Awwwww Summer

My hubby!


My Seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeestor!

What have we been doing this week? Well, we have spent a lot of time at Cousin Taylor and Cousin Cole's fabulous pool until it was over 100 and Zac was in full melt down. We have been reading books, playing chase with Zac around the house, watching movies, cleaning the house and keeping it clean (wow I know), taking naps, talking on the phone, computer time, DS time, playing cards, tickle fights, raspberry fights (Zac loves to give them), sleeping in and staying up late. I do love summer! We all do around here. It is so relaxing and there is no time schedule. Will this go on forever...nope. But as much as I enjoy these days I do enjoy the routine of school. But I will enjoy the time with my boys now...my uninterrupted time to do whatever we please.

Cousin Byron

His real name is Brian but CJ called him Byron for years....it was just too cute and the name stuck. He comes out from Illinois every summer for about 2 weeks mostly to sit in the sun but more often than not we have him help with some project. He is fun to have around, the kids love playing with him and he is always up for whatever is going on. Here he is meeting Zac for the first time.

Remembering

Fourth of July, 2009
Zachary Robert Lomas
I have been blogging for just over a year now. It was been a great way to remember thoughts, share pictures, read and see what others are doing and for me a bit of therapy. All in all, I have really enjoyed blogging. I think sometimes my family is a bit tired of it. Tired of posing for a blog picture, seeing or hearing about a candid photo from my blog or being quoted in my blog. To all of this I say...thanks and chill out. I look forward to someday having some sort of blogbook published. It would be a bit family diary/scrapbook from the millennium. What I have enjoyed this year is reading post from just last year. I am now blogging about events again or I could even now say annually (baseball, swimming, holidays, summer events). Last year at this time I was pregnant with Zac. So hard to remember exactly how I was feeling, but I can return to a blog post and read my thoughts and comments and remember. Would all those memories have been captured without blogging? I want to think the pictures would be saved on the computer, burned to a disk and stored in a drawer...waiting to be sorted, printed and put into an album someday(there are a ton already with that fate). That makes my time at the computer downloading, uploading, making collages and typing my thoughts all worth the while. I love that family and friends leave comments and others just stop by (lurk/stalk). Here is to another year of my online family diary. Enjoy!

My Floating Boys

Champions!

It was a great baseball season. Full of wins and just a few losses. We had a great team of coaches...Carlos and Steve did a great job as 1st and 3rd base coaches for every game. All the boys played hard and improved on their skills. CJ's best game he went 3 for 4, had a few RBI's and at the end of the game, while in the dugout and fellow teammate was horsing around and swung a bat right into CJ's eye! He had quite the shiner for about a week. He was a tough cookie though! He also has done a great job at shortstop. His head is in the game and has a good arm to get the ball to 1st. I am so proud of him! His great buddy Stevie is a fabulous catcher. He faithfully puts on his gear and also keeps his head in the game. He is so fearless behind the plate! His other great buddy Josh consistently pitches for the team. It is a high-pressure position but one he does really well. Josh had a few homers this season! Way to go boys!

The championship game was well played and well coached. I am so proud of all these boys! They have worked so hard and after last year's second place it felt good for them to win this season. (Check out how much CJ has grown this year! Wow!)

Who's on Third

Our little town of McMinnville used to have a summer downtown festival called Turkey Rama so aptly named for the abundance of turkeys raised in the county. Fast forward about 50 years and there are no more turkey barns and Turkey Rama is renamed Who's on Third?. The main drag (Historic Downtown) is 3rd street for you out-of-towners. Anyway, the downtown association has successfully moved all carnival-like booths, rides and their attendees to the Lowe's parking lot across town and left well...really boring booths on 3rd Street. (I don't mean to be so mean, but it is a bit of a 180) So, who is on 3rd? In my opinion people over 50 with their grandchildren because the booths were about buying insurance, private school information, water filtration for your home, insulation and Costco memberships and the rides were for toddlers! With that said...we did find one ride that our 9 year old was interested in...a mechanical bull. This is the same ride we rode last year just with a different friend. (BTW, last year's last year of Turkey Rama held a bit more excitement and the booth selection was a bit more varied) So, CJ went to the ride and saw it cost four tickets (why can't they just take money?) so we went to the ticket booth to purchase tickets for the one and only ride he was interested in. Guess how much the tickets were? Come on...take a guess. ONE DOLLAR! You can do the math...Four dollars to ride the mechanical bull! So...I walked back to the mechanical bull attendant and asked how long is a "ride". "They ride for as long as they can stay on. They can get back on 2-3 times." I thought this was a fair answer and he was really nice and personable. I am not even kidding. Then I got really brave and asked we could split a ride (pay $4 and CJ and his friend could ride one time each) he again was so nice and said that we could. You may think I am cheap, but I don't care. That split ride was all they needed.

Next year I am not sure we will even go. I need to fill out a comment card at the information booth next time or get an attitude adjustment.

Baseball 2009

Here are the boys of summer. CJ, Josh and Stevie have been on the same baseball team since they were in T-ball! (Thank goodness that is over, baseball is waaaaay more fun!) Cole, in black, is on the team we played tonight for the championship spot. I love when the cousins play against each other, they are good sports. And the little guy not in uniform? Why that is Jakie, younger brother to Stevie. He does his best to do everything but watch the game. He plays in the trees, runs with Abby, races with James and shares his snacks. I hope to have a picture of these boys when they are in high school. They are a good bunch of boys!

