Easter Pics and Daddy's birthday trip

As busy as we always are, the weekend after Easter, we had nothing on the calendar. Nothing!! I got my hair done, Jered went to the driving range. It was fabulous. We even managed to get some yard work done. Ashlyn was napping while we were weeding and when she woke up, we told her to put some boots on and come outside. When she finally came out, I told her yard work is a family chore. She said, "That's ok Mom, but I don't do weeds!" She was completely serious, I just looked at Jered and we both busted out laughing. Then she thought she was funny and knew she was gonna get away with it. She ran up and down the sidewalk, she did sidewalk chalk, she showed us her jumps off the rocks, pretty much she played while we weeded.

A couple months ago we went to an auction at my old high school in Monroe and we bought a two night stay in Newport and it came with two tickets for the Aquarium, Ripley's, the Wax museum and Undersea Gardens. Ashlyn's day care was closed for in-service last Friday so we took advantage and had a three day weekend, even Jered!

It was supposed to be cold and rainy but instead we had beautiful weather on both Friday and Saturday! We drove over Friday morning, stopped at the Chowder Bowl in Depoe Bay for chowder and then went to a park for a picnic. Ashlyn left her fig newton and carrots sitting on the table when we went for a walk and when we came back the birds had gotten them. She was pretty upset with the birds!

Next we stopped at a pull-out with a trail down to the beach, Moolack Beach. The dogs were in heaven and Ashlyn loved it. It was supposed to be cold and rainy so I didn't bring her any shorts. We improvised though and she just took her jeans off and ran around in her underwear! She was in and out of the water, screaming and laughing. We did the Aquarium on Friday also and it was so awesome to be there without the crowds! Ashlyn liked all the fish but I think the touch tank was her favorite. She got to touch starfish and anemones.

Friday night we had dinner at Shark's Seafood and Steamer on Bay St. I had the seafood cioppino and Jered had the seafood gumbo. Both were so so good! I love cioppino and order it pretty much whenever I see it on the menu. This was probably some of the best I've had. Yum, I can't wait to go back for more! :)

Saturday Grammy and Grandpa came over to have lunch with us and do some touristy shopping. Ashlyn said, "it was real nice to spend the day with Grammy and Grandpa!" We had a great lunch at a little place recommended by my friend, Ocean Bleu at Gino's. Ashlyn liked her popcorn shrimp and Daddy even bribed her (with gummy bears) to try some smoked cod. She is so picky sometimes but she'll usually eat anything deep fried. We didn't tell her it was shrimp until after she'd eaten some of it!

We skipped Ripley's, Ashlyn didn't like the Wax museum and we thought Undersea Gardens was way too expensive. I would never have paid to get in but lucky for us we had our free tickets and Ashlyn was free anyway.

We played at the beach again on Sat too. It was a little more windy than Friday but Ashlyn was still running around in her underwear. Grammy and Grandpa had brought her a shovel and she had lots of fun with that. Both of the dogs were pretty tired after two days running on the beach. They were ready to get back in the car!

Sunday it was time to head home, we stopped in Lincoln City at the outlets but didn't really find anything we couldn't live without. After lunch, more seafood, it was back to Beaverton and the real world.

 Grace and Ashlyn

Ashlyn, Grace and Gwen

 Yay, the beach!!!

 that's ME!

 Happy Birthday Daddy

 family self-portrait

 touch tank at the Aquarium

 are you lookin' at me??

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh my!

Does anyone else feel like the first three months of this year have flown by? I can't believe Easter is upon us and it will be April in a few days! We are already making so many summer plans. We have four weddings to go to this summer, starting in May. Every year, we think we're done going to weddings, all of our friends must be married by now. Then we get another invite or save the date in the mail!

I have been working way too much! Work has been crazy busy and we're really short-handed so I'm working my day off. My paycheck has been pretty nice but I'd prefer to have my day off. Ashlyn calls it our stay-home day. I have a couple more weeks of working my day off and then I'll be back to my typical four days a week. Jered thinks I'm a whiner because he works over-time every week but I like my day home with Ashlyn!

A couple of weeks ago we took Ashlyn to a play of "Beauty and the Beast". It was put on by Journey Theater group and it was mostly high-school kids or younger. They did a fantastic job! I got the tickets really cheap with a Groupon. She loved it!

Last weekend we took her to an Easter egg hunt put on by one of the wineries we're members of. She got to run around and collect a bunch of plastic eggs. They were all filled with candy or money so she was ecstatic! My friend was selling a cute little Easter surprise so we picked those up for all of our nieces! I'll post a pic after, they're really cute.

We also went to the zoo with some of my cousins. It was a little chilly but there was no rain so it was a perfect day. The zoo has a new a baby elephant and she is so cute! Her name is Lily and she is so tiny next to the other elephants. They also have a new baby river otter, he was out yet but there was one tiny little window where you could peak in at him and he's just a little fur ball. The other new thing at the zoo is the flamingos. They've got a whole flock and they're really pretty bright pink!

Ashlyn is growing up so fast! She will sometimes call us Mom instead of Mommy or Dad instead of Daddy. It sounds so weird to hear her say Mom! She's really interested in how words are spelled and adding numbers together. The first time she told me "Mom, three and four make seven" I was floored! Its so awesome to see her brain working. She also loves music, Pop music! She knows the words to more songs than Jered and I do. She also knows the name of the singer or band. She'll say "Mommy this is Katy Perry, we've heard this song before". She loves Taylor Swift (ugh!), she sings along to all the words of "I knew you were trouble".Lord, Help me!

Easter morning was spent with Grandma and Grandpa in Woodburn. We were up and out of the house early, church started at 8am. Then back the house for an egg hunt and delicious brunch. I, of course, forgot my camera so I have no pictures of the fun. BUT I know my awesome sis-in-law is going to send me hers :) As soon as she does, I'll post a few.

 Easter egg hunt

 I got lots and lots of candy! LOTS

 I'm ready to get coloring!

 Pretty egg Mommy made with rubber bands. Didn't 

turn out exactly like the picture on Pinterest, but pretty good.

 I"m a lion....ROAR!!

 Me and Paisley Marie

I"m a bear...ARRRRG!

Grammy and Grandpa sent me these new boots!

They're pretty cool, they even light up.