Bella's Fourth of July Surprise

We had a wonderful Fourth of July of in Red Lodge this year. After enjoying the parade with Grandma Barbi, we headed up to the cabin for the annual barbeque with Jock and Gayle and their kids, who all three attended this year (Karley surprised her parents by driving in from Tacoma, WA). The candy fairy came and left lots of candy for the kiddos on the "candy tree" and we enjoyed a relaxing and fun-filled day.

On the way home, however, we suddenly heard Bella scream, "my tooth came out." Now, this was a tooth that has been loose for weeks, perhaps months. A tooth that she has been wiggling, either with her tongue or a finger, incessantly during that time period. A tooth that, quite literally, has been dangling by just a thread of tissue, for the last week or so. Well, it came out in the car, to much cheers and applause. Then, sadly, Bella dropped her tooth (for those of you who have seen the floor of my car, you understand the hopeless nature of this situation). Thank heavens Daddy knows the Tooth Fairy. He was quite confident that the Tooth Fairy would accept a note from Bella, rather than a tooth, "just this once" considering the extenuating circumstances. In these pictures, Bella is showing off her missing tooth, as well as her note explaining everything to the tooth fairy. All was well, as Bella found $2.00 behind her bed, but not after panicking that "my note is gone but there is no money under my pillow!" (it somehow got pushed from under her pillow). Whew!
I couldn't resist throwing this picture in here. This picture was taken later that night, after Bella was supposed to be in her bed, but before the tooth fairy came. Brighton gets to go to bed in Mommy and Daddy's bed still - yes, she still falls asleep in our bed and lest anyone accuse me of not being completely honest, she often (most nights) sleeps with us all night long; now, just so Max and Bella don't think they were abused, they slept with us until their second birthday - please don't tell my pediatrician, he thinks I am a good mother (wow, that was some digression) - and Bella likes to sleep with others, so we often find her in our bed sound asleep with Brighton when we go to bed. This was the case on the night of the Fourth. Once I explained to Bella that the tooth fairy simply would not know where to even begin to look for her tooth, much less a note, unless she was in her own bed, she promptly returned to her room, and stayed there the rest of the night.

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and Thomas the Train

We had a wonderful time at the Oregon Musuem of Science and Industry (in Portland) on the last day of our trip. They had a fantastic dinosaur exhibit, which the kids really enjoyed, in additional to all of the experiments and learning opportunities for the kiddos.One of the really unique things about OMSI is their children's playground. The playground allows great opportunities for the kids to participate in different activities (unstructured), but they're learning like crazy. Here, Brighton, Bella and Max don their squirrel costumes and get to crawl around on the floor and act like animals - literally. Below is the squirrels' nest, where the kids can gather their nuts for winter, store them, and talk about the process while they are participating in it. There was also a hollowed out log home for raccoons, a birds' nest big enough for parents to sit in, and a bear cave.
Below, Brighton is enjoying some quality time in the water center. Rubber boots and water-proof shirts are provided!
Max and Bella dig for dinosaur bones, below.

I have no idea what costume Max is wearing in this picture (is that a lobster claw in his hand?). It was funny, so I snapped it.




On the way back from the wedding in Sunnyside, WA, we drove along the beautiful Columbia Gorge. A few days before our drive, we had overheard a conversation about Thomas the Train making a stop in Hood River, OR (which happened to be on the way), so we stopped, and . . . there he was, in all his glory! Sir Toppam Hat was there as well - live and in person!

The Thomas the Train exhibit had fantastic art projects (with lots of glitter, as Bella demonstrates) to participate in.
Max enjoyed the dozens of train sets that were out and available to play with.
On our way out, we stopped to listen to a one man band specializing in percussion instruments (think LOTS of Miami Sound Machine). The kids were provided with some tambourines, and had a great time dancing to the music ("come on shake your body baby do that conga I know you can't control yourself any long-a").

And that, ladies and gentlemen, will close the blogging on our trip to Portland. I may have gotten a bit carried away, but we did have a great time.

The Wedding

So, the whole catalyst for a our trip to Portland was Eric and Stephanie's wedding. Now, we finally get to that. It was a beautiful wedding and the reception was truly exceptional. One of the more significant moments of the evening (not including the actual wedding, of course) was when Great Grandma and Grandpa Rice were recognized for 59 YEARS of marriage! The dj had all of the couples who were married get on the dance floor, and then asked that you exit the floor when she called out the number of years each couple had been married. Well, Grandma and Grandpa Rice killed the competition. When asked for wedding advice, Grandpa said "don't fight" and Grandma said "just love each other." Words to live by.
Grandma and Grandpa Bradley (my folks), who have been married for nearly 36 years. Not so shabby themselves, wouldn't you say?
Grandma Bradley with her three eldest grandchildren (above), and Max and Connor pausing for a moment on the dance floor (below).
Max is a fantastic big brother and took the opportunity to dance (slowly and gently) with his baby sister. Our little Dancing Queen, Miss Bella, had a great time twirling with her Grandpa Bradley.My sisters and me, while we did not get to sit down for a moment because we were chasing the kiddos, we did have time for a quick snapshot. My cousin Jessica (Jet), who is pregnant with her third child, was one of the chosen few that Brighton allowed to dance with her.
This is a great picture. Me, Great Grandma Rice, and Grandma Bradley (my mom), representing three generations doing the "Electric Slide" at the wedding. What you may not see, is there is a fourth generation, Miss Bella out there as well. You can see her dress in front of Great Grandma Rice.