Cousins!

Tangleboxing 2009

Here they are again, Tangleboxing around the county. They all got along, they all were nice and they all had a blast together. They also loved being around Zac and taking turns watching/playing/holding him. They love to make him laugh! Taylor loves to take care of Zac...she feeds him, changes all kinds of diapers and is always holding him on her hip like a pro! Cole likes to make him laugh...as loud as he can. He is forever calling out "Zac! Zac!" And of course CJ willingly takes a bit of a backseat and lets his cousins play with his brother. I love it because CJ and I can talk and hang out. Cousins are the best!

Da' Boys

When I asked CJ to take our laundry basket back to our room...I didn't know that he was taking along a stow-away too! I have said it before and I think this picture proves it again, CJ is a great big brother. He loves to hold Zac, play with him, chase him and even lets him into his room (on occasion and with supervision). I love my boys!

Auntie Anna is the Best

We all love when Auntie Anna comes over and wants to bake some cookies. She always has her sweet tooth and ours in mind...and none of us seem to mind the jar full of cookies when she is done. I love that she and CJ get really involved: they measure, chat, talk through the recipe and lick all the appropriate spoons and mixing paddles. Sometimes they make just plain old chocolate chip...but this time it was peanut-butter cookies with chocolate chips!

Auntie Anna is the best! We love ya!

Oregon Coast (CJ in pictures)

Oregon Coast (Zac in pictures)

Oregon Coast

I love this picture of CJ out in the (freezing cold) water and having a blast!

At the cheese factory. This is CJ's favorite way of carrying his little brother.

The boys on the beach...Stevie, Zac, Jake and CJ.

Zac's very first time in the ocean! CJ is the best big brother!

Love, love, love this picture. This is CJ's red hat and we have a ton of pictures of him at the beach wearing the same hat. I am bummed we didn't get a family shot that day...CJ in red trunks, my red suit top and Zac in his red stripes. We were really cute. Maybe too much red for some but not for us!

Bethany and her two boys (Stevie and Jake) came to pick us up at 10 am Thursday. It was going to be hot in the valley. They said mid 90's. We were out of here! Four boys and two moms...we could do it. I told the boys that moms were in charge and no worries, we were going to have some fun. And fun we did have. We drove straight to Starbucks then off down the road to Neskowin. My favorite beach with Proposal Rock staring at you all day and the little river readily available if the ocean gets too big or cold. We packed in way too much gear, food and toys than we really needed but it was all worth it for 5 hours of fun on the Oregon Coast. It was hot! OK, 75 degrees is hot for Oregon. Not a cloud in the sky and a cool breeze coming in off the ocean. We didn't care that there was sand everywhere...in the sandwiches, on the blankets, on the chairs and all over Zac's face. It turned out to be a perfect day at the beach. Of course I have a ton of pictures but how do I decide which ones to put in? I really think this may be a problem this summer!

After we left Neskowin we headed to Lincoln City to find a hotel. No problem. Really. We ran all the boys through the shower and into clean clothes and headed off to dinner. No fancy seafood for us though (all restaurants were packed) we made our way to a favorite...Burger King. Not kidding. Come on...we are traveling with four boys! (OK, one is 1o months old and slept the entire time at dinner but still...) Then back to the hotel in time for Bethany to take the big kids for a sunset walk on the beach. We all fell asleep in nice comfy beds and awoke to some really loud music at some random hour! Not sure what that was all about but I am thankful I am not an apartment dweller anymore! Friday (today) we headed to Pig'n Pancake (We are at the beach remember...with four boys!) and then to the Tillamook Cheese Factory (OK, that was my idea. I have not been there for years) to see some cheese being made and have some ice cream. Pistachio Pecan...yum!

Now I am hope blogging with a really bad sun-burned back and looking at some great pictures. I know that this summer is going to go by quickly so I am going to take each day as it is and enjoy it to the fullest.

Picture Taker

This is not me with my son.

After a fun filled two days at the Oregon Coast I realized that I am the picture taker of the family. Granted my hubby was not there this time, but more often then not I am holding the camera. How do I know this? The same way that you know it...I am not in any of the pictures! (How many are you in on your blog?) I want to be, really. I want to have pictures with my boys. So...this summer I am going to take as many pictures as I want/can AND make sure that I pass the camera off to someone. Join with me this summer to add ourselves to our blogs. We too are a part of our families. Besides being immortalized on blogspot is cool.

First Splash

The sun is out, the air is hot and Zac needed his first dip in a friend's pool. So, we went to Gracie's pool and dipped our toes and splashed and drank some pool water (oops) and then went inside for some quality fun out of the sun with the AC! Thanks Amy for such a fun afternoon.


Amy is telling Gracie something very important...you can tell by the look on Zac's face. He looks so old!

CJ saw this picture and said, "I have this wet sock and I am not afraid to use it!"

Amy and Gracie!

Pool toys? What are those when I have this wet sock of Gracie's...way more fun!

After a long day (OK, maybe an hour) in the pool we came in for some cool air and food. There were some other pictures that captured Zac and Gracie playing, but I love profile shots of my baby and when CJ saw this picture he said, "He looks like MLK." What does that mean?