Wacky Wednesday #17: Port-a-potties

First off, Elijah loves port-a-potties.  Isn't that random?  There is a lot of new construction in our neighborhood, so especially when we first moved in last November, he would point out the port-a-potties on the construction sites with excitement that should really be reserved for something like a UFO sighting.

The wacky thing here in Central Oregon is that if a park/playground here has a "restroom", it is equipped with a Port-A-Potty.  No standard bathrooms.  Just these little shelters containing the "bathroom".

Sometime this spring, we met a man whose company has done the design work for some of the newer parks.  If I am remembering the conversation accurately, when the parks are first built the maintenance is done by the neighborhood and then the park is eventually annexed by the city.  The city does not want to worry about maintaining the "restrooms" which is where the Port-A-Potty comes into play.  It does make sense from a cost saving measure.  However, it has been annoying when we get to a playground where the Port-A-Potty "shelter" is sitting empty without said Port-A-Potty.  Apparently those parks didn't make it into the city budget to have a "bathroom".

All that said, the playground Port-A-Potties are some of the cleanest and well maintained Port-A-Potties I have used in my lifetime.

Now you know.

Grandpa & Grandma's visit!

A couple weeks ago my parents made it out for a visit.  We were the last stop on their nearly 3 week road trip around the Pacific Northwest & Canada.... coming all the way out from Iowa! 

We started off by meeting them over at the coast for a couple of days.  Soon after we arrived, we took a 30 minute train ride to another little coast town.  We stayed at the town just long enough to get an ice cream cone (I think we had ice cream every day when they were here - it was great).  :)

Grandpa & Grandma with the boys

Gavin loved the train.  Elijah was quickly "unimpressed"

We started off the next day at the Tillamook cheese factory.  Honestly, it wasn't super impressive - there wasn't much going on at the factory on that morning (it was a Friday), so we just walked around a bit.  However, we did get some ice cream (before noon even) and I got some cheese curds (aka squeaky cheese - great stuff).

The Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Gavin communicating that he would really like a snack.

Gavin & Grandma went back to the hotel so Gavin could nap, so the rest of us took off on a little adventure.  We found this lighthouse and the Octopus tree.

After that adventure, we headed over to the beach.  Just to play.  We spent a couple of hours there and the boys just had a blast.  Elijah had some sort of imaginary game going on involving guys robbing our hotel and burying things in the sand.  Gavin enjoyed finding/throwing rocks, watching the dogs fetch, and just playing.  And I didn't bring my camera. 

On our way back home the next day we ventured over to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.  Gavin absolutely loves animals, so it was a lot of fun for him.  Elijah doesn't get too excited about animals, but I think he still enjoyed it. 

This is getting to be a long post, but they were here for almost a week!  We were busy!  That weekend we went for a drive up on the Cascade Lakes Highway and stopped at Elk Lake for lunch.  Just throwing rocks in the water and playing in the dirt can entertain the boys for hours.

On the way back home we stopped in the resort town of Sunriver and did some biking.  The town has bike paths everywhere and the resort pool looked really nice.  They are also in the process of building another pool.  But, I didn't bring my camera.  It was a lot of fun!





The last night Grandma & Grandpa were here we celebrated Elijah's 5th birthday (a little bit early). 

 Elijah designed the cake himself.  In between the candles are light sabers (insert creative imagination here).  He even picked out the colors himself.

Gavin continues not to like ice cream, but he has taken to enjoying cake and cookies. 

Elijah really likes to dress up.  He got a Yoda costume and a doctor costume for his birthday.  That adds to the collection he already has which includes a police officer and a fire fighter.  These costumes create hours of enjoyment for him and our family. :)




That concludes the summary of the visit with my parents.  So glad they were able to make the long drive out to Oregon and come see us!  :)

We have a 5 year old!

On Friday, August 19, 2011, we officially had a FIVE year old join our family!  Months back Elijah had asked if his birthday was on a "Daddy-work-day".  When we realized it was, he asked me to "please send Daddy a message to see if he can stay home that day so my party can start right away in the morning".  That is what we did.

We started the day off at McKay Park, down by the river.  It has a great muddy beach which makes for hours of fun.  Marty hadn't been there before, so it was a great way to start off the day.  We enjoyed a little picnic lunch there as well.

We came home to give Gavin a chance to nap and then went over to the Juniper outdoor pool and recreation area.  I didn't take any pictures there, but it was a ton of fun.  Elijah went down the water slide by himself and both the boys enjoyed playing in the activity area.

Elijah picked out his most favorite dinner of "noodles with sprinkle cheese".  We checked the mail and he got a card from Bob & Carol, some of our most favorite people back in Fort Collins.  They included $5!!!!  Perfect timing as he and Marty were about to go down to the neighborhood park for "Munch & Movie" night.... which of course involves all sorts of vendors and games.  We followed our typical "Dave Ramsey" style budget and he put $0.50 in his savings jar, $0.50 in his giving jar and got to take $4 along.

Elijah with his card & FIVE dollars.

The $4 lollipop he found to spend the $$$ just burning a hole in his pocket.

The guys stayed out until 10pm watching the movie "Gnomeo & Juliet".  It was a full day indeed and a great way for Elijah to start his 6th year of life.