A Night With Mommy's Girlfriends

While we were in Portland, we were able to hook up for dinner on Friday night with my closest girlfriends from Sunset High School. We had a great time catching up and meeting each other's children (there were 11 kids, plus one on the way between the four of us). Janine, on the left, is currently pregnant with her fourth child (she is my hero). Tami, second from the left, just had a set of twins (boy and girl - adorable). Mindy, second from the right, has three beautiful girls. We had a great time. Thanks Mindy for hosting us all!
Here Brighton enjoys a seat on Miss Mindy's lap.
Here's a picture of all the kiddos. Jack (far right) and Max got along famously, and Bella and Mindy's youngest, Brookelyn, really hit it off as well. What a great night and a great opportunity to reconnect.

The Oregon Zoo

We had a great time at Oregon Zoo (in the old days, when Mommy lived in Oregon, they called it Washington Park Zoo, I don't know why it annoys me that they changed the name, but it does). Anyway, we took a train ride from the Zoo to the Rose Gardens and a wonderful and gigantic playground in Washington Park (at least that's the same).


Max and Bella at the Rose Gardens.

The two goofballs as we walked to through the forest (where we saw black bears and bald eagles in addition to lots of other birds and insects) to see the river otters (Max's favorite).
Mom and the girls petting the goats.
My Maxer.
Brighton brushing her favorite little goat.
Here, Brighton is showing all of you the giraffe at the zoo. Isn't he (or she) beautiful?

Family Vacation in Portland, OR

We took a quick trip to Portland, OR, last month for a family vacation. Brooke's cousin, Eric, got married in Sunnyside, WA, and we decided to go down a few days early and enjoy my old stomping grounds. We took full advantage of the Condo in Portland (which was wonderful). The picture above (and at the end of this post) was taken out the back door in front of the marina. The kids also enjoyed the pool and we took a wonderful walk along a paved path that follows the Columbia.Grandpa Bradley was in Portland the first night we were there, so we were lucky enough to enjoy lunch and dinner with him. When Grandpa Bradley is in Portland, he drives his little '78 Porcshe, which he bought in honor of the year he opened Sound Security's doors in Everett, WA. The license plate reads SSI '78. Brighton and Max are "driving" the Porsche above, and thought it was pretty cool.
Bella with her Grandpa Bradley. It was nice for the kids to get some one on one time with him.

THE ZOO CREW

Well, we partied like animals on Sunday at Zoo Montana. It was Max and Bella's big 5th Birthday Celebration. Gavin and I decided that we would do one more double party before we break them up next year - and it was a fun one! We had about 25 kids for a very fun-packed two hours. We started by playing at the playground and then took it inside for animal encounters with the pygmy marmosettes and chinchilla! We then ate some cake and ice cream, opened presents, and went on a quick tour of the Zoo. The kids all wore yellow t-shirts to make it easy for Gavin and I to spot them and gather everyone for our next activity (the back of the t-shirt is pictured above). The kids were fantastic with following directions - we had a great group.





Below are Max and Bella in the "Zoo Crew" shirts before we left the house. The party was at 2:00 and both of them complained all morning that it was "taking too long."
The two pictures below are the front and the back of the line as we walked back to the Zoo lobby for our encounter with the marmosettes and the chinchilla. What a crew!

We learned a lot about Chinchillas from Jesse, who explained that chinchillas are nocturnal animals with very thick fur! They are often mistaken for rabbits - you can tell the difference because chinchillas have long skinny tails, not short, stubby tails like bunny rabbits. (A big shout out to Sarah Parnell for taking the pictures of the kids with the chinchilla (as well as a few below) and emailing them to me).

Bella and Max blow out their birthday candles! Bella requested a bunny cake, with her favorite colors, pink, purple and turquoise. Max chose a river otter for his cake, he loves watching the river otter when she is out and swimming (which she was on Sunday!).

The Zoo Crew enjoyed their cake and ice cream (and water and juice, it was hot!).

Here we are taking off for our tour of Zoo Montana. Those of you not from Montana, or unfamiliar with Zoo Montana, we have a new bear named Bruno. We also have a few other animals to enjoy including a tiger, a couple wolves, some red pandas, some sika deer, two bald eagles, some big-horn rams, a wolverine, a porcupine, a river otter (Max's favorite), some goats, chickens and rabbits in the barn, and some smaller animals in the lobby. That's Zoo Montana! Yet, for those of us with young kids, Zoo Montana is a place to go for a picnic and some animal adventures and we absolutely would not know what to do without it (yes, the Zoo needs money).

Below are pictures Mr. Darian as an elephant, Elly as a zebra, and Daisy as a kitty. I wish I took a picture of all the kids in their masks, but my brain was mush be this point in time. It was 4:15, and the Zoo Crew finally called it a day. Thanks to all our friends and family who came and partied with us. It was a very special day.