Who turned out the lights?

This morning around 7:30 am our power went off. I was actually in our room at the time, having a quiet moment of prayer when I heard this loud crashing noise and the lights went out. It sounded like a transformer blew, but as it turns out a car smashed into a power pole about 8 blocks from our house, taking out power for around 800 people in the process. We didn't realize this at the time, but we did realize that this was going to be a problem. Erik and I had been planning on retreating to the basement to work on a project he needed to finish for business while Grandma watched the boys upstairs. With no power, the internet no workie. And the basement is just a really dark place without lights. SO Grandma saved the day! She took the boys to OMSI while we went to Starbucks for free wi-fi, good coffee, and a well-lit work space. We finished Erik's document, a power point presentation that his manager needed in order to submit Erik's request for promotion. Afterward we grabbed amazing pizza, the kind your kids will never let you order. My slice had roasted broccoli, garlic, and hazelnuts with an alfredo sauce. Wow.

We arrived home at the same time as the boys and Grandma. Sadly, the power was still out. We put the boys down to naps all bundled up and called the power company. The recording apologized for the inconvenience and assured us power would be restored by 8:30 pm. I called our neighbors across the street, also without power, but with a gas oven and gas bbq. We have known Tim and Taryn for quite awhile. They were the ones who invited us to Mosaic for the first time, and we were so happy that we finally accepted the invite and joined them there. Anyway...they were delighted to have us over for dinner! Power was actually restored as we were leaving our house for theirs, but we decided to go anyway. We had so much fun. The boys played with their Corgi and enjoyed the legos, while we had grown-up time with other grown-ups. We even got to roast marshmallows and make s'mores outside after dinner. It was delightful. They even told us that we have nice kids. That's worth a power outage any day of the week.

Tomorrow we are headed to my mom's place for breakfast and the boys are going to spend the morning there while we escape for another, less work-oriented, date. Two in one weekend?!? Is that even legal?

In Like a Lion, Out Like a...Bear?

The boys have had a hard time adjusting back to "everyday" life now that we are home. It hasn't helped that we have had a full calendar each day. In retrospect, it's probably a better idea to clear the calendar for the first few days after vacation. Today was better than yesterday though, so I can only assume that tomorrow will be better than today.

Last week before we left for the beach, the boys discovered their Halloween costumes from this past fall. If you weren't aware, they completely failed to wear these costumes at any of the appropriate times in October, but decided to don them instead during March. Actually a few factors contributed to this event. First of all, a few weeks ago we were at a family's house for dinner and their five-year-old son wore a lion costume very similar to Luke's for part of the evening. The second factor involved some lovely puddle jumping and all Luke's laundry being in process as I prepared to pack his bag for the beach trip. He had no pants available. When he asked to wear his lion costume instead, I thought it was a fabulous solution. Paul immediately had to put on his Pooh costume. The results were undeniably adorable. Luke did actually ask to take his costume to the beach, but I thought that was just a little too much mane for that sandy environment. Laundry nightmare. So, to cheer myself and others, here are the pics!

"I'm a bear."

"RAWR"

Erik told Paul to hold Luke's hand...at first Paul couldn't find Luke's hand!

"I found it!"

Brothers don't shake hands. Brothers gotta hug!

More Beach pics

These are just a few of our beach shots. The weather varied from cold and windy to less cold and less windy. :-)

Ready for the beach!

Paul and one of his Pinnipeds

Red cheeks! It was chilly.

Paul is pointing out the ocean. He was pretty impressed.

Grandpa and Luke going for a beach walk on one of the prettier days we had.

Beach Trip

My sincere apologies to all three people who check the blog regularly for new posts. It has been such a busy season, but I am happy to bring you this post and promise another one soon. I was sharing with my husband that I feel like the blog has suffered because my camera is nearing its death; hence, picture taking is no longer fun, but rather arduous. No pictures means no blog. I have things I could write about without pictures, but I'm fairly certain the fans would protest. Plans for a new camera are under review. Stay tuned.

Regardless, we have been here at the beach for the last four days and it has been pretty fun. Our neighbors are partial owners of an amazing house in Rockaway Beach. This past fall they mentioned that we could use it sometime. We immediately asked when it was available and this has been the first time we have made it here as a family. It has been pretty fun, despite the lack of a proper "time-out chair." Seriously. Luke has really struggled with obedience in the new environment and while we tried using a regular chair facing the corner, he hasn't been able to make the adjustment. Poor guy! I was praying about it last night and just came to the point where I needed to thank God for my son even when he disobeys. I know Jesus feels the same way about us. Anyway...

The boys have enjoyed lots of time with the sand. We brought lots of diggers, dump trucks, shovels, and buckets. The Daddy-Man has taught them how to dig deep holes that fill with water. Paul has preferred the dry sand, but Luke has been willing to get a little wet. Yesterday he got a little too wet, falling over into about three inches of water. He recovered well and was willing to change into another set of clothes which had been previously soaked in order to stay at the beach longer. That's incredible! We need to stretch his comfort zone more often. :-)

We also drove up to Seaside to visit the aquarium, which isn't much, but the boys didn't care. They loved the touch tanks and the seals the most. The octopus was also a big hit. We bought them both a pack of little plastic pinnipeds - say that five times fast - and they have made them bath time buddies. My favorite is hearing Paul say pinniped. He's SO earnest because its a big word and he knows what it means. Adorable.

Dave and Lynne were able to come out for a few days and have been warmly greeted by all. I have enjoyed escaping during nap time for espresso, which I had to drive to Garibaldi to find, but that's another story. Erik has been able to share all the exciting news from work, updating them on his current project. The boys MUCH prefer their grandparents and can often be heard saying, "I want Grandma to do it." She's so popular. :-) I'm cool with that! Less work for me.

I can hear Luke singing the "Naked" song right now. I'd video it, but he only sings it when it applies and I just can't do that to him. I want him to take care of me when I'm old.

So here are the pics!

Our first day the wind was a little too much down on the beach, so we had play dough time instead!

The boys checking out the touch tanks at the aquarium.

Looking at the octopus!

Pinnipeds!