Family Fun in the Sun

Here in the Northwest, we don’t get that much sunshine. So we have to live it up when it comes. Luckily, our sunshine coincided with an awesome family-party weekend!

On Saturday there was a birthday party for Anna. She doesn’t turn 3 until August, but since we were all together, we decided it would be a good idea. It was mermaid themed, complete with sea creatures, buried treasure, and WATER! Emily went above and beyond to make it a really great party. I think I should have her plan  my parties…

The party was complete when Dana showed up and made Magnus his own custom crown.

Grant consented to let me hold him for a little while.

Dana showed off Magnus’s kung fu skills. Matthew bore the brunt of the attack.

We all took advantage of the Guptill’s hospitality. Thank you, Guptills!

Magnus and Grant making big plans for being friends… best friends!

Back at the Jensen abode, Whitney met with a local resident. Go here for the fuller story. Also, congratulations are in order for the Keelers-proper, who are expecting a little boy in December! Whitney will be sure to show him the ropes.

On Sunday, we all went to church in Gladstone for Grant’s baby blessing. Afterwards we returned to the Guptills to hang out. Some attire was more formal than others…

Will, Courtney, and Whitney had to go home eventually.  Before they went, we got this picture. Thanks for coming, guys!

This one of the options for the Magnus/Grant album cover. It drops this December. Watch for it  

The Guptills made a quick stop in Vancouver to visit friends and came to see us before going back home.

Thanks for coming to visit, you guys! We love to get together with you all!

“Getting to know you!” : Magnus and the Coast (again)

This last week we had the fun-tastic opportunity to go to Tillamook again, so we could eat cheese and ice cream again. And also because Emily and Scott were in town and wanted to visit the coast. This was the first time