Lincoln City

We just got back from Lincoln City yesterday. We had a lot of fun. It's a two hour drive and the boys did great. We spent lots of time on the beach (we bought a tent for shade, but that was a huge fail because it was very, very windy and the tent was very, very, um, cheap I guess), visited a neat playground, ate at some cool places.

My birthday was Friday, too! I'm right smack, dab in the middle of my thirties now, woot!

Here are some photos:

Our first day there

Gabe let the tide push him over, then got mad because he was soaked

Eleanor's Undertow

Eleanor's Undertow had a mermaid theme

THE best hot chocolate: dark+white chocolate, whip cream, and cayenne pepper.

Playing Mrs. Pac-Man on my birthday.

Regatta Playground at Devil's Lake

What is Yo Gabba Gabba?

I got a question from a reader about what Yo Gabba Gabba is. Click here.

Party Pics

Here are some pics from Gabe's Yo Gabba Gabba party in June. We took a lot so I am just posting a few. I think the kids had a lot of fun.

In other news, Gabe is now completely potty trained. He's been totally trained in #1 since January. The last month or so, we've been really, really pushing to get this thing to the finish line. There have some been some messes (ick). But I think his resolve was wearing thin, he wanted more and more to be a big boy, and Yo Gabba Gabba beanie babies from Fred Meyer (and chocolate. Yeah, chocolate) helped a lot. He got one of each character after each success (5). After that, he had to keep going on his own, without incentives, and he did. 

So, yay for Gabe! I think it took him twice as long as the average kid to train, but I'm ok with that. Amazingly, he has no nighttime accidents. No pull-ups at night.

Soccer game and Nike campus visit

Sorry, it's been a while again. Gabe had his birthday party earlier in the month and I will post pics of that today or tomorrow. This past weekend, one of Craig's uncles, Mark, and his daughter Alamea, came down from WA for a visit. She had a soccer game here and they stayed with us. We attended all the games and there was a playground and trail for Gabe to walk and run when he got restless. Alamea also injured her pinky finger at Saturday's afternoon game. It was not broken, just sprained. The doctor said she'd have to have it wrapped up for 4-6 weeks, but I think she'll heal up pretty quick.

We also visited the Nike campus, which is 10 min. from our house. Here are some pics. Enjoy!

Gabe+Uncle Mark in the DJ Lance hat

Gabe+Alamea at Nike campus

Soccer game. Wish I had more game pics, sorry! :)

Philly Trip Highlights

Gabe+Grandma

Gabe+Uncle Will

Church where Craig and I were married

Me and my high school bud Natasha

and her youngest, Lydia

Gabe and Natasha's oldest daughter, Kayla

Craig, me, Tasha, her hubby LeVar

Aunt Cyndy, me and cousin Shelly

 Aunt Bea 

Cousins Tommy and Sean

Cousins: Tommy, Sean, me and Jasmine

Me, Tommy, Sean, Gabe and Jasmine

Me and Jazzy

Aunt Cyndy and me

Fred D. Mayes, Sr. 1915-2012

This past weekend my grandfather passed away. He got a little better early last week, but then got sick again. He'd been getting dialysis for almost 10 years and it basically stopped working. They stopped the treatments and he died early Saturday.

I'm really happy that I was able to see him and that even though he was not able to interact with us, he knew we were there and that we flew out East to visit him. We can't afford to go back for the funeral, but I'll be writing a reflection that will be read at the service.

Craig wrote a nice note on Facebook that I will repost here for those of you that are not on there to see it:

"Today's grandparents range in age from 30 to 110 years old. Today at 97 years old we lost Grandpa Fred Mayes (Carisa's Grandpa). He fully embraced his role as Grandpa and Great-Grandpa to over 20 grandchildren. He'll be missed but will always be an inspiration to us and permanently have his spot in our family tree."

Happy Birthday Zach!

Zach turns one years old today! We're doing cake this weekend, when Grandma Deb and come and celebrate with us. Not a big party of course, but he will definitely be able to get all messy and maybe eat some cake (it will probably be mostly a sensory experience, lol). I will be uploading some pics of our Philly trip hopefully tomorrow or Friday, sorry for the delay.

Here is the birthday boy!