Astoria Overnight

Gary's parents invited us to join them for a night in Astoria and we had a really nice time.
 

We spent a few minutes playing at the beach in Seaside on our way to Astoria. 

I love this picture!

The next morning we climbed the Astoria Column to throw balsa-wood planes from the top. I never even knew this existed! It is beautiful on the outside and has 164 winding stairs to the top.  This weary pregnant body made it all the way!

Madelyn with grandparents looking out over the bay into Warrenton, OR.

Ready to throw the first of several planes.

 

Next we visited the Peter Iredale shipwreck.

 

And then we parted ways with Bonnie and Dale, and our family enjoyed lunch in Seaside followed by more fun in the sand!

 

Family/Maternity Pictures

Here are a few favorite photos of the family and Madelyn from our "Belly" session with Little Pixels studio.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Henna Tattoo

Father's Day at Portland Saturday Market

Madelyn gets a henna tattoo

 

The artist even sprinkled purple glitter on it!

Dance GlamourShots

Instead of paying for their professional photographer at dance class, Madelyn and I just played around in our backyard and came up with our own "GlamourShots" in her dance costume. We had fun.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dance Recital!

We had to rush over the Madelyn's dress rehearsal right when we arrived home from Sunriver. This is the first time she's been in a dance class so we were totally new to this whole experience. The $75 costume and $8 recital tickets came as the biggest surprise...

Madelyn's little trio rehearses

The next day was the actual recital, and I must say it was a well-organized affair. There were 45-minute recitals scheduled all day long, with each one featuring only 8 or so dance classes. 

I was afraid Madelyn wouldn't want me to leave her alone "backstage," but someone in charge had the wisdom to bring a giant bag of Polly Pocket so I was free to go enjoy the show.  

First Madelyn's class did their ballet routine. 

 

She appears to be the only one doing this particular move....

The trio gets ready

A little later her class performed their tap routine.

Oh, she just looks so adorable.

There was a very awkward time - I'd say a full minute - in which none of the girls seemed to remember what to do and they weren't picking it up from the teacher offstage either. So we enjoyed them all standing there, trying out a few things to see if anyone else wanted to jump in...it was kind of funny.

I'd hoped to get some nice pictures of Madelyn in her costume with us after the recital, but by the time we pushed through the crowd into the "green room" we found she'd already stripped out of it. 

I brought our little performer some roses from the yard. We were so proud of her for being so brave!

Sunriver

I guess the idea for this vacation was sort of a family "baby-moon." Gary and I are poignantly aware that our life and our family will never be the same after Little Brother is born. Of course we have much to celebrate in adding to our family, but we also mourn "just the three of us" which will never be again.

This was just a little getaway to Sunriver, and we invited another family to join us for the five days.

I wasn't brave enough to bring my camera on our canoe float, but oh how I wish I had! This was my favorite part of our vacation - so peaceful and beautiful - and I missed capturing some adorable moments of Madelyn rowing with Daddy and also lounging in her lifejacket and new pink shades in the canoe.

We visited the High Desert Museum, including the Birds of Prey "show." It was touted as being fun for the whole family - but it was not.  It was neat to see each of the four raptors they showcased...for a minute. But the expert droned on and on about their color variations, speed of flight depending on the weather, hunting habits, and more details that would only be more than mildly interesting to one studying a career in ornithology. And kids? Forget it. I was proud of the amount of patience Madelyn was able to muster, when even I was getting antsy.  But here is a picture of a big owl anyway:


And here is a picture of Madelyn with the little owl she created out of bark chips during the presentation:

At least she can entertain herself! 

After the show, photo op with one of the birds of prey.

Sliding at the deserted indoor play area.

Racing through tunnels outside with Tre.

When asked to "pose" for a picture, Tre stands ambivalent but Madelyn knows what to do! :)

After lunch in Bend with our friends, we had an ice cream treat.

The year-round tubing hill was also a big hit in Sunriver. This is part of the new SHARC aquatic facility.

Madelyn LOVED this, and I am so glad. And after a few tandem rides, she was courageous enough to go down all by herself! I really wanted to try this too, but the hill was SO steep, and without a rope tow or anything, I knew my pregnant hips and lungs would have a really hard time with the climb and lugging the heavy tube. Next time!

We did some mini golf and go-karts at a family fun center in Bend since the one in the Sunriver Village is only open on weekends. 

This was Madelyn's idea for a picture. :)

Madelyn is getting to be quite the little swimmer, and I'm so proud of her. 

The kiddie pool area at the SHARC also had an amazing sand-play section, it was pretty cool.

This was a fun little getaway for our family. We stayed in a really nice house (for half price at the end of the "spring season"), and the weather was ideal: sunny but not too hot.