The Gorge

Mom, Dad, and Ben at Chanticleer Point in the Columbia River Gorge

Mom and Dad

Grandma, Grandpa, and Ben

Mom, Dad, and Ben at Vista House

Multnomah Falls

Mom at Multnomah Falls

Dad after walking down from the bridge at Multnomah Falls

My Mom and Dad took Chris, Ben, and I on a tour of the Columbia River Gorge today. It was fairly decent weather - not much sun but not much rain either. We stopped at a few of the many waterfalls and ended at the 2nd largest waterfall in the United States: Multnomah Falls. It was really fun and even though I have seen these sights before it was nice to see them through Chris's eyes for the first time.

Tomorrow we are headed to the coast to camp in Grandma and Grandpa's brand new Airstream travel trailer. Hopefully the weather and tides will cooperate so we can get out and do some crabbing and spend some time at the beach!

It's all happening at the zoo...

Dad and Ben outside the giftshop
Mom, Dad, and Ben in the petting zoo

Grandpa and Ben navigating the map of the zoo

What a cool dude!

Mom and Dad at Mom's favorite exhibit - the Penguin House!

Grandma and Grandpa and their favorite grandson!

We took Ben to the Oregon Zoo yesterday - we actually had some sunshine and wanted to be outside to take advantage of it! Ben was all decked out in his sunglasses for optimum animal viewing pleasure. He was more interested in watching people than animals but I think he saw a few. Grandpa seemed to enjoy being in charge of the stroller and it took some skills to navigate around the thousand other strollers that were there!

Ben spent the evening hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa as Mom and Dad went to dinner with Mom's brother Chad and his girlfriend Theresa.

Oregon!

Dad and Ben in the airport in Minneapolis
Taking a nap with Dad on the couch at Grandma and Grandpa's

Grandma feeding Ben carrots for dinner

Ben in his new jumper - he loves it!

Mom, Dad, and Ben made it to Oregon last night to start our big vacation! This is our first official vacation as a family and we are so excited to be visiting my parents. Today we went to the Nike Employee Store and Benjamin made out with a few new pairs of shoes. Mom and Dad may have gotten a few things also... Ben did great on the plane last night - he slept most of the way from Chicago to Portland and woke up in time to greet Grandma and Grandpa at the airport. They had the house all ready for us - a crib for Ben, lots of toys to play with, and a ton of new clothes. Grandma and Grandpa have been so busy!!

Happy Mothers Day!

Dad took this picture - Mom's eyes are closed but Ben looks good!
Ben, Mom, and Great-Grandma

Looking at the tree with Mom - Ben likes to look at flowers and trees.

Happy Mothers Day to everyone! This is my first official Mothers Day as Benjamin's mom and it is wonderful! Ben woke us up this morning at 6 am to give me his present - a spa package just for mom (I think Dad had a hand in it too...). We went to church and then to visit Great-Grandma and give her some flowers. We also spent some time on the phone with Grandma and Grandpa in Oregon and listened as Grandma opened her presents. We are about to go to lunch with Grandma Colleen.

I never imagined how amazing it would be being a mom. I love every minute of it. Ben "gave" me my first homemade Mother's Day card - his "helped" him. I cried when I opened it, it melted my heart right there. I will always treasure that card.

Scratchin my head

Ben likes to scratch his head, especailly when he is just waking up. I imagine that he's trying to figure out what's going on and he likes to take his time and observe his surroundings for a while.

The Many Faces of Ben

Its been so long!

Man how time flies! I didn't realize how long its been since I've put up a new post until I logged in to look at some Benjamin pictures and saw that the last post was April 21st. The weather has been improving so much lately and we have been trying to take advantage of it as much as possible. We did some yard work this weekend and Benjamin and I resumed our Baby Boot Camp workouts. We joined a church a couple weekends ago and have actually made it to church every Sunday. Ben likes the music and usually takes a nap for part of the service. We are so lucky to have an easy-going baby. We are all looking forward to going to Oregon in 2 weeks - vacation!! Ben continues to amaze and delight us every minute of every day. He has recently discovered what we like to call his "bird voice" - a high-pitched yell that is usually accompanied by some arm flapping. Grandma and Grandpa have gotten the phone experience of the bird voice the last few days and of course they think its just beautiful!