Front Load Washers

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Going To Get Burritos

I guess Halen thinks Los Gorditos has the best burritos too. He just informed us that he was going to get some burritos. He got his little bag and told us over and over again that he was going to get burritos. We kept saying, 'okay, have fun, see ya later.' Then he said, "open the door for me, I need to drive." He wasn't kidding! He wants some burritos and he wants them now! He's just too too cute! I love him. I love my boys, every one of them. I may be outnumbered, but I'm perfectly happy with it.

More Kite Flying

Even Liam got in on the kite flying this time! I don't know why flying a kite is so satisfying. The kites we're flying are the cheapest kites they make and are impossible to do any loop de loops with or anything, yet it's so friggin fun to just hold that string and see the kite fly. It has reinstated my interest in kite boarding (Pregnancy curbed my ability to try new things like this for the last couple of years). One of my brothers is into kite boarding and has one. He lives in Mississippi though! Since the Columbia River is one of the best places in the world to kite board, I have to try it! I need a new wetsuit if I'm going in that river though!!! I want my brother to come do it with me too! Come on Scott and Family, get your butts to Oregon!

Starting Solids

Liam is growing up way too fast. I've held out long enough on solid foods. He was just about pitching a fit every time we sat down for a meals and he wasn't getting any. He would whine to be held and then would try to grab food off our plates. Halen LOVES feeding Liam and has done it now more times than either Dan or I. I love how crazy he looks in these pictures. He always opens his mouth when feeding Liam, as if trying to will Liam to do the same. I think I probably do the same thing, but there aren't any incriminating photos to prove it. Maybe he gets it from me, maybe it's a natural instinct. This first one, I love because Liam kinda looks like a zombie who wants to eat your brains. Yummy, brains. Wait, that's not vegan.





Speaking of vegan stuff, I think I'll take time to share a little story here. Dan went to put Halen to bed and I went to put Liam to bed. Dan never came out, sleeping like a baby. So, I'm up and ready to spend a little time catching up the blog. A couple of nights ago, we got burritos from Taqueria Los Gordtos. This roach coach burrito cart has now topped my chart for an amazing burrito. I had quite a few good burritos while living in San Francisco. Atlanta even has a few good burrito spots, but the other night, I had the best burrito I've ever had. The people running the cart are a mexican family and I think the daughter is vegan. They have a whole vegan menu, including vegan sour cream, soyrizo, tofu, and 'vegan delight' cheese as possibilities. As Halen and I were sitting out front, waiting for our order, a woman came up and ordered a chicken burrito. She was obviously a regular, as they knew what she wanted as she walked up. She started complaining that she wished they were open on Sundays, so she wouldn't have to go hungry on that day. They explained to her that they would be open on Sundays from now on, but only serving their vegan menu! The woman scrunched up her nose and acted grossed and weirded out by the mention of an all vegan menu. She declared, "I need my meat and my cheese." This is where it gets funny. The dad, a pretty robust man with a thick spanish accent, started talking about how good the vegan food is and how it's not weird at all, that she should try it. He then started to kind of make fun of her and point out all the things she was eating that were vegan, like her drink, the sauces, etc. He would say, 'you drink Coke, that's vegan, it's not weird. And you know tequila, that's vegan. It's so not weird, it's good and it's good for you. You need to try our soyrizo burrito, it's vegan and it's good! We even got vegan cheese.' I was really getting a kick out of this unlikely person preaching the benefits of veganism to a staunch meat eater. During all this, the word vegan continually being said, Halen looked at me and said, "we're vegan." Neither Dan nor I taught him that. I guess he has just picked it up in our conversations enough that he knows. Pretty cool.

