Portland

So this year, we started off our Oregon trip in Portland at Gary and Inge's.   Mom joined us and Inge and Kaitlyn were our guides around Portland.

We started off at a little amusement park which was just the right size for a fun afternoon!

We also hit up this amazing ice creamery with the most usual flavors.  

Mine was Strawberry lime cilantro cheesecake..  OH SO Yummy!

And if that wasn't enough, we made a stop at Voo Doo Donuts.

In an effort to keep this a family friendly blog, I can't tell you the names of the donuts we got.  But I can tell you they were DEEE-licious!

The next day, our guides took us up to the Columbia River Gorge.   

It was so beautiful!!

It was a bit hazy, but still stunning!

On our way home we drove the scenic route pass several incredible water falls.

Multnomah Falls 

Blue Tips are in the house!

Chloe and Logan tested for their Blue Tip belts tonight.

(be sure to click on this picture to get the full effect of Logan's intensity)

 Needless to say, they rocked it!

New Braunfels

Well, school is over and we decided to get a quick family trip in before the crowds got crazy.  

So we headed to the best darn water park in Texas.

Schlitterbahn. 

 Since I have no pictures of this day....

let me entertain you with a few from the other things we did on our journey.

We stopped off at the Exotic Snake and Animal park, courtesy of Groupon.

We saw tons of cool animals.   True to form, I got a picture of exactly three.  

None of which were the exotic ones.

But in my defense.  This is the weirdest looking turtle I've ever seen.

(and, yes, I have seen A LOT, trust me!)

But from the looks on these faces, it's a sure bet that a good time was had by all!

We were told we HAD to got to Gruene, a historic old town  for dinner at the Gristmill.  A converted cotton mill.   It was beautiful!   Nestled on the edge of a hill overlooking the river.   

 The food was incredible and the grounds were gorgeous.

A perfect way to round off out trip.

Our Foster Child

Well, since our life has not been crazy enough with the end of school, TKD, soccer, band performances and a houseful of furry creatures, we decided to foster another little furry creature.   Well...one part of the 'we' wasn't as eager as the other part, but he came around.   Anyway, let me introduce Dustin Hoffman (no, we did not name the poor boy!)  A new...TEMPORARY...addition to our clan.   Dustin has had a pretty tough life from what we know.   He was a stud dog at a puppy mill.  He has some scarring on his face and is pretty skinny.   But he is a complete doll.  He gives non-stop kisses, LOVES Logan, the other dogs and playing fetch (although he can barely fit the ball in his mouth!).

Our plan is to get this little boy fattened up, totally spoil him rotten for a little while, 

then find him a good, loving forever home.  Preferably, not ours, because I really think we're over our limit.

Hello Summer!

 Nothing better than the good ol' slip and slide!

Two soon-to-be eight graders...

Super Star Graduation

My last day of school was Thursday.

It was such a fabulous year, I was almost sad to see it end...almost.

 We had an unusually small class this year.  Only 10 Super Stars.  Two of which (twins) are from a family that has been with us for 4 years, so this graduation graduation was especially sad.   

Jamie and I have so much fun together.

 I can't wait to see what trouble we get into next year.

Now it's time to tackle a few house projects.

Captain Logan

Logan was team captain for his soccer game on Saturday.

And, as any good captain would do, he lead his team to a blowout victory.  And yes, he was the top scorer with 4 goals.

He's really turned into a pretty awesome player.  

Which is, of course, no surprise to us.

A couple of cakes

Jamie, my teaching partner's 40th birthday was a few weeks ago and her husband threw a surprise birthday party for her.  Sorry, I never did get a good photo, so here it is, with the booze and the milk.  No judgement please.

And this was a cake I actually did for hire.  I really don't do this anymore, but I thought it was so cool that this little girl wanted a pink dinosaur cake, I had to do it.

Chloe's last performance of the year

Chloe had her last band performance for the year.

I am so, so proud of my girl.  I think it's the coolest thing that she can just sit down, open her play book and play a song.

I giggled throughout the performance because of this sight.

Can you guess which one is my girl?

Tae Kwon Do Tournament

A few weeks back, Chloe and Logan participated in their first Tae Kwon Do Tournament.

They competed in Forms and Boards.

Logan brought home two 1st's and a 2nd in the Grand Championship

Chloe brought home a 2nd and a 3rd.  

Not too shabby!

We are so proud of both our medalists!

Logan, winning 1st

Chloe, rockin' her forms.

Logan's performance in the Grand Championship round.  

He took second out of all the first place winners.

April 2013

Okay, so I have not been very inspired to update this thing.  But we have been up to a few note worthy activities so I thought I'd share, albeit in a very unoriginal way.

Logan has been obsessed with turtles lately.  So we headed over to the local pond to visit a few.

 We brought some bread and fruit and ended up with 7 of these little creatures fighting for our attention.

 Two weeks ago Logan's class hosted their Reading Restaurant.  Logan's was Adam's Amazon Cafe.

Grammy and I were greeted and seated by this handsome waiter.  

 He then proceeded to serve up some entertaining stories and poems, all selected off our expertly crafted menu of books.

 Last week, Grandma Sue and Great Grandma came for a visit.

 They were dreading the heat, but as it turns out, brought their cooler weather 

and rain with them from Oregon.   

Here we are, trying to get a nice photo that we can cherish for years to come.

Nailed it.

 Thanks so much Gary.

 And, lastly, this past weekend the kids participated in their first community demonstration with

Cho's Tae Kwon Do.

 If these pictures were at all in focus, you would be awed at the images of my children side kicking over 4 other students to break a board.  

Not that you can see this, but I thought it was important to document.

(these damn phones really aren't the best in capturing action shots, I really need to remember my camera!)

Speaking of my camera, I do have a few more shots I wanted to include.  But, well, I can't seem to find it right now.

Story of my life!

Hang tight...I know it's around here somewhere...

Another cake...

My girlfriend's daughter turned 10 this week and had a movie party.  So I offered up my services.

My favorite part of the whole cake is the popcorn at the base.

  I think they look pretty real.

Chloe's Spring Picture

So pretty!

March

Oops, Looks like I've been neglecting my blogging duties.  Sorry about that.

Here's a quick run down on what we've been up to.

I went on Logan's 2nd grade class trip to the Houston Zoo.

He and his buddies had a great time running around.

 Then, after putting the kids on the bus back to school, two other chaperons and I stopped and had a margarita on the way home.  
Elephants AND margaritas?  Best field trip ever!

Last week, Chloe and Logan tested for their blue belt.

 They are now half way to their black belt.

They were also asked to join the demonstration team.  They now practice three times a week and

get to represent their TKD gym at several community events.

 Chloe (along with one other student) also received a special award for the best forms out of all who tested.

To progress from one belt to another, they have to break a board.  They get to choose how they'd like to do it.  Both Chloe and Logan chose the spinning back kick.  

As you can see, it can be a bit dangerous.... for the board holder.

Logan's little buddy Carter has a special needs brother, Jacob, who turned 12 a few weeks ago.  Jacob loves Blues Clues so his mom asked me to make him a cake.   Jacob doesn't say much, but he gave a big smile when he saw the cake, so I'm taking that as a thumbs up.