The boy turns 7!

Can't believe it's already been 7 years. Our little fella isn't quite so little anymore!

Yo wanted a Ninjago birthday party this year, and so mommy obliged and turned out yet another wonderful themed party for her boy. There were ninja cupcakes, obstacle courses that only little ninjas could conquer, pin the beard on Sensei Wu, and balloon sword fights.

   

(Slideshow of all the pics)

(video 1)

(video 2)

March Belt Test

Missy M got her first trophy at this test. Both of them did great again, with the forms getting more and more complicated.

(embedded video)

Legos and Arduinos

The Lego kits are getting more and more complicated now. Especially with all these character and theme-based sets that our boy is into. Makes for great fun and imaginative play-time, though.

And some are the nice cute house and cabin types - more like what we grew up with.

We also recently broke into an Arduino kit that's been sitting in a drawer for a year now. Built a little light + sound contraption for a Lego fire truck, which made for a fun afternoon.

Spike the Trike

One of Yo's recent class projects was to create a character and a story based on Dr. Suess' creations. This is what our man came up with.

Of Cherry Blossoms and Kids

Continuing the sunny spring days theme of the previous post, we decided to capture a few pics of some cherry blossoms before they vanished. And also managed to have the offspring stand somewhat still for some of those pics too.

   

A Hike at Hoyt

Making maximum merriment of the surprising sunny spring days we decided to hike happily through Hoyt.

(What, are you surprised at the alliterations of the non-writer entity in this house? :)

By a Douglas Fir, state tree of Oregon

A surprise treasure: pine cone cut in half

  

   

Then and Now

Our first family vacation was at Newport, back in July 2010 when the kiddos were 2 1/2 and almost 1. About five years later, in Feb 2015, we went back to Newport and stayed at the same place. The kids were almost 7 and 5 1/2. We got to take some fun pics to compare with the last time. Some of these were intentional, some just happened that way!

  

   

  

 

 

  

 

  

 

 

 

Beach trip

We've been blessed with unseasonably good weather recently, and decided to make the most of it and head down to Newport for the Presidents Day weekend.

The first stop was the Tillamook Cheese Factory, where we got to sample some yummy cheese and ice-cream.

Stayed at a place right on the beach, which made for some awesome views. And the kiddos enjoyed the pool.

We visited the Aquarium, Hatfield marine science center, Yaquina lighthouse, and a few other sights around the area.

  

  

And of course, couldn't miss the beach!

 Relaxing after a long day with a good book. Doesn't get much better than that.

Was a wonderful vacation. We are truly blessed to get to experience God's creation like this!

 (embedded video)