So What Have We Been Up To?

In spite of our deliberate efforts not to put too much on the calendar, we've had a rather whirlwind summer. Mugger finished Kindergarten and celebrated his 6th birthday fishing with much of his family as Nonnie & Gramps, Uncle Bryan, Aunt Jen, Great-Grandma (Harriet), and Aunt Susie were all able to come to Corvallis to celebrate Nonnie and Gramps' 40th anniversary.

Then Mugger was off to a Skyhawks multi-sport camp and had chess camp the week before VBS this last week. In between, he lost tooth #2 and he and his sister entertained Grandma & Grandpa and Great-Grandma (Inga) for the 4th of July. We also managed to squeeze in a family camping trip to our new favorite spot on earth, a riverside campground in old-growth forests less than 2 hours away.

Bug enjoyed her second year of VBS this last week-- she was much more willing to tackle the climbing wall each day. She's also been a great blueberry picker, as I've had her and Mugger out to pick blueberries at least 3 times and marionberries once.

Bug's big news is that she's off to Pre-K this fall. We had intended to keep her home next year, but it looks like she may start Kindergarten in one year, so we wanted her to have some classroom exposure before being at school all day, 5 days a week. Pre-K this fall will just be 3 mornings a week for her, but she's as excited as can be and is waiting for her pink backpack to arrive on the package truck.

As for Mama and Papa, we are currently moving like chickens sans heads as tomorrow marks the beginning of our 3000-mile roadtrip as we attempt to visit both sets of grandparents in one vacation. If you are in OC, our current plan is to picnic at Melinda Park (corner of Melinda and Santa Margarita Parkway in Mission Viejo) on Sunday, Aug. 23 at noon-- hope you can bring a picnic lunch and join us!

So Where Have We Been?

OK, so the Christmas pix aren't up yet and we never formally wished you all a happy new year, but hopefully you at least saw our Christmas card-- better late than never, right?

I'll get some catching up posts in soon, but until then, yes, we are all alive and well! Mugger got his first black eye at school-- no, not a fight but an errant scooter in PE. Bug has now taken to drawing "birthday spiders" on cards (starting with her one for Baby Jesus), but we have no idea where she picked up that idea!

We spent last week in Montana for an unplanned vacation. Papa's Grandma had remarried almost 4 years ago at the ripe old age of 91, but her husband, Guy, has preceded her on the journey Home. The memorial service was Friday, which also happened to be my birthday. Bug decided to make it memorable by puking all over the second we stepped foot in the church for the service! Oh well, at least they were both healthy enough for most of the visit to enjoy their time with their Montana family, especially their new cousin, Rogan. Pics coming soon, I hope...

So what's been keeping Mama from the blog? Well, if you see these posts in an e-mail or feed reader, you may not be aware that my little Etsy shop has been up and running. It's start to take off, so I've been making hair accessories left and right! If you'd like a chance to win some, I'm hosting a giveaway this week over at my shop blog at this post-- and yes, family and friends can enter!

Hope all are well!

Back to Corvallis

We made it home at 10:15 last night-- and no, I don't regret the decision to drive all the way to OC and back! Mugger and Bug are great travelers! So great that we drove almost 9 hours yesterday with only 1 stop. (And yes, Papa got to drive all the way home from the Bay Area since I had done the other 3 legs solo.) Of course, it helped that Bug fell asleep for the last 3 hours of the trip...

We'll post pix of our great California adventure soon, but I know the kiddos are happy to be home and have the whole family together again. Bug is currently dancing around the living room for her Papa!

And Corvallis must be growing on Mugger. As I drove him to school this morning, he gazed wondrously at all the fall colors and said, "Corvallis sure is prettier than where we used to live," and then asked me, "Does Oregon have more trees than anywhere?"

Sure is good to be back in our "tree house" (named because about all we see out any window is trees!)

Bug's Birthday at Disneyland

Yes, I'm backdating posts now as I'm finally getting pix loaded...

California, Here We Come!

In case we hadn't told you...

Next week, Mugger only has a 3-day school week, due to Parent-Teacher Conferences, so I'm doing the unthinkable (at least in my former-life-as-a-teacher mindset): I'm pulling Mugger out of school for the week so that we can squeeze in a road trip to our former home. It's the only time before Christmas that Nonnie and Gramps' schedule and ours could meet, so off we go.

Of course, it also helped that our godson is being baptized in the Bay area on November 2nd (the day on which I can technically start referring to him as my godson!), so it's actually a kill-two-birds-with-one-stone trip. Papa gets to meet us at the Maschke's, and I'm sure that I will be more than happy to let him drive all the way home!

Ask me in 2 weeks if I was totally insane to think that I could drive 2 kids by myself to CA and halfway back to Corvallis...

Fiddletown, Jan. 2008

Right after New Years, we were blessed to be able to get away for a few days to Northern California, to the tiny town of Fiddletown, to visit my Grandma and Uncle Harry. As you can see, Bug LOVES her Great-Grandma!Of course, she also loves Uncle Harry, her birthday buddy, and took great delight in asking him to read her the same Dora book over and over again!
As you can see, Bug has no problem making her own fun when cooped up inside, as here she rolls around on the floor with her beloved pillow and her favorite blanket:
Mugger's idea of entertainment is tackling Papa! We brought games and toys, but horseplay is Mugger's favorite.
The last day we were there, we had plenty of time to entertain ourselves as the power was out all day during a very blustery rainstorm. Here's Mugger mastering our new favorite medium, the pipe cleaner. They were fun in the car and while housebound!
Every trip to Fiddletown is always an adventure-- can't wait for the next one!

Mugger the Fisherman

One of Mugger's summer highlights would have to be fishing. In Montana, Grampa gave him his very own pole and took him fishing. He managed to catch his first rainbow trout.
While camping (right after the infamous Road Trip!) at Green Valley Lake (perhaps no more, thanks to the October fires), Mugger caught 2 more rainbow trout. Or, as he put it, "I caught 2, but Papa only caught 1." Hey, that was 3 more than anyone else around them caught, so he must have some good fishing genes somewhere...

Road Trip 2007

Since Mama ran away to Europe, Papa figured the best thing would be to get the kiddos out of the house. His mom flew down from Montana and they took a two-week road trip to Montana and Oregon. Here's Papa's family gathered at Uncle Tim and Aunt Nicole's place. Notice Grampa's wonderful Eeyore impersonation!
After time in Montana, it was off to Oregon to stay with Bug's godparents. Mugger's godfather came down from Washington to have some time with the kiddos. He managed to catch them for a moment while they were tearing around the yard with Ben and Abbie.

Papa! Papa!

Mugger and Bug are as crazy about their Papa as two kiddos could be. I don't know whether to call him a hero or a saint, especially since he took the kiddos on a road trip to Montana this summer while I ran away to Europe with Mom. Can you tell he has fun with the kiddos?
I happen to think he looked a bit more relaxed when he and I had our getaway weekend on the Central Coast. Kudos to the Kaleidoscope Inn in Nipomo for this tip for a beautiful walk...