The first football game

Jack had his first flag football game of the season. It was a scrimmage with 15 minutes of offense and then 15 minutes of defense. Jack played last year but in a first and second grade league he was young and he is small. So he never made a touchdown or got a flag. Well he did both in this game and he was so proud of himself. The look on his face was priceless. He also ended up playing against the son of some family friends. In fact, the flag he got was that little boy. So both grandmas watched the fierce competition. We left right from the game for our night at the beach with friends. Now that is making every minute of summer count.

He almost had that ball

Here he is making a touchdown!

When he started to grab for the flag, he had the belt. But he didn't give up.

And there he gets it.

Ellie and I had fun playing with this puppy.

Last Volcanoes game

So we have been cramming a lot of fun into the last couple weeks of summer. We went to our fifth Volcanoes game of the year. The kids love it and this was a Friday night game with fireworks. To make it even better they won 7-1. So as Jack said, "it was the best game ever."

Otter Beach

For our last official day of summer we decided to go to Otter Beach in Corvallis. I had heard of this pool but never been. Well we loved it! It was a perfect way to end our days together. They had a big slide and the best part is you can ride together. So Jack and I went down together twice and he and Ellie went 5 times. They also had a lazy river that Jack could touch in. So the kids loved it. Since they are both good swimmers I didn't need to stay with them every minute. However, it was over 90 so I got in the water quite a bit. I'm sure we will be going back to this pool.

Evergreen

We went to McMinnville for the day with my mom. We had lunch and then ice cream at Al's where they got to see the famous monkey. I remember the monkey from college and the kids thought that was really cool. Then we went to the Evergreen IMAX theater to watch the show on the Hubble space telescope. They played on a really cool playground there. And we caught a glimpse of the new water park being built. Then we headed to a really fun playground with a fountain and sand.

Silver Falls

This was one of our last chances for a family outing before summer ends so we decided to head to Silver Falls. We also realized it had been about 3 years since we had been so Jack didn't even remember the place. It was only about 70 degrees so it really wasn't warm enough for swimming but the kids still loved it. They really appreciated the beauty and I think we are close to being able to take a longer family hike. We hiked to the South Falls. Doug's camera ran out of batteries otherwise we would have a lot more pictures, oh well. Then hung out by the water. Then we drove to the North Falls and took a little hike to the Upper North Falls. On the way home we stopped at the Ram for dinner. It was a nice family day.

This is about the extent of the water play. It just wasn't warm enough.

Ellie was excited to wear her bikini. She in enjoying growing up!

The floatie worked for lounging on the shore.

Girl's day

Ellie and I had the best afternoon and I honestly don't know which of us enjoyed it more. She is really growing up and starting to embrace a little girliness. I have been wanting to take her to my hairdresser for years but she wasn't ready until now. So we started our afternoon with haircuts. Then we had lunch at the food court. And of course we shopped! We got lots of great school clothes for Ellie and a couple of things for me. Along the way we stopped to enjoy each other and share lip gloss. We ended our afternoon with a promise to have much more mother daughter time soon and then ice cream. What a great day!

Sunriver

We went on our annual Sunriver trip in August. We have been going with my mom since Ellie was a baby. The kids love this vacation. I really think it is kid paradise. I love watching them have so much fun. Jack even said, "I think this should be our last vacation every summer because it is so much fun." I don't even have pictures for every fun event but some of our highlights were: horse back riding, canoeing, swimming, biking, going to the lake, miniature golfing and so much more. I realize how quickly my kids are growing up and really try to cherish all of these great family memories!

Old enough to flip the chicken on the BBQ.

This was Jack's first time on a big horse. We went for an hour trail ride. He liked it despite sore legs. We saw tons of deer and even some fawns so that was quite a treat.

We also love to ride down to the stables to feed the horses.

Central Oregon is so beautiful.

Wow, a picture like this makes you realize how fast this girl is growing up.

We went to the South Twin Lake and rented a row boat for some fishing and swimming. It's about a half hour drive from Sunriver. There is so much to do in Central Oregon. Every trip we try to switch up our activities to fit as much in as possible.

They even got a little ride. Luckily Doug really good at rowing.

We also took a canoe ride down the Deschutes. You start on the little river that is shallow, but you meet up with the big Deschutes for about 15 minutes. I have to say that freaked me out a little. I also have to say that rowing a canoe is alot harder than it looks. But we had fun, had great scenery, rescued some golf balls, and definitely made a memory.

Doug and the kids took one canoe and my mom and I took the other.

We stopped at a little patch of rocks to go to the bathroom! So we were able to get some pictures. Otherwise it is tricky to steer a canoe down a river and take a picture.

Then on to rock wall climbing. Last year I climbed with Ellie and this year my mom tried it out. Way to go Grammy!

Ellie is the adventurous one. This is her third year riding the flowrider at Mavericks and as you can see on her face she loves it.

The kids spend a lot of time swimming at Sunriver

The bouncy house in the mall

Ellie loves to ride bikes. Despite a couple of falls she still spent a lot of time on the trails.

Doug and I even got a night away, thanks grammy!

Bumper cars, what more could a kid want.

Of course we made several trips to Goody's for ice cream and a stuffed animal to commemorate the trip.

They look so cute and peaceful sleeping together.