The last one...

We bumped into Malachi (my brother-in-law) and his three girls at the carnival tonight, and who can resist a photo booth when you have 7 fun kids around?! Not me! However, squishing all 7 faces in was NOT going to happen so we had to make due with separating them and then editing them into one sheet =)

Soooo... before baby number 8 comes along, here is the last photo of the 7 grandkids on my side of the family...

Birthday Card

Ethan was going around the neighborhood with a clipboard, pen, and paper today. I asked him what he was doing. He then showed me the piece of paper. He had been going around getting everyone to sign the paper- which had written across the top: Happy 23rd Birthday Mike! Mike turns 32 tomorrow. I wonder how old the neighbors think we were when we started having kids?! LOL

Easter

Ethan had his first REAL baseball game on Friday. He loved it so much and is so enthusiastic to play again! He was a little worried about the pitching machines but in the end, he stood up, faced them down, and got a piece of the ball in just the first couple tries. The one highlight of the night was when everyone on base was running into home. Ethan ran from second to third and then stopped, allowing the person on first to pass him by. By the time he got what was going on, he came into home plate behind the batter that was behind him. It was pretty cute! Classic first baseball game!

The world of watercolor

Before our trip, my mom gave all four kids a watercolor painting craft. The twins and the older two did the painting at different times and I didn't get to take a picture of the older two doing it, but here is my cute littlest kiddos painting theirs...

Last Leg of the Trip

Yesterday, we left Crescent City and traveled up Hwy 101 to Newport. We walked the boardwalk but most things were pretty vacant on a mid-monday. We saw the sea lions that are always perched on the docks and then headed north to Tillamook just in time to run in, see a bit of the cheese factory, and get a yummy scoop of ice cream.

Then we got the kids some dinner, got them in jammies, and had our last potty break of the night before heading home. We pulled into our driveway at 1am.

I think we are all so happy to be home and have the yard to run and play and see spring arriving at our doorstep. Awww... a great vacation and a great day to be home!

More plans a-changin'

We decided we're not coming home tonight. Last night we pulled into Crescent City, CA and found a hotel, and now have the plan to possibly make it all the way to Newport, OR to spend just a few hours before heading to Portland to spend the night. Then get up early tomorrow and be home by mid-day. Yesterday, we spent a bit of time getting out of San Francisco, seeing Lombard Street (the crookedest street in the world), driving past a cathedral that was built as an exact replica of Notre Dame, and going across the Golden Gate Bridge. We then made our way up the California coastline, enjoying our first glimpses of the Giant Redwoods. We drove through the famous "drive thru tree" and stopped to let the kids climb into a few of the trunks that we hollowed out and large enough for all four of them to sit in comfortably. We stopped in Eureka, Ca at a Irish Pub for REAL seafood and it was such a cute place! Made me feel like I walked into a real pub in Ireland. Then we found a beach a little to the north to let the kids enjoy the cold windy ocean for about 8 minutes. It was just too cold to stay longer and we were dressed for California... not Washington beaches (which is what it looked like!) Our hotel here in Crecent City is a little on the downward side- as hotels go- but the room itself is the biggest hotel room I've ever seen, without adding a livingroom space. LOTS of room and the kids enjoyed a jacuzzi bath late last night. Then- off to bed, too late to have blogged last night. Now we're off for Oregon. Wish us luck!