catching up

i'm so behind on posting! we've had lots of fun-filled weekends lately. I'll touch on the ones I've got photos for...waiting for a couple more so this may end up a little out of order. but who's counting, right?

first up - attempted camping trip with the runnings and ian's parents. boy, i wish i had a photo of our initial arrival to the campsite three friday's ago. ron and peggy had been there an hour or so ahead of us and totally set things up to prepare for RAIN. we pull up to a tarp hung, roaring fire, and all. but MAN was it raining! and the most perfect spots for our three tents were quickly turning to mud. mud just doesn't mix with babies and dogs...so we bagged it and 'camped' the entire wet weekend back at the gelbrich house. fun times despite the change in plan!!! just wish we could have put more of our gear to use. next time.....

lovely camping facilities

oren and annik playing in the bath

storytime

look out edward!

love this.

despite the blurriness, i had to post this one.

visit with g-gma payne

today is ron and peggy's wedding anniversary. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! they planned a get-away to bend, so we went out to stay with the dogs in yamhill. We had a nice and relaxing weekend and of course lucy had a blast too. one highlight was a nice lunch at grandma payne's. Oren got to hang out with his great-grandma and i got to see some super fun photos of ian as a baby! what a cutie!!! thanks grandma payne.

...and now back to reality. ian had to work this afternoon and oren and i are trying to catch up on chores. he particularly loves the laundry; watching the dryer spin seems to make him quite happy.

here's to a good (and by that i mean fast) week!

beets!!

while the first few bites were a little sketchy, he warmed right up to them. but what a mess!

and i love this last one with lucy lurking behind. this is her new favorite spot, no doubt about it.

busy busy....

well this weekend we were all over the pnw. Friday we did a super-quick trip to seattle. we had a wonderful time (as always) with sam and david, and got to meet miss emmy leigh on Saturday! of course i get home without a single photo of her...I'm hoping I can steal one from Christopher, as he was taking photos.

Of course, Sam made an amazing dinner, complete with g&t's, champagne for our anniversary, and great wine. Breakfast was also lovely; we walked down to their neighborhood cafe.

Sunday peggy watched oren so Ian and I could have a night out! so kind of her, and now we are feeling rested and ready for the week (sort-of). Ron came up today so we got to see him for a bit as well. Always great to spend time with them... :-)

a few fun shots:

oren loving on sam and david

really... oren was smiling the whole time.

D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S chicken with roasted garlic and walnuts

happy cooks, and oren is ready for bed.

oren made a ton of new friends in the cafe. this server took him around to meet every table! of course he loved the beard and glasses!

fun weekend!

a little late on the posting, but wanted to update from last weekend. it was a good one...happy 1-year to oscar at his party on saturday and a fun picnic in the park with the grace's afterward.

oscar and his dad getting ready for CAKE!!

oren meets thor ..lots of kiddos to play with at the party.

ari being silly at the park

tica and dylan - so cute!

Camping Trip #2!

we realized this number of camping trip experiences relate to both oren and to lucy. I have to admit oren did better this time, but it totally wasn't lucy's fault. A group of kids decided it would be fun to set off fireworks over the lake. No, we didn't enjoy them along with the rest of the campers - we were busy trying to pry lucy off the roof of the tent. poor thing is terrified of fireworks...we even contemplated packing up and driving home. luckily the kids must not have had much of a fireworks budget. thankfully, oren slept through the entire thing.

terrified puppy aside...the weekend was a relative success.

of course nothing went as planned:

Lost Lake turned into Laurence Lake - both on the flanks of Mt. Hood. unfortunately Ron and Peggy decided to take us up on the offer of driving up to camp with us...but we thought Ron was working so didn't relay the change in campsite. They drove all around Lost lake with not a sign of us - cuz we weren't there!!! (they apparently "had a nice drive, and bought lots of fruit" - insert me feeling terrible!!!) ...next time.

can anyone say WINDY? we of course chose a site fairly well shielded from the wind, but whew! did it blow. and crazy tent neighbors were getting a kick out of burning every tiny ash-generating piece of groundcover...grrr...

