Tuesday market

Tuesday evening, we met up with our longtime friend, Jen, and her two boys for a picnic and some wandering through Hillsboro's Tuesday market. It was great to spend some time with them, and enjoy a warm summer evening.

Camryn and Gabe did lots of exploring in the nearby bushes and trees, and found all sorts of things!

Baby Alex was so mellow and sweet!

Camryn visited the "balloon guy"

To end our evening, we treated ourselves to some yummy gelato. Even one-handed, Gabe was able to enjoy his, though later I felt bad for offering, as I saw lots of Spray 'N Wash and stain sticks in Jen's future. Thanks, Flores family! We can't wait to play again soon!

Um...Happy Fathers Day...?

Our first weekend of summer started off well. We enjoyed the company of Brian's family, who were visiting for the holiday weekend. On Saturday, the boys got some golf in, and the girls did some shopping. A perfectly normal afternoon...

On Sunday, we planned an all-family outing to the zoo. It was drizzly and a little cold, but it was something else that just didn't seem right with Camryn. Sure enough, on the way home from the zoo, just as we were rounding the corner into our neighborhood, I turned to witness the horrorific scene of my child vomiting, in the backseat of my car, while strapped tightly into her car seat.

Needless to say, our further Fathers Day plans were instantly derailed. Now the bad news is, that Brian and I spent the good part of Fathers Day cleaning my car, the carseat, the straps, the clothing, and lots and lots of bedding as Camryn's intestinal health spiraled quickly and dramatically. The bad news also is that Brian missed out on celebrating "his day" as a Daddy.

The good news, on the other hand, is that my girls are lucky enough to have a father who loves them enough to do those things, miss that celebration, and willingly stay home to care for his sick girl so that I could be with my own dad on Fathers Day.



So, although it may not have been the happiest, it was definitely a Father's Day, though differently defined. Thank you, Brian for being so fabulous to our girls. They are so lucky
to be able to call you Daddy.

Anticipating summer

A collection of fab photos from the past few weeks... Enjoy!

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend, we enjoyed an uneventful three days at home. (The first in a loooong time.) Besides Daddy's baseball practice, we had nowhere to be, and no schedule to keep. :) We did lots of yard work, ran lots of errands, and still found time for plenty of fun.

Thanks to Daddy, I got a morning to myself. He and the girls went to the park while I enjoyed some shopping and a pedicure a-l-o-n-e. I even got to sit still long enough to read a People magazine from cover to cover without interruptions. Heaven!

Daddy also took Camryn to her first ever (non high school) baseball game. They went to watch the Portland Beavers play the Nashville Sounds. One of Daddy's former high school players plays for the Sounds, an affiliate of the Milwaukie Brewers organization. They had a great time watching Cole play.

Later that night, the girls had an impromptu, after-bath dance party. Not sure who taught Camryn to shake her bootie...

We also made an all-family trip to the zoo. It was a gorgeous day! Sunny, clear skies and 75 degrees. We ate a picnic lunch on the lawn, and played and played. If this is what summer has in store for us, we can't wait!!!!!

Grandma's birthday

Today is my mom's 29th birthday (again!?) , so the fam got together on Sunday for a lovely brunch, complete with kid's buffet (gotta love it.) It was so nice outside that we took a little stroll afterward, enjoyed the sun, and even got a few good pics. Mom and Dad by the lake

What a good looking bunch!

"Bethie & 'Mas," as they are affectionately known

Lacey & Dan

Why do all of our pictures look like this???
Apparently a nice family photo is just too much to ask...

Camryn *hearts* her Uncle Dan

Me and Mini Me

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Marathoning

Marathoning. Is that a word? If not, it should be.

Marathoning (v.) to live life at a frantic pace; to attempt to excel in daily work, overall career, home life, and parenthood while balancing one's sanity, a bag of groceries, and the checkbook

I live this word. I do this every day. And I am exhausted. The pace of our last few months has left me weak-kneed. Bent over and heaving, sweat is dripping from my forehead. With only five weeks of the school year left to go, I can see the finish line, though I feel like I'm never going to make it.

Between holidays, birthday parties, baseball commitments, car repair, volunteer opportunities, out of town visitors, baby showers, haircuts, doctor's appointments, and (oh yeah!) work, grocery shopping, general home upkeep and child rearing, my head is spinning. Add to all of it the emotional roller coaster that is interviewing for administrative jobs during a time of economic crisis, and frankly, we all in the Bailey household are fried.

I don't write this expecting pity. After all, I'm not in this boat alone. Plenty of other moms do this every day. In fact, many of my own working mom friends are feeling the strain too. I can see it in their tired eyes and gray hairs (who has time for a cut and color?) And I'm sure when they look at me, they see it as well.

So my apologies, to those whom in the last week or so I've just said, "No." No, I can't go out to lunch. No, I can't be on that committee. No, I can't stay late to supervise that project, and no, I can't make it to Bunco. It's not that I don't want to do these things. It's not that I don't feel guilty turning down your invitation. It's just that I want to be home. With my girls. And with Brian too. It's just that I've reached my breaking point, and I still have five and a half more weeks to go before I'm allowed to snap.

Only time will tell when this ol' twig will officially give out. But one thing's for sure. I need a vacation.

Quality time

The girls' Mimi and Papa visited this weekend, and despite our best intentions for a trip to the zoo, or the children's museum, fate intervened. Between the wacky weather, my nasty head cold and subsequent sudafed fog, and fear of the swine flu in crowded places, our continued attempts to get out of the house and "do something" were thwarted.

By the time I finally gave up on "getting out" and got a yummy dinner in the oven, a freak thunderstorm knocked out our power, which forced us to go out to eat. I think someone was trying to prove to me that this weekend wasn't meant to be planned.

We did manage to get the girls outside for some playtime during a few sunny patches. Aubrey's favorite new word is "Bubbles!"

Camryn of course, enjoyed her morning ritual with Mimi, as she was pampered with a little lotion, nail polish, and "make up" (aka lip gloss and sparkles.) Thanks, Mimi and Papa for hunkering down with us this weekend. It was great to see you!