beauty shop

The kids decided to play a little beauty shop (back in May...yes, still catching up!) and lucky Austin got to be the one in the chair.

He requested "poky hair" (I love that boy).

{not sure Austin's face shows full confidence in his big sister's expertise}

a little hair styling product might do the trick
"Hmmm...how does it look?"
"Let's try it from this angle."

I don't think it was quite the "poky hair" look he was going for, but he's a handsome boy nonetheless.

more museum fun!

We had another fun day on our "Take a Trip Tuesday"!

My good friend Kim planned a summer full of field trips for Tuesdays and invited a handful of friends along to join her and her children when they can. We had to miss the first one to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science & Industry), but last week we went to the Portland Children's Museum. Today we headed down to Salem to visit the A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village. We were able to get in FREE again this week with the Cultural Pass from our local library. You can't beat free!

We decided to snap a picture of all of the kids on the giant chair out front right when we first got there, so they'd be all smiles. However, for some of them, the chair was a little too high, so we didn't exactly get all smiles! Austin freaked out a little when I tried to get him down and I thought to myself...great, how is he going to do in Disneyland?

This was taken right after the giant chair.
Austin got over his sadness really quickly...he loves dinosaurs!

First stop...

The Bubble Room!

Next stop...

The Oregon Room!

And then...

The Toy Inventors' Workshop


The Brazilian Rainforest Theater


The River Room


The Recollections Room

A Child's Trip to China

The "Go Figure!" Room

And finally...

The Village Grocery

The boys loved watching this turtle!

Fun times at the museum!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After the museum we took a short walk to The Carousel at Riverfront Park.


The boys preferred sitting in an enclosed space.
But the girls enjoyed riding the horses!!
And then it was time to go home...


Another fun summer day with friends!

dance recital 2011

Mikayla had her dance recital this past Saturday. And, just like any other mom proud of her little girl...I took A LOT of pictures!! She just looked so cute in her dance outfit!

Before heading out to her dance rehearsal on Friday night, we went in the backyard so I could snap some pictures of Mikayla "all dolled up" for her big performance. I knew Saturday morning would probably be a rush (and it was), so I am glad I took the time to take pictures the night before. Most of the poses you see below were all by her! It was like she knew exactly what to do!

{click on picture to view larger}

Technically we weren't supposed to take flash pictures during the rehearsal or performance, but I couldn't figure out how to take the flash off my camera, so I broke the rules (shocker for me, I know!) and snapped some with the flash. And, I must say...I'm glad I did! I loved being able to capture these moments of her in her "element". Since I was able to capture some pictures during rehearsal, I was able to just sit back and enjoy the performance on Saturday. Her class performed a tap and ballet routine and it was ADORABLE!!


Mikayla's dance teacher Miss Jenny (whom she LOVES) is leaving the dance studio and we will definitely miss her! She has been Mikayla's teacher for two years and has been such a light for Mikayla. Her sweet personality and caring heart towards her dancers makes her a very special person! At the performance each of the dancers gave Miss Jenny a single rose. It was a really special moment and I actually got choked up!


I normally don't post blurry pictures, but I just thought this moment was precious. Mikayla had already given Miss Jenny her rose and then went to sit back down. All of the sudden she gets up again and I see her give Miss Jenny a hug from behind. I wasn't prepared for that, so I didn't get a great picture. Later, after the performance, Mikayla said that she had said to Miss Jenny, "Thanks for being my teacher." Mikayla really has such a tender heart!

After the performance!

My beautiful daughter is a beautiful dancer!
(I'm a little biased, of course!)

children's museum with friends!

Last Tuesday the kids and I went to the Portland Children's Muesum (thanks to the FREE cultural pass from the library!) with some good friends of ours...the Caldwells. We had a great time and Kim and I let the kids take their sweet time enjoying each part of the museum while she and I chatted and snapped pictures.

So be prepared...

I took a lot of pictures!!

Twilight Trail

Building Bridgetown
The Pet Hospital
{Mikayla loved playing receptionist}
Grasshopper Grocery & Butterfly Bistro
Dig Pit
Water Works


There was still plenty left to see, but we decided to save it for another day...the kids were ready to call it a day!