several atypical food mishaps this time:

meatballs for dinner! - totally burnt in the fire = inedible.

pita bread stuffed with roasted veggies! - chipmunk stole the pita.

blueberry pancakes for breakfast! - forgot the pancake mix.

sunday AM brought rain, and since we weren't crazy about repeating our previous day's breakfast of oatmeal, we packed up quickly and headed into Hood River for a tasty breakfast at Bette's Place.

of course the s'mores worked just fine. yum!

and ian's idea of brie warmed in the fire was yummy with the fresh baked bread we brought from home.

a few photos from our adventure:

goodness i love this laugh.

our brand spankin' new tent/palace.

from the inside...sooo spacious! and ian can stand fully upright!! i say - this height is necessary for bouncing a baby to sleep.

good morning.

oren can hold his own bottle now

tasty breakfast

someone (me) forgot the pancake mix...always have a back-up plan.

we try to keep a regular nap schedule...totally worked, he slept for 2+ hours!

sticking his tongue out at me.

first time fishing (for oren)!!

keeping lucy busy..when she's not swimming.

21.5# !!!

can't believe it - oren weighs over 20 lbs!

no wonder my body aches some days....

we did it!

well, after one night of implementing plan 'b' (ian's parents' house) we made our first camping trip with oren really happen. Friday night we drove out to camp along the nestucca river, but unfortunately all the campsites were full...well, all except for one next to some pretty rowdy country-music blasting guys...not our first choice for tent neighbors. and we didn't think they would appreciate an early oren wake-up the next morning anyway. so plan 'b' was put into effect for the first night.

after a little bit of research and a good recommendation from peggy, we got up the next morning, ate a yummy breakfast, and drove off in search of plan 'c'. lucky us! we arrived at Spruce Run campground just as a group of campers was leaving...and it was for a fantastic walk-in site to boot! we are already planning our next trip (and shopping for our very own car-camping tent!)

here are a few photos:

this one is so darn cute i had to post, but couldn't rotate it...sorry.

our lovely campsite was down this path in the trees...

you can see the vastness of the tent illustrated here - it doesn't quite fit on the tent pad! (thanks again s and t!!)

friendly reminder: always check your gear BEFORE you leave

cute boys, fuzzy photo

nothin' like napin' in the great outdoors!

lucy had fun too, although she would have really liked to go swimming.

daddy needed a nap too.

and i think my arms have outgrown my sleeves!!

gelbrich bbq

We enjoyed a fun family bbq last weekend at Ian's parents house. Jerry and Deborah brought the newest Duck in the family up from california for his freshman orientation. GO DUCKS! We hope to see a lot more of them now that Taylor is (somewhat) in the neighborhood. As always - yummy food, wine and company made for a super weekend!

and stay tuned...this weekend we will attempt our first camping trip with both Oren and Lucy. wish us luck!! I'm feeling optimistic.

oren enjoying someone's joke...

travis & sharon looking fabulous...

oren sleeping so sweetly...

nannie setting up the tent for her night in the great outdoors with nathan & aidan...

uncle jerry getting some oren time...

thirsty!

bed head!

happy birthday ian!

a day or so late...but a girl can't be on the computer all the time!

we love you!

the beach!

we are just home from a fantastic trip to Rockaway Beach with friends. With 8 adults, three babies and one on the way, chaos was sure to ensue (graces -- we missed you!!!). The house had plenty of room for all of us, and with the exception of a little tire trouble and one rock-chipped windshield, the weekend was relatively relaxing and certainly a ton of fun!! The meals were amazing and the time spent with close friends even better. We are already planning for next year....

a little family photo op.

oren eating his first sand pie

rock star annik!

shem & noelle found a live jellyfish!

baby elijah sleeping soundly on the warm sand

annik looking smashing as usual. :-) and her daddy too!

heather, christopher, and baby O!

can't tell by oren in this photo - but the water was a little on the cold side..but the days were really beautiful. i love the oregon coast!!

video - annik and oren playing together