Bugs!

This week is crazy hot in Portland . . well over 100 degrees for at least 3 days. So day 2 into the heat we decide we need some cool relief and take Chloe to her first movie and first iMAX movie. We went to see Bugs at Omsi. (The funniest thing is that the Bugs movie is presented by Terminix)!

Chloe was so excited to go see the movie. And once it started I was a little concerned that I might have chosen the wrong movie (bugs eating other bugs, hmmm), but Chloe really enjoyed herself. It's great to go to a movie theater where it doesn't matter if your child talks through the movie too.

After the movie we went and ate dinner at whole foods. . .then home to turn on the a/c in all the bedrooms so we could all get a good night sleep.

This morning Chloe told me she dreamed about Bugs. And then she told me about the movie "We climbed up a lot of steps. I sat on Mommy's lap and put the tickets next to me". And she can't wait to go again!

A Parade . . .

The Black family at the parade. Notice Chloe and I are wearing matching shirts, at her request!

We've been reading a Winnie the Pooh book called the Easter Bonnet Parade for quite a while. Lately Chloe has started saying she wants to go see a parade. So today we went to a parade. It was a rather short parade, part of the Clinton/Division Street fair, but a parade nonetheless, complete with a marching band, some typical Portland oddities, and ending with a fire truck. And lasting all of about 7 minutes. But long enough for Chloe to know she LOVES parades.

Fortunately, our good friend the Springgates live a 1/2 block from the parade route, and just happened to be having a little play group get together at their house right before the parade, so we biked over there, hung out a bit, walked down to the parade, watched it for 7 minutes, went back to the Springgates and had some lunch, then the girls played inside and out. After about an hour Liza and I snuck out for some quality girl time and a little street fair shopping.


Franny at the parade


Mark with August

By the time we got back, it was very close to nap time. Franny changes into her PJs for naps. . so when we returned, Franny was in her PJs, Chloe was in another pair of Franny's PJs, and when they came downstairs Chloe was not only adorned in jewelery, but also had one of Franny's pacifiers in her mouth and the rest in her hand. Chloe never used a pacifier, but she ALWAYS loves going into Franny's bed and putting all of Franny's pacifiers in her mouth. Lucky for Chloe, Franny is very very good at sharing!

We left the Springgates a little late, and by the time we got home, Chloe had fallen asleep on the back of the bike. Unfortunately, she decided her 5 minute nap on the back of the bike was all she needed and fought Craig for a good 1/2 hour before he finally agreed she didn't need to take a nap.



Later we meet up with the Broadfeet and walked down to Dove Vivi for some excellent pizza and then ice cream at Staccato Gelato. My little raspberry and strawberry hating girl does love strawberry smoothes and tonight raspberry gelato. . but still doesn't believe she would like just the fruit. . but we are getting closer!

Big girl bed time . .

Chloe has been asking for a while for us to take the side off of her crib so she can have a big girl bed. . so finally we did it today. And she was so excited. She brought about every toy she has up to her room so she could "play with them in the middle of the night".

Thus begins a new chapter in little Ms. Chloe's night life. . she started climbing out of her crib about a week ago. . so she was already mobile at night if she wanted to be. . but this may definitely change things.

Fortunately she was super tired tonight and fell fast asleep before she could think about running around her room and protesting bedtime.

This morning we met Maya & Rich & Bea & Callum and Liza & Mark & Franny & August and went berry picking at Columbia Farms. We chose the place somewhat randomly but when we got there realized it was were we took Chloe shortly after she turned one to get pumpins.

The girls had a great time. And I made my first ever batch of blueberry jam.

Bea, Franny and Chloe, each with their favorite color buckets, getting ready to go berry picking


The little bean finding the perfect berries!

Camping at Nehalem Bay

We had a great time camping for 2 nights at Nehalem Bay with Kama, Joe, Ella & Max. Chloe did not want to go to sleep. . and kept Ella & Max up late, late, late on Saturday night. We brought our bikes and rode into Manzanita for ice cream and flew kites and built sand castles. We left early morning on Sunday with a croupy coughy girl amid thunderstorms.

Happy 4th of July!

Chloe petting the little pony. He tried to kiss her but she wasn't having it!

We had a great 4th of July. It's been super hot in Portland, though I think we are all getting used to it. We decided to go to the St. Paul Rodeo today. Our friends Kama and Joe have been taking their kids, Ella and Max, for a few years now so we decided to try it out too.

Chloe had a great time. She went on her first carnival rides. A kids roller coaster and a boat (like a swing) plus the carousel and her favorite, pony rides. Part way through the roller coaster she told me she was "all done", but stuck it out without any tears.

After a few rides, we went to the rodeo. Armed with a large bag of kettle corn (thanks Kama), the kids were well entertained. Chloe would stand up and dance anytime the music came on. It was so adorable.



On the way out, we stopped at the Dora. We were trying to explain to Chloe to stick her head through the whole. . so I did it first and then she did it too!


Since we didn't get to the rodeo until around 11:30, we knew that Chloe's nap would be not happening, though by the end of the car ride, late in the afternoon she was done. She even let me carry her into the house and lay her on the couch. So cute!

We are proud to announce ..

that we have Potty Power in the house. Chloe is finally fully potty trained. It's funny how you can try and try and talk and talk about something, but they are just going to do it when they are ready. Chloe has been peeing in the potty for quite a while, but wanted a diaper for poop.

On Thursday she came home from school and told me she pooped in the potty there. . and then said she wanted her potty present (I'd been promising her presents, i know, if she pooped in the potty). So she did it (and tried again and again to get more presents). She managed to snag all 4 potty presents in two days. You go girl!