Sling shot

This is the third year Grant has rode the Slingshot at the Rose Festival. I thought this deserved its own post. I cropped some pictures enough to get a good look at his face.

Oaks Park with the Clark cousins

On a BENCH on the carousel. :( Parker did NOT want to get on an animal. He said they were scary.

My brother, Cameron, and his youngest girl Natalia.

Cameron and Julia took the little ones down the slide.

Parker loves people in giant animal costumes.

This is quite the car full of cuties!

I never thought Parker would go on this ride (he doesn't even like the carousel!), but with his helpful, older cousin, Sophia.... no problem.

Julia took him on his first roller coaster. He hated it and did not crack one smile. He dug into her arm and was saying it was scary!

It was a great day. Beautiful weather. I was glad we went to the Preschool Ride Morning. It is every Tuesday and Wednesday from 9:30-11:30 am and kids 6 and under are only $6.25. Parents are free. They end the day with story time and cookies and milk. Some of my summer plans include, free movies at Regal Cinemas Tuesday-Thursdays at 10, Oaks Park, and the public library.

After Oaks Park, we went back home for naps and then off to the park. Long, tiring day, but we formed some great lasting memories.

Water Park

We headed to Murase Plaza Park in Wilsonville. I love this park. This slide on this huge mound is awesome, but the water park is incredible. Parker and I will be spending lots of time there this summer.

Natalia

Sophia

Parker is a very cautious boy. He didn't like getting splashed by anyone and loves to be in control. He liked filling his bucket with water and later would run through the fountain and got used to the idea of getting more wet.

Ava

Love this picture. Sophia had soaked up lots of water in this splash football to surprise her mom and Julia was getting her revenge!

These girls are water babies.

Ava trying to warm up and dry off.

Parker running through the fountains. Had to put his shirt on him because he kept climbing up and down the rocks and scraping his belly.

The daddies and Grandma came and joined us towards the end.

And I'll end this post with this series of pictures:

OUCH!

Thank goodness they bounced right back! Horrible, but I can't help but laugh at these pictures. Kids are so resilient!

May

May was filled with birthdays. We went to 3 birthday parties... our niece Molly's 6th birthday, niece Laurel's 1st birthday, and friend Sofia's 1st birthday.

Laurel
Sofia

Sofia's party was at Gymboree. Parker had so much fun... his favorite thing was the parachute.
And the cake. 3 parties in one month. When they were all over he was asking to go to another party to eat cake.
Molly's 6th birthday was at Safari Sam's. Parker had a great time playing in the play structure and running around. It was very fun. I'm sad we forgot our camera.

Other things in May:

Parker likes to sort things. We discovered this on our fridge. Parker sorted all the magnets by color. Funny boy!Lining up his cars.This is my last field trip of the year. We went to the Aurora Colony. It was a fun, hands-on field trip. The last month of school is definitely challenging with 5th graders.

I'm happy summer is here. I'm starting to feel better. Lots of nausea with this pregnancy. Swollen ankles already. A very different pregnancy this time around. Will find out the gender of the baby on July 13th so stay tuned!

Baby News!

Parker is going to be a Big Brother!!!
We are so excited! The new baby is due December 10th. We have hoped and prayed for this pregnancy for almost a year. We actually met with a Fertility Specialist. We sat there listening to all the costs of tests and Dr. visits and I didn't feel right about it. She had reserved an appt. with the Dr. and I asked her to cancel it. I told her that I should have started my period that day and that I would like to go to the lab and take a pregnancy test; maybe I was actually pregnant. I prayed I was. She assured me that she would not leave the office until she found out the results and that she would call me. My mom was watching Parker and we went out for a date night. I got the call in the movie theater. I ran to the side and answered it on my way out the door. She told me it was positive. I asked her a couple of times if I heard her correctly. I was so happy! I ran back inside and called Grant over to the hall. I told him and he was completely shocked. We hugged and I cried. We went back to the movie and were just holding hands with big smiles on our faces. Many times during the movie, we would turn to each other and just smile or hug. It was great news and we were so happy to not have to go through the expensive and emotional trials of Fertility treatments. Parker will be a great big brother. He will be 3 years 1 month old. We are really crossing our fingers for a girl. I've always wanted one of each. Of course, we will be thrilled no matter what. I can't believe I have to wait 10 weeks to find out!

P.S. This little photo shoot may look like I had a very cooperative, smiley boy and how easy to photograph him, but NO... this took some bribing with cookies. I had to sing the Cookie Monster Song with cookies in my hand, "C is for Cookie that's good enough for me!" Well, it finally worked. I love these shots. I love this boy!

Oaks Park

Flying High with Mommy.

It was such a beautiful Saturday before Mother's Day after almost an entire month of rain. We wanted a day in the SUN, so we headed to Oaks Park to ride the rides.

Parker loves driving the cars and motorcycles.

He's in heaven!

Mommy and Parker on a boat ride.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day! I got to sleep in, was served breakfast in bed, got a wonderful card from Grant and Parker, talked to my mom, went to church and heard the Primary sing "Mother Dear, I Love You So!", and was spoiled the rest of the day. Grant got me a gift certificate for the spa and booked the appointment for the 20th. Can't wait! Ahhhhh.

I love being a Mother. Parker amazes me everyday. He is so smart, funny, sweet, loving, helpful, and is just so darn cute! I'm so happy to be his Mommy.