several "Big Big Kid" rides Michael saw that piqued his interest.

Oh and just for fun I've discovered two things I don't enjoy doing... pulling all my clean silverware out of the trash and pulling toys out of air conditioning vents... especially battery powered toy trains in the on position.

Settled In

Well, it's been just over a week and we are finally pretty settled into our new home. It's smaller but actually the furniture fits great and it's working out well. The kids adjusted with no problem at all which made the move easier on all of us. The only downside is Michael no longer has friends nearby to play with. Although it seems like a neighborhood filled with kids there is no one in sight who is less than 100 years old... no offense to you octogenarians out there. So, plenty of older citizens which do make for a quiet neighborhood but not great for Michael. Luckily Jayden lives less than a mile away so we've made some effort to get those two together as often as possible.

We did decide to get Michael busy again so he will be going back to Kindercare for the month of August three days a week to play with his old pals at school. He is at an in between age where the summer day camps are geared for younger kids and last only an hour or so... Michael needs a little more than that to keep his interest so when I mentioned going back to school he was thrilled.

I can't wait until September 3rd when his first day of "real" school starts. Our new house is less than a mile away from his new school so we see it everyday and he's growing increasingly excited to meet new friends and play on the wonderful playground they just built last year.


We also had our first family BBQ in our back yard this weekend to break it in and we had a great time. While the back yard doesn't have the same park like appeal the last one had it's still a nice yard and the kids found lots to do. Michael dressed himself which is why he's dressed for winter but it was actually really warm and we enjoyed steak, Au gratin potatoes, macaroni salad, and fruit. It was summery and yummy!

Tres Amigos