Okay, so I'm going to try to break this down by time frame. December was naturally cold, so we took a trip to Mount Hood to do some tubing with a friend of Spencer's from work and his kids. Alice was too little to tube, so Spencer and I took turns riding with Lila. She thought that was amazing. That kid has the BEST sense of adventure and I love it! We also had Lila in swim lessons that month. She did so great! She was actually very advanced for the class, but they wouldn't let her move up because of her age (she was not even 2 1/2 yet when the class started). The instructor helped us individually though and got Lila floating on her back by herself and doing big arms and kicking. I think Lila will be a natural when it comes to most sports. Her and I had fun having the one on one time 3 times a week for a month. We also went to the tree lightning ceremony in the downtown area of Oregon City and got to see Santa Clause ride in on the fire truck. Later we got to take pictures with him. During this time Alice started pulling herself up on stuff and had been crawling just after she turned 6 months in November. Lila finally decided she was ready to potty train and was rewarded with a trip to Build-a-Bear. Lila also went into a big girl bed at the beginning of November seeing as there was no way to keep her in a crib any longer. I put Alice in the crib finally and out of the pack n' play in hopes of her sleeping better....nope that didn't work.
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| After swim lessons we had stickers from Grandma waiting for us at home |
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| swim lesson |
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| Santa's here! |
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| Tree lighting |
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| ready to play in the snow |
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| putting our snow pass on |
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| watching Lila and daddy |
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| tubing with daddy! |
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| Christmas jammies from Auntie Cindy |
January was well January, cold and uneventful. We found some indoor pools and indoor playgrounds to go to including McDonald's. I was always very against letting Lila play in those Play Places, but desperate times called for desperate measures. With the rain and cold outside we HAD to find something to get those wiggles out inside and for cheap.
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| Alice's first time on a swing |
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| Letting Lila play at McDonald's |
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| Alice 9 months |
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| getting some time outside |
February was exciting for us because we were leaving for Texas at the end of the month and getting to stay for 16 days! Before we left though we got to have some fun with dad. We took a drive to Washington to see Mount St. Helen's, which was totally awesome. I wish Spencer and I would of had time to go back sans children to do some hiking in the Spring, but alas we did not. We also took a trip to the Portland Zoo, which was really cool. The girls and I got to ride on the light rail for the first time to get there. Then we took off for an awesome time in Texas. I know Spencer missed us and was bummed he couldn't go with us, but he had to stay behind and work. I also think he was a little jealous of my excitement to leave. hehehe. The girls did great on the planes and we had a fun little greeting party at the airport. We didn't do too much while we were in Texas because we brought Oregon's rain with us. I think out of all 16 days we were there it didn't rain like 5. Lame and of course the weather in Oregon was beautiful most of that time. Some highlights of our trip were going to Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch. We got to see his boyhood home, the home while he was President and the Ranch. We stopped and got to bottle feed itty bitty baby goats. So super cool. I also got to take a lunch date with my sisters one day, go to a movie and go watch several of Hannah's softball games. This was amazing seeing as how I didn't get much time away from the girls while in Oregon. Not that I like being away from them very often, but it is nice to have a break every once in a while. The girls had so much fun playing with their cousins and we got to see Grandma Great whose trip overlapped ours by a week. The girls got sick while we were there, but it was okay because I had company while we were cooped up in the house. We also got to celebrate both Hannah and Teen's birthdays while we were there. I also had fun playing a new game The Boring's got called "Bang". I think it's my new favorite game. In fact, I think it's time for us to play another round again soon, right, Seth?! I think Alice would have started walking while we were in Texas, but her illness put a damper on things. She ended up walking just 5 days after we got home just after she turned 10 months. Lila had a blast getting to sleep in Grandma and Poppy's room. We took the extra mattress off the trundle upstairs and brought it down for her to sleep in. She loved it, but it sure made it difficult for her to sleep in her own bed again when we got home. I was very sad to have to leave, but also knew that we would be moving back to Texas. Before we made our trip Spencer and I had started talking about all the pros of moving back. Land in Texas is very cheap and the overall cost of living is too. We would also be close to a lot of family again. This is how I was able to cope with leaving again.
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| on the lion at the zoo |
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| beauty |
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| chef Lila |
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| Welcoming party |
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| Lunch with Janie! |
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| nap time with Grandma |
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| we love Aunt Maia |
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| and Rissa too! |
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| sickies :( good thing we had Oskar to keep us company |
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| another sicky |
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| movies with our cousins |
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| Alice's first time in the shopping cart |
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| we love Poppy |
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| enjoying some sunshine |
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| Barbies |
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| baby wearing with Teen |
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| He's still got the touch |
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| Texas Roadhouse sans kids |
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| baby goat suckling Lila's finger |
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| bottle feeding baby goat |
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| sisters! |
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| my girls! |
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| sisters and best friends! |
After we got back we had lots of fun activities ahead of us. We took one whole weekend in March and did family activities. We went on a Saturday to the Portland Aquarium. It was small, but super cool. There was lots of hands on stuff and we got to feed sting rays, sharks, eels, urchins and other little fish. Lila loved feeding the sting rays and sharks. She got to pet them too and loved the way the sting rays would suck on her finger. They would also come up for food and splash their fins on top of the water getting everyone all wet. We explored the aquarium for quite a while and Lila even got to hold a Lorikeet. The next day we drove down into the valley to the Tulip Festival. This was so amazing! Just fields and fields of vibrant colors. As soon as you turned the corner onto the property you could see the tulip fields. It was truly breath taking. If we are ever in a place like that again that time of year I am for sure doing this again. You were able to walk through the fields, buy flowers/bulbs, they had slides, bounce houses, pony rides and rubber duck races. They even had a little shop where a man was carving out wooden clogs, super cool! Lila got to go on some of the slides and go for a pony ride. It was an absolutely gorgeous spring day when we went. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day seeing as how the day before when we were at the aquarium it rained on and off all day. We had so much fun taking pictures and walking the fields. On the way home we got some yummy Mexican Food from the only good Mexican Food place we could find the whole time we lived in Oregon.
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| Fun activities indoors |
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| Alice walking |
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| first spaghetti dinner |
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| yummy! |
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| after spaghetti bath |
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| holding the Lorikeet |
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| feeding sting rays and sharks |
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| feeding urchins and eels |
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| sleepy baby |
That gets us through to March. After March we have mostly fabulous weather and played outside a lot. I do have to say that is one thing that I really loved about Oregon. When the weather was nice there was always so much to do outside. Everywhere you went there were walking trails, frisbee golf courses, hiking trails, biking trails and playgrounds many with splash pads. Our little Scott family loves the outdoors, so this was right up our ally. This doesn't even count all the rivers, lakes and the ocean. That is definitely one thing I do miss now that we are back in Texas.
