The Redwood National State Park

Amazing, that about sums up this visit. I was in awe the entire the time looking at these trees! I can't get over how big they are!!!!

Horse back riding

Maddie's favorite thing to do it is ride horses. We decided that we would take her on a horse ride while we were in Brookings. Although I was quite skeptical, we also decided that we would let the twins come along. I am glad we did because they had a GREAT time!!! I have to admit, I too love horses, and one day we might actually get one. :)

Our favorite place to visit, the ocean!

We are going to build a vacation home near the beach!!!!!!

Path to the beach for a few walking minutes from our lot
View from street just a few houses away.
Our lot!!!!!

I can't even begin to say how excited I am about buying a lot in Brookings, OR for a vacation home. I love Brookings more than I thought I would. The people are so nice (a trend in OR perhaps?), and the beach is soooooo much fun. I can't wait to start building!! (in 3-4 years from now.) :)

Adding a few pics

We further explored Lithia Park yesterday and discovered some wonderful trails and beautiful relaxing spots. After our walk, we took the girls to ice cream. Lucy and Ava had a blast dancing to the man playing the drums and their dancing created quite a crowd. They loved all the attention and I'm sure them street musician enjoyed the extra cash. :)

Day 2

We took the girls for a drive around Ashland today to look at real estate. Yes, we would love to move here, but we are still deciding if this town is for us. After a short drive around town we took the girls to Lithia Creek Reservoir. The water here is freezing as it is just snow run off from Mt. Ashland. But the girls had soooooo much fun. The twins are napping now and Chris took Maddie down to the park to burn off some excess energy. When the girls wake up we will probably back pack them back down to the park and then treat them to some locally made ice cream and dinner. Hopefully I will have more pictures to post later. :)

Our First day in Ashland

We made it! To my surprise, the kids did much better than I thought they would driving for 5 hours in the car. Ashland is just as beautiful as I remember, and the people are even nicer than I remember. The cottage we are staying at is a bit small for the 5 of us, but we are making it work. As much as we like Ashland, we are looking forward to going to Brookings on Tuesday and having a little more space. :)
On our first day we ate dinner at a local restaurant, then took a walk around the park. We listened to some live music and the Chris and I had a great time seeing all the beautiful sites. The kids were pretty exhausted since they didn't have a nap, so we tried to get them in bed early, but they didn't end up going to sleep until after 9pm... silly kids!

I just love Daisy, she is sooooo funny. Every summer she loves to go swimming with the girls in the pool. Last year Maddie discovered that if she throws a toy for Daisy and then grabs her tail, Daisy will pull her around the pool and give her a ride in her little tube. Too funny!

Taking baby steps towards potty training

I really thought that Ava would be the first of the twins to be potty trained... boy was I wrong! Maddie potty trained at the very young age of two, just two weeks past her 2nd birthday. Lucy has been potty trained for months now, but Ava just doesn't seem to get the whole concept. She knows that she is supposed to "go" in the potty, and she doesn't resist trying to much, it's just that I don't think she knows how to let it go. (sorry if this is TMI, but this is a blog about kids!) Now, I have some exciting news. Hold your breath!....... She went last night, and again TODAY! Wow... I know, I know, I could be getting excited over nothing. But this is a step in the right direction and I am thrilled! Ava was pretty excited about it too. After she went pee in the potty last night she shouted, "I'm not a baby anymore, I'm a big girl!" She couldn't have been more pleased with herself and neither could her mommy and papa!

Horses!

We made a morning out of visiting our favorite baby sitter's horse and her filly yesterday. Kristin was so sweet to meet us out there to let us love on her 2 month old filly. She is the sweetest horse ever, I just love her! Maddie was in awe of them both, but the twins didn't seem to care to much. :) At one point China (the mama horse) came over and sniffed Ava on her head. It was so cute! Ava didn't know what to think of this big horse sniffing her and checking her out! I can't wait to see them both again! Unfortunately Kristin and her boyfriend are moving to Santa Barbara in the fall to go to school for a few years. I hope we will still be able to see her when she comes home to visit. :)

Trip to the county fair

Madeline had a field trip to the county fair a few days ago, and I volunteered to be one of the drivers. We had a great time seeing all the animals and plants, especially the horses. I don't know who wants one more, me or Madeline! LOL It is so nice to be able to have the time do things like this with our kids. I think Maddie was really glad I was able to go too. :) I better soak up all of her love now before she doesn't want me to hang out with her and her friends anymore! LOL

Finally done?

Here are some pics of the before, during and after of our very long koi pond project! We actually had it finished in December, but we had a leak and we couldn't find it. We ended up draining the pond and sealing all the rocks with a black foam waterfall sealer, and wala! The leak is gone. :) The net takes away from the beauty of it a bit, but it is needed for the girls safety. We have about 26 koi fish swimming around in there and will be adding more after our trip to Oregon. These pictures don't really do much for the pond, it is just sooooo beautiful! And do you want to know what the best part is? We did it all by ourself! Chris sure is good with rock work!!!

I'm Done!

Yay, I had my last class last night!!! It feels really good to be done with this semester. I will have a few weeks off now before I start my summer class, and then the second half of my anatomy and physiology class starts in August. I was going to take microbiology over the summer, but it just doesn't fit into our plans very well, so I will be taking it in the spring. After that, I get to apply to nursing school!
I have to admit, I woke up this morning not knowing what to do! LOL For the last 6 months, every morning I wake up, drink a cup of coffee and study. I'm sure that feeling won't last long... my house is has become a disaster zone, so I am looking forward to giving it a good scrubbing!
I have a few entries to update on my blog, but it will have to wait since I need to go get the kid ready for school. Be back soon! :)