The Little Gym

Back in June, our good friend, Avery, had her 2nd birthday party at the Little Gym (she's 12 days younger than Sienna). I was excited to compare the Little Gym to Gymboree. And boy, was it different! The little gym is mostly gymnastics equipment and Gymboree is mostly obstacles that the kids can climb on, jump off of, etc. The kids both had a great time, although I think Sienna is a bit too young to really use most of the equipment at The Little Gym.

Brayden's favorite piece of equipment was the balance beam!
I couldn't believe how much air he got when he jumped off!

Sienna wasn't quite as sure about the balance beam...

Instead of jumping off, she did more of a "walk off". haha!

Sienna and Avery, the birthday girl!

Hangin' on the bars!

More bars!

Sienna had so much fun copying the boys (Brayden & Wyatt)!

During the circle dance, Brayden and Wyatt decided to sword fight!

I got a new friend at Avery's party: their neighbor, Carina. I'm not sure why, but she wanted to hold my hand and hang out with Sienna and me. I thought it was pretty cute (& funny)!

All the kids dancing!

Of course, Brayden's "dancing" always turns into Kung-Fu fighting, break dancing, or acrobatic moves!

We also got to play with the parachute, just like we do at Gymboree!

This was the best part of the whole part...doing somersaults on the big doughnut! Brayden was the first one to go (after the birthday girl, of course!). I was surprised that he volunteered right away since he is usually a bit hesitant when it comes to doing new things in front of strangers.

The next shocker was when Sienna wanted to go next! Whose kids are these, anyways? haha!

At the very end, they tried to get all the kids together for a group photo. To my surprise, Brayden and Sienna cooperated, but most of the other kids didn't! Way to go Brayden & Sienna!

Thank you for inviting us to your super fun birthday party, Avery!!!!

Ibach Park

Last week, the kids and I met up with some friends at Ibach Park in Tualatin. When we arrived around 9:30am, there were only 1 or 2 other kids there. YEA! I think this was the first park that I've actually enjoyed...the park equipment was perfect for both kids. Of course, 15 minutes after we arrived, a huge bus load of kids and parents showed up. UGH. To make matters even worse, all the kids were were wearing blue tie dyed shirts...Brayden and Sienna blended right in with them! After the playground was taken over by the large group, I was pretty stressed out, but I stuck it out and stayed for a couple of hours. I can't wait to take the kids back...I just hope that our next trip doesn't include a bus load of kids!
Lucas, Sienna & Brayden had fun riding on the platform (there was a crank that we turned to move the platform back and forth across the bar).

Sienna LOVES to swing! In fact, she was having so much fun that I couldn't get her to stop swinging!

Sienna attempted to climb up the rope ladder.

Once she figured out that she wasn't going to make it all the way up, she tried to get back down, but ended up needing help to get out.

Brayden and Sienna loved going down the big tunnel slide!

Sienna went down so fast that she ended up on the ground a few times!

While Sienna was swinging (she refused to get off), Katrina watched Brayden and Lucas play in the sand together.

Nikki, Madison, Lucas, Brayden & Sienna riding on the biggest teeter-totter I've ever seen!

Brayden, Lucas & Sienna going for another ride on the teeter-totter!

Cannon Beach - July 5th, 2005

Yesterday we headed to Cannon Beach, with our good friends who are visiting from Ohio. Before we left, I looked at weather.com and saw that it was going to be cloudy and 74 degrees. Not bad! It was only going to be in the mid-sixties in the late morning when we were planning on playing in the sand, but I still thought that sounded pretty good for the Oregon Coast. So, off we went.

As we were driving through Ecola State Park, our friends called to tell us they had just arrived at the viewpoint. They said it was extremely windy and everyone was dressed in their winter jackets and pants. Uh oh...we were all wearing shorts and sweatshirts! Chris looked at the car's thermometer: 52 degrees. WHAT!?!?! After driving through the dark forest for what seemed like forever, we finally make it to the viewpoint. We parked next to our friends, hopped out of the car and quickly started bundling everyone up in every blanket and beach towel we could find. It was so windy and cold that halfway to the viewpoint, we decided that we'd seen enough and headed back to the car. Well, not before asking someone to take a group photo, which is currently on the Knapp's camera (I was so cold that I had left my camera in the car). All I can say is brrrrr!

We quickly unbundled ourselves and got into the car. Poor little Sienna was still shivering by the time we were in the car and driving away. Brayden wasn't quite as cold...he wasn't too frozen to be silly.

I just have to mention that Chris and I were in Cannon Beach almost exactly 1 year ago (July 11th-13th) and the weather could not have been more different. It was so nice and warm that we actually got sunburns while we were there. If you are interested in seeing how beautiful Cannon Beach is on a sunny day, here you go: Stephanie Inn - July 2008.

Our next stop was to eat lunch at Mo's. While we were waiting for our food, we saw a horse and carriage on the beach! I couldn't resist taking a picture (from inside the warmth of Mo's, of course!). I think it would be so much fun to go on a ride on the beach on a warm, sunny day!
After lunch, we finally head down to the beach. It wasn't quite as cold as it was at Ecola State Park, but it was still much colder than the mid-60's I was expecting. Sienna and Addison started digging in the sand right away! I think they lasted about 2 minutes before deciding it was too cold.

Freezing family photo time!

Our good friends: Dave, Nicole, Connor & Addsion Knapp

Chris and Brayden checking out the waves.

Chris, Sienna & Brayden racing...I wonder if it was colder by the water? To be honest, I was so cold that I pretty much stood in the same spot and took pictures of everyone else. haha!

A month or so ago we bought a kite from the dollar store. We were so excited to finally have an opportunity to test it out at the coast. Well, Chris and Brayden quickly found out that the dollar store kites are no match for the Oregon Coast winds. It ended up in the garbage as soon as we got home! I guess we'll have to save up for a "real" kite next time we go.

Maybe we did get our dollar's worth...they did get it into the air once or twice before it was destroyed.

Before we left, Chris and Brayden dug in the sand while Sienna just stood there and watched. Too bad she's not old enough to take pictures...I could have gone back to the warmth of the car! haha!

Oaks Park - Chipper's Preschool Party

A couple of weeks ago, a friend invited us to Oaks Park for Chipper's Preschool Party. I had never been to Oaks Park before (except to ride on the Holiday Express train last December), so I was a little uneasy taking both kids by myself. I had no idea what to expect from Oaks Park, or the kids. After all, the kids have never even seen a ride, let alone ridden on one! And, here I was taking a 2 year old and a 3 year old, all by myself. I was thinking that I had to be crazy to agree to go!!! Well, I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun the kids had. They not only got on every ride, but they loved almost every ride. Now I'm even more excited for our first trip to Disneyland, which will hopefully be in a couple of years.

Sienna, Brayden & Anne! Both Brayden and Sienna stuck their heads all the way through the holes...I was so scared that they weren't going to be able to get their heads back out! Our first stop was to ride on the little train! Brayden was about 4 cars in front of Sienna and me, sitting with his friend Anne and one of her friends.The next stop was the carousel. Lilya took Sienna and Anne, while I took Brayden to the potty. We got back just in time to watch them go around and around. Sienna wasn't too sure what to think at first, but as soon as her "rooster" started moving up and down, she quickly decided that she did not like the carousel! Lilya was nice enough to save her from the scary rooster and sit with her on the bench for the rest of the ride.Next, we all went down the humongous slide! We had so much fun that we went down TWICE! The first time it was just Brayden, Sienna and me (Sienna sat on my lap). The second time Anne came with us (Lilya didn't enjoy her trip down the slide!). Lilya captured our second trip down the slide with her cell phone camera. We were all supposed to be racing, but as you can see, Brayden cheated and took off a little early! Next, we all tried to ride in the basket together, but they wouldn't let Sienna sit on my lap. So, Brayden went with Lilya and Anne, while Sienna and I rode in our very own basket! I was a little scared because the basket was so small I couldn't move very easily, and I had no idea how Sienna would react once we rose into the sky and started spinning around. Well, I was worried for nothing...Sienna was smiling and giggling the whole time!Brayden and Anne waiting for the basket ride to begin!Next stop: ROCKET SHIPS! Poor Sienna didn't get to go on the rocket because I wasn't sure if she'd get scared and try to climb out after the ride started! Brayden and Anne goofing off while waiting in line for the next ride. Brayden driving his first car!Since the cars didn't leave the ground, I let Sienna go for a spin! I was a little nervous because she sat in a car with a bunch of kids that she didn't know (they were all Anne's friends). But, she wasn't scared and she had a great time! Next up was the frogger (they raise you up and then drop you...repeatedly)! This was another ride that I didn't let Sienna go on. Next time I'd probably let her try it, though. I wasn't even sure if Brayden would like it. But, he had a blast!!! Next we all rode on the big ship that swings back and forth, while spinning in circles. Brayden had a blast (by this point, I wasn't surprised) and Sienna started out giggling. However, once the ship started going in circles, Sienna wanted OFF! She kept saying "off" over and over. I even got a little queasy so I think we'll skip this ride next time!Our 2 hours of fun ended at the motorcycles! At first I wasn't going to let Sienna go for spin because I wasn't sure if she'd be able to stay on the motorcycle. But, as soon as she saw Brayden and Anne on the motorcycles, she kept screaming "me too, me too!". So, I caved and she got to ride on her very own motorcycle! We had such a blast at Oaks Park and plan on bringing daddy with us next time!!!