Beach time!

We spent President's Day weekend at the beach house with Aaron, Rhonda, Grant and Emmett! 

1.  Ben got his finger stuck in the 'air pucky' machine for an agonizing 30 minutes until daddy finally moved the right part to release his finger.  Ben's first reaction? Grab a air hockey paddle and get right back at it...
2.  We had a horizontal rain shower on Saturday that cut our beach time short and left us soaking wet.
3.  Sunday was great weather - the boys enjoyed 2 trips to the beach.
4.  Favorite activities: Chinese Checkers (marbles), real checkers with Uncle Aaron, and practicing our 'smiles' for the camera.  We still need some work on that!

Eli asked me to take pictures of him eating craisens...  His attempt at smiling cracks me up!  It only got worse as I tried to get him to smile naturally.

 All 4 cousins "playing" together - until Eli got a bit crazy with the marbles...

 Yeah, Ben - a real smile!

Flu, Boo-boo and Zoo

1.  I had the flu for a brutal week in January.  The real flu.  And, YES, I did get a flu shot.  Uggg.  The flu was followed up by 2 weeks of bronchitis.  It was so bad, I had to get an inhaler and the 'good' cough medicine.  I am still gaining my strength back.

2,  Eli tripped in the parking lot at daycare and (somehow!) smashed his forehead into the metal spokey/ hubcappy part of the tire on my car.  It left a HUGE, kiwi-sized knot on his forehead.  I didn't get a picture of the initial swelling, but did grab a few pics of the aftermath...

DAY 2 - still pretty swollen, not too much bruising... and still smiling!

 Day 5 - nice colorful bruise

 Day 7 - 10 or so, the bruise leaked down to his eyes...  He looked like a boxer!

3,  Today was Free Day at the Zoo in honor of the Year of the Snake.  The first hour and half we were there weren't too bad, then we stopped for a quick lunch and it was like the entire city of Portland came thru the doors...  We chose not to stand in what appeared to be an hour long line to see the baby elephant...  Maybe next time.