Back to School

All three of my little rascals headed off to school this year.

Ethan into third grade

which he likes except for, you know, the school work.


Joanna into kindergarten

I don't know if there has ever been another little girl so ready and eager to be in kindergarten.

The two of them get to ride their bikes together in the morning.  Ethan is such a great older brother, helping Jo with her bike lock and making sure she gets to class.

My baby is somehow old enough to go to preschool.  Ginny is taking over Joanna's spot in Mrs. Kent's class.

Is there anything sweeter?

Oregon Part 2, The Woods

Before starting our long drive home from the Howard camping trip in Oregon, we stopped to do a hike through a beautiful forest and estuary at Coos Bay.

It was a wonderful way to end a wonderful trip.

Oregon Part 2, The Beach

From where we camped with the Howard family in Oregon it was a short jaunt to the beach at Bullards Bay state Park close to where the Coquille river flows into the ocean with the Coquille River Lighthouse at it's mouth.

Oregon Part 2, Camping

On our trip out to the coast with all the Howards we camped in a beautiful campground at Bullards Bay state Park.  Grandma and Grandpa lived it up with a rented Yurt while the rest of us roughed it a whole fifty feet away from the flushing toilets and hot showers.

 

Oregon Part 2 , Portland

We headed back to Oregon in June after school got out.  This time it was for a coastal camping trip with all the Howards.  The kids most likely won't remember the very long drive but I'm sure they'll remember the awesome hotels we stayed in (of which we didn't take any pictures).  Matt had a lot of hotel points saved up from all his trips to Wyoming and we used them all.  These kids have no idea how spoiled they were.

What we did get pictures of was our little stroll through the Oaks Bottom wildlife refuge along the Willamette river in Portland.

The frogless "frog viewing area"

This path earned an "awesome" from Joanna for it's pacman motif