I Need To Go Fasters

Hello Friends

Our friends from Atlanta came to visit. We had a blast. The two year olds said "mine" a little more than the adults wanted to hear, but that's what two years olds do. They got here late at night and were up early in the morning. Halen woke up, heard Connor, and literally jumped out of bed. I've never seen him move so quick. Liam and Olivia hit it off. She recently turned one, but is about the same size as Liam. It was funny for me to see this sweet girl, the same size as my Liam, crawling around and starting to walk and talk.
We ate so much good food. We didn't even get to go to all of the vegan spots in town, but we did have waffles from the famous waffle cart. Like us, this was their favorite spot. I think there is an addictive additive in those waffles. I gained a few pounds eating out almost every meal.
We took a little road trip to this amazingcabin . The guy that built it is a bad ass. He built most of it from trees cut down on the land where the house now sits, milled on site. The beds hung from the rafters and were surrounded by skylights and bay windows. The gentle sway of the bed, with the view of the trees all around you, had a real nice hammock feel to them (but with memory foam mattresses). The spiral staircase spiraled around a smoothed out tree. It was definitely amazing. I want to spend a summer there. Right down the street were two spectacular waterfalls, the Golden and Silver Falls.
We also went sledding, in May. Mt. Hood is still covered in snow! That same day, or maybe the next day, the boys were wading shirtless in the Clackamas river. I hope they visit again next year and I hope that the boys, who will then be 3, will have better learned the art of sharing.

What to do with all this Hot Ass Weather???

Go dip your feet in the Cold Ass River.

SEVERE WEATHER ALERT

The weather channel posted this SEVERE WEATHER ALERT for my neck of the woods. To this, I say, Yahoo, bring it on...

...UNSEASONABLY HOT WEATHER WILL BURST INTO SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND NORTHWEST OREGON THURSDAY THROUGH MUCH OF THE WEEKEND...

AFTER A VERY PROLONGED PERIOD OF ABNORMALLY COOL SPRING WEATHER ...THE HOTTEST WEATHER OF THE YEAR...MORE LIKE MID SUMMER...WILL BURST INTO SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND NORTHWEST OREGON THURSDAY... THEN CONTINUE OVER THE REGION INTO THE WEEKEND.

THIS WILL BE THE HOTTEST WEATHER SINCE LAST SEPTEMBER.

TEMPERATURES INLAND THURSDAY WILL APPROACH 90...AND ON FRIDAY APPROACH THE MID 90S. TEMPERATURES AT THE COAST COULD REACH INTO THE 80S BOTH THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. RECORDS AT SEVERAL LOCATIONS WILL LIKELY FALL...AND THESE ARE LISTED IN A PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT.

TEMPERATURES OVER THE WEEKEND WILL CONTINUE VERY WARM. A SHALLOW MARINE LAYER MAY BEGIN FORMING ALONG THE COAST THIS WEEKEND THAT WILL BRING SOME RELIEF THERE...BUT ANY SIGNIFICANT COOLING INLAND WILL LIKELY BE SLOW TO TAKE HOLD...POSSIBLY HOLDING OFF UNTIL NEXT MONDAY.

WITH SUCH A RAPID TRANSITION FROM TEMPERATURES NEAR 60 TO TEMPERATURES NEAR OR ABOVE 90...BE SURE TO USE CAUTION IF OUT IN THE HEAT THIS WEEK. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS. WEAR LIGHT CLOTHING. WEAR HATS AND USE SUNSCREEN TO PROTECT THE SKIN FROM THE SUNSHINE. SEEK COOLER OR AIR CONDITIONED AREAS DURING THE HEAT OF THE DAY.

I've repeatedly tried to post pics and videos from the last couple of weeks. We had friends visiting and I have oodles of good stuff. Blogger isn't allowing me to upload anything though. You'll just have to wait.

Willamette River Bike Ride

Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. We've been doing lots of fun and cool things, I just haven't felt like getting on the computer and waiting for pictures to upload. I don't really feel like writing much today either. It's nice out and I just want to sit in the sunshine. I will do a quick catch up for everyone.
I Love Portland!

Halen loves chasing pigeons!

Dan loves modeling for The North Face.

Liam Loves Portland too.

and the bike trailer and his duck.