FIVE YEAR STATS & OTHER INTERESTING NOTES:
* weight: 41.5 pounds (roughly 60th percentile)
+ height: 45.6 inches (roughly 90th-95th percentile)
* Health is great!  He hasn't had any asthma issues since moving to Oregon and his allergies have been much better here too.  We'll see what happens with a move back to Colorado and when we have a dog again.....
+ When he grows up, he wants to either be a police officer or maybe a spy. 
* He can read "easy reader" type books when he is in the right mood.  He much prefers to read books that he basically has memorized.
+ He really enjoys working on basic math.  He often will say things like "Mommy, did you know that 2+2+1=5?"  When he is bored we work on counting by 2's or 5's.... because he thinks that is fun.
* He loves all things Star Wars. 
+ He is great with Legos and can build even new Lego sets without wanting/needing help from us.  (Marty is currently playing with one and commented, "I think Elijah is better at this than I am.") 
* He continues to be very determined.  I've gotten to know his Sunday school teacher and she shared a recent story of how if Elijah isn't in the right mood, he just won't participate in the songs/dances that the class does and there is nothing that will change his mind. 
+ He loves to ride his bike and started riding without training wheels a month or two ago. 
* He is thinking all the time and continues to say the funniest stuff!

We are so proud of our big 5 year old! 

Random thoughts from our (almost) 5 year old.....

As most of you know, Elijah always has something to say about something - if not everything.  I regularly laugh out loud at the things he has to say.... which might just be because I am his Mom and I hang out with him all day long.  Either way, here is a collection from the last month or so.

Context:  Eating breakfast the morning that he, Gavin & I were going to the coast for a couple days without Marty.
Elijah (gasping): "Mommy, there is a BIG problem!  We can't go to the coast!"
Me: "What is the problem?"
Elijah:  "What is Daddy going to eat for dinner!?!"

Context: Driving to the coast without Marty.
Elijah:  "Can we call Daddy?"
Me:  "No, we can't because my cell phone doesn't work."
E: "Why doesn't your cell phone work."
Me: "Because we are in the middle of nowhere."
E (tone of annoyance):  "Mommy, we are not in the middle of nowhere.  I have not seen any of those stop signs with the flashing lights on top!"
(See this blog post to get the full story.  This is not something that we have talked about since last December.   How does he remember these things?!?) 

Context:  Just hanging out at home eating snack - sitting quietly, obviously contemplating something.
Elijah (in his confident "I am 4 and I know everything tone"): "Mommy, with men it is just so easy to tell."
Me (having absolutely no idea what he is talking about, but I was already entertained by his use of the word "men"):  "Easy to tell what Elijah?"
E:  "If they have been eating too much junk food.  With Mommies you never know if they are eating too much junk food or if there is a baby growing in their bellies, but with men it is just easy to tell."

Context:  Hanging out at home, eating breakfast.  Again, quietly sitting contemplating something.
Elijah:  "Mommy, if you didn't choose to have children you would just stay a Mommy forever.  You would never get to be a Grandma".
Me:  "Well, if I didn't choose to have children I would never even be a Mommy, I would just be a woman."
E: "Oh yay, that too." 


Context:  Driving along the coast, without Marty, and we see this letter "G" up on the side of the mountain.
Elijah:  "Mommy, where is the stadium?"

 (Marty was proud.  There is an "A" painted on the mountain above the football stadium in Fort Collins where the Colorado State Rams play.) 
 

And last but not least - definitely my favorite of the recent quotes. 
Context:  On the airplane coming home from our Colorado trip in July.
Elijah (insert tone of frustration):  "Mommy, we are above the clouds and I cannot see Jesus anywhere!!!!!"

Suttle Lake & Petersen Rock Garden

Another weekend full of adventures!  We started today off with a mini hike up at Suttle Lake.  It was a beautiful morning; comfortably cool once we got up near the lake.  There is a great little trail that goes all the way around this lake, but we didn't make it very far down the trail.  It turns out that the boys would MUCH rather just play in the water and throw rocks.... which is fun too.  Especially since we didn't really have a set destination in mind. 

Random info: there is a great little beach at the day use parking lot with some picnic tables in the shade.  Another great bonus: it is relatively close to our house and the day use area is free!  :)  There are also some really nice cabins there that would be worth checking out for a vacation destination.  Anyways, photos of the adventure:

Elijah throwing rocks.  The peak in the background is Mt. Washington.

Gavin holding Daddy's hand.  Gavin still just loves being outside and loves 'hiking'.  He can go for a long time and is actually getting better at listening and following us (rather than trying to venture off into unknown areas).  He would much rather walk then be in the stroller or backpack.

Marty with the boys in the water.  Before the boys got completely soaked.

Gavin got a little wetter than he had expected.  He was not very happy about that. 

In the afternoon we decided to venture over to Petersen Rock Gardens.  I had heard that it was a cool place to check out.  Marty and I are going to go ahead and give it an "interesting" rating.  It is not something that I would put on your top 10 things to do if you visit Central Oregon, but that being said, it is neat.  Mr. Petersen obviously has/had (not sure if he is still around running it?) a thing for rocks and some creative time on his hands. 

Peacocks.  There are lots of peacocks just roaming around.  This is in the parking lot - we had just stepped out of the car and it came up to greet us.

Again, in the parking lot.  Lots of rocks.

Gavin thought it was really fun to just run around and climb as many stairs as he could.  As long as the peacocks didn't get too close.  :)

Marty & Gavin by a giant rock formation.

Checking out the tadpoles and the lily pads.

And an ice cream treat to end the day.  :)

Yay for adventures at Petersen Rock Garden.  Oh - and museum.  Uhmmm... we'll just skip talking about the museum.    Lovin' summer in Central Oregon.  :)