Thursday, June 2, 2011

The freedom of riding a bike

Teaching Oliver to ride a bike had been a slow process.  I would have compared it to waiting for your short haircut to finally grow out enough to fit into a ponytail.  It was taking F-O-R-E-V-E-R.  Jacob had logged countless hours of pushing, hunch over no less, this kid up and down the sidewalk with the solid promise that he would "never let go" as Oliver had asked.  And to top it off Jacob had taken the training wheels off, can you believe the security of the training wheels had been ripped away?  But there is a reason those damn Scoot bikes without pedals are hundreds of dollars, they promise the dream of learning how to ride a bike naturally.  So off went the pedals too.

Maybe it was the constant practice, maybe it was that one sunny day Portland had that brought out Oliver's confidence but in less that a month he has been doing things on his bike I wouldn't have dreamed were ever going to happen.  For example:

Maybe it was bad for me to post this video, I mean I was surprised he was game to ride down this big hill, he'd hardly coast down a wheelchair access ramp.  But wait!  You won't believe what he did next...

And he did it over and over and over. The simple joy in his squeals and look on his face would bring any parent to proud tears!



Friday, May 27, 2011

Icecream Snacks

We usually enjoy a little ice cream after dinner, the favorite flavor of the moment is Mint Chip.  Leo doesn't get ice cream but he does get a little cone.







Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Easter 2011

These are some photos from Easter.  It was a beautiful day at Fort Vancouver with friends.










Friday, May 20, 2011


No babies were injuried in the making of this haircut.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Monday, May 9, 2011

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

These are some photos Brad took while hanging out on our front porch one afternoon. 
















Monday, April 18, 2011

Friday, April 8, 2011

Oregon Coast Aquarium

Last week the gang was invited to go to the aquarium with one of our friend's from school. Here are some photos from that day. This is Oliver and Aiden in front of a sculpture made from trash found in the ocean.








Inside the underwater walkway.






I just about freaked when I saw this picture, why does daddy let him do these kinds of things?



I swear he had a good time, he's only crying because we were about to go home...really.



Sunday, April 3, 2011

Visiting the Zoo

We received an early birthday present for the boys from Grandma & Grandpa Stiles, a zoo membership!  Today was our first day using the pass and we join our friends Maggie, Annie, Zane and Karen.  All the kids were so great the entire day and we can't wait to do it again.

Ollie and Maggie find a little cave.


 Feeding the birds.

Birds feeding birds.

Feeding Leo.




Friday, March 18, 2011

Jumping Bean

It's looks like a baby circus.



Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Drawing

Oliver's drawings are becoming more and more amazing.  He'll say he has a picture in his head when he means to say he has a memory of something like the picnic we had on the lawn.  This one got put on paper and it just makes me smile.  He even drew Leo crawling! Click on the photo to see it enlarged.

Friday, March 4, 2011


Just found this photo, thanks Brad for capturing the moment!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011