Handy Helper

We rented our house off of Craigslist before moving to Oregon. One of our necessities was a fenced in yard. When we got here we found a piece of the fence missing. The previous renters had removed it to get to the side yard where they had a garden and were keeping a calf. 

Yes, that's right. They had a cow. 

Anyway, the owner didn't replace it before we moved in so he brought us wood and we thought it was a good excuse to buy a table saw!

Eli built a gate and put it in with the help of the little boy.

Measuring is key to getting things right.

Ethan with the new, painted gate.

We bought a ton of stuff off Craigslist when we first got here and one of the things I got was a vintage red cabinet. The lady graciously offered her husband to bring it to our house for free. As he was backing up to drop it off he hit our fence, damaging 5 of the pickets. He then gave me a $20 and left as quickly as he could. 

A Trip to the Portland Zoo

One of the best things about moving to Oregon is getting to be near one of my best friends. She lives in Portland so we took a quick trip to meet her at the Portland Zoo.

Field Trip back to the Aquarium

Ethan's school has been taking lots of field trips lately and Lily and I have been tagging along. Last week we joined the group to go to the Aquarium in Newport. (Find our last trip here.) We got to ride on a real school bus!! Ethan was a bit upset when it  dropped us off and drove away. He really liked riding on the bus.

Lily waiting patiently to go in to the aquarium.

Ethan not  waiting patiently.

Ethan pretending to be a jellyfish. Jellyfish and Coral were a few of his very first words!

Ethan wouldn't let me take very many pictures of him so I worked on getting a good shot of the sharks in the walk through tank. This one turned out pretty good! I think it's a seven gill. Then my batteries died in my camera. We plan on going back soon to see the new "the sea and me".

Sandbox

We have a large back deck that we have closed off with a baby gate to make it a safe place for playing. I added a sandbox and toys that the kids love playing in.

Lily's favorite way of playing is in the sandbox. 

She loves eating dirt of any kind.

A Picnic with the Ducks

We sat down to have a nice picnic at a park next to Ethan's school. We were greeted by a heard of ducks. Ducks really seem to be every where you go. We have them in our back yard. You see them in the parking lot of the grocery store. They are everywhere!

This photo was not cropped. This duck really was this close to me. They have no fear.

They knew who to beg food from.

Here is Lily trying to walk like a duck.

Off to play.

Fishing in Our "Pond" & Fire

Ethan talked his Daddy into taking him down to the "pond" to do some fishing. 

We really don't think there are many, if any fish in this "pond". It's mostly mud, lily pads and frogs. 

Ethan doesn't care. He just loves to reel.

It seems to be a common thing to burn stuff here in Oregon. When we moved in we were greeted with a pile of junk that our landlord said we could burn. Thanks. 

Everything is so wet here most of the time it was hard to find a day that was dry and Eli had some free time to burn it. It took a giant bottle of lighter fluid but it did finally burn. 

I hope to get him back out there one night to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. Who needs to drive anywhere to camp out when you can just do it in your own back yard? We might have to warn the neighbors, though, just in case they are planning a nutria hunting trip. 

First Day of Preschool in Oregon

We got Ethan into a new preschool about a month after we got here. I really feel his attitude is so much better when he can get away from Mom and Sis for awhile and play with other kids :) He loves school so much. 

It's 2 days a week for 3 hours. They also do lots of field trips, most of which Lily and I join.

His new school is near Eli's campus so Mr. Ethan gets to ride forward facing in Daddy's car! (The seat wasn't accessible rear facing in Eli's tiny back seat.) 

He loves it.

It was pretty hard for me to let him leave that first day. 

So Lily and I tagged along.

We had to stop and talk to the ducks on the way in.

These little fellas have no fear.

He is having a lot of fun at school! We have 2 field trips planned for this week. He's not even 4 yet and already keeping me busy :)