Triple Trouble and Double Trouble

As we were driving to the coast this weekend for another round of camping at Nehalem Bay State Park, Chloe told me "I might be shy when I see triple trouble". Triple trouble being our friends 4 year old triplets Eleanor, Dylan and Sebastian. We were meeting our friends Liz & Brian and their triplets (otherwise known as "the herd") and our friends Kevin & Kristi and their twins (Matt & Sam, who are in Chloe's class at school) for the weekend. 6 kids under 4. At least the adults outnumbered the kids, as Brian's parents were there and Kristi's friend too. While we only ended up camping one night thanks to the lovely weather on the Oregon Coast, we were fortunate to be invited to Kevin & Kristi's family beach house in Gerhart for Saturday night. So, we ended up with the perfect weekend combo of camping and beach housing!


Rare footage of all 6 kids in one spot for more than 2 seconds!


The girls, Chloe and Eleanor, having some quality time


Chloe and Sam taking a nap in the tent. Ha, ha!


Chloe, Matt & Sam cleaning off after a long day at the beach





Hula-hooping it up with Matt at the beach house

Chloe slept all the way home from the coast. Tonight before bed I asked her what her favorite part of the weekend was and she said "Spending time with Matty & Sammy. That's what Daddy calls them, Matty & Sammy".

Chloe and Matt hugging. Chloe would not hug Sam because his shirt was wet

When we got home, we unpacked, and Chloe was looking through our toiletry bags, asking Craig what everything was. Later I was reading to Chloe and she smelled, well, rather manly. I asked Craig if he put deoderant on her and he hadn't. I asked Chloe if she put it on. At first she said no, but then she said she tried it. And she put it on both her arm pits and elbow pits so she was really fragrant. A good scrub in the bath got her sweet little girl smell back!

The girl can jump!

Craig and Chloe had quite a fun Saturday together. First they went to the children's museum.


Then, they took the max train downtown to get a new stuffed animal that Craig had promised Chloe for her new big girls bed. Here is a shot of them before they got on the max train.


And here is Ms. Chloe with her new dog (which she named Frances Pauline Springgate after her friend Franny!)

Before coming home, they had lunch at Elephants Deli

Then they went to the party at the Children's gym.

Chloe has been going to the Children's Gym on Saturdays for about a year now. . and she loves it. They have their annual party once a year and Craig took Chloe there around 4:30 . . we finally came home around 7:30. This kid had a blast!

The real big girl bed . . .

We put together Chloe's big girl bed today (pics to come soon), with her new fairy sheets and new ikea pillow. I personally love it because it is so nice to be able to lie down with her and read her books at night. She took a nap in it this afternoon (a rarity these days) and happily went to sleep in it tonight.

We also went to the Symphony at Laurelhurst park tonight. What fun. At the end they handed out recorders and shakers for the kids and had them join the symphony. Chloe was super excited about the recorder. I'm pretty sure we'll be wanting to hide it before long!

Sunday Sunday whoo hoo!

We had a really fun Sunday! It was the annual Providence Bridge Pedal. Craig got to enjoy a wonderful workout, pulling both Chloe and her friend Sam-o in the burley, while Kristi and I were on easy street. Chloe had a great time until we stopped to trade out Sam for his brother Matt. Matt didn't want to ride, so Chloe was alone in
the burley. Lately, Chloe has told us that she doesn't want to be alone because she gets lonely (her great excuse at bedtime anyway). And before our last big uphill on the Freemont bridge, Chloe decided to ride on the back of my bike. It was my first bridge pedal and a ton of fun. I can't wait to do it again next year!

Chloe and me just before we loaded onto the bike to start the ride





At the top of the I-405 bridge with Kristi & Sam

Chloe has been resisting naptime at home, so I decided to try to stroller her down instead. We walked to the park and she played for a bit, then on the ride home finally fell asleep, woke up hot and CRABBY (and asked for some hot milk too), and then we got ready for her friend Franny's 3rd birthday party.

Chloe had a great time at the party. It was at Mt. Tabor park and we had the perfect weather. Liza made adorable crowns for all the girls too. A perfect end to a fun day!

The princesses:
Front row (left to right) Helen, Chloe, Birthday Girl Franny
Back row (left to right) Annie, Rosie, Bea

Franny's cake. Chloe was very excited for CAKE!