Kindergarten Grad!

Dad and Kricket went to Abby's graduation from kindergarten ceremony.

Her graduation cap is too cute!



Getting the diploma. She also took home one of the marigolds in the red cups, which we planted this last week.


Cupcake!



I'm not sure what this pouting was about, but it didn't seem to last long.



Abby and her friend Maggie.



Abby and her teacher, Mrs. Hildebran.



First grade in three months!

June 12: At Lafky Park

Dad and I walked with the girls down to Lafky Park. I'd promised them earlier in the week that we'd go, and it was a good thing we went early, because it rained later.

Abby performing:




Dad and Suzie.




Libby really likes Suzie. She is always asking to walk Suzie or feed her. Suzie doesn't seem to mind the attention, but doesn't do anything Libby tells her to do.


My beautiful girls.

Memorial Day Trip, 2011

Before I was married, my Memorial Day trips consisted of motorcycle trips to central/eastern Oregon with my brother/dad/cousin/uncles/friends. I sold off all my motorcycles, (kept my endorsement though!) and now do family trips every Memorial Day. In the past, we've headed to Grants Pass and Mt. Hood. This year, we booked a vacation rental in Astoria.

The view was great, we could see the pilot boats meeting the ships out in the Columbia channel to exchange pilots. The first day we were there, we saw a Coast Guard UH-60 pick someone up off of one of the ships.



Friday night was pretty low-key: Papa Murphy's pizza and hanging out until bedtime.

After breakfast on Saturday, we headed for the Astoria Column. It is 120' high, and 165 steps up to the top. We were there about three weeks before this guy parachuted off the Column and was subsequently arrested.



Both Abby and Libby climbed up and down the entirety of the column by themselves, (well, with some hand-holding.) Abby was working herself up in to a little panic, but managed to calm down. Libby, as usual, was fearless.






Leaving the column, we headed for the Astoria Riverfront Trolley. You can pick it up anywhere, but we headed down to the end of the line, near where the cruise ships dock, to ride it the whole way. The trolley is almost 100 years old, and it is really neat to see it still working.



At the end of the line, everyone gets up, lifts up on the seat-back, and shifts it to the other side of the seat, then sits down again, facing the other way. The trolley is now ready to head back the way it came.



On Sunday, Abby, Eric and I headed to the Columbia River Maritime Museum, while Kricket, Libby, Kathleen, Kiera, and Nicole took a self guided "Goonies" tour. If you've never been to the Maritime Museum, and will be in Astoria for 2-3 hours, you should do it. It is a great experience.

The girls were able to locate the Goonies house, and the jail from the movie.



After lunch, we headed to the Fort Clatsop, where there is a replica Lewis & Clark's camp where they spent the winter, (1805-06.)




We had a great weekend, and are tentatively planning a return trip next year, as there was so much more to see and do that we didn't get to this year.

Pressure washing the deck, 5/22/11.

Mom, Dad, and Kricket got me a pressure washer for my birthday. I didn't get a chance to use it for almost a month, but when I did, I was really impressed.

I did a few test passed on a piece of scrap decking to make sure that I wouldn't gouge the hell out of it with the 15 degree nozzle.

In pretty short order, (~1.5 hours,) the deck was looking new again. Two winters had left their mark on the deck, but the pressure washer really did a good job blasting it off.

May Camping trip

We really wanted to break in the new tent, and decided to head to Tillamook on 5/5 and camp on the coast.

We left town after work on Friday. We stopped at the McDonald's in North Plains...



It drizzled most of the way to the coast, with periods of actual rain. Once we got to the campground, I began setting up the tent, while the girls hung out in the car. This is a new kind of camping for us: sleeping off the ground, an actual floor, table and light. Kind of reminds me of a deployment I made to Kuwait while I was in the army.




The next morning we got up, dressed, ate some breakfast and headed out to the beach.









After leaving the beach, we broke camp and headed for the lighthouse at Cape Meares. Abby and Libby led us all around the park, and eventually down to the lighthouse.



Abby using my 7x50s.


The view.


The Runner.



We headed in to Tillamook for an obligatory visit to the cheese factory, (and some ice cream!)

Kricket and Libby both fell asleep on the way home, though Abby stayed awake. Shortly after returning home, fatigue caught up with Abby, Batman, and Wonderwoman. Abby made each of them a bed on the stairs, where they all took a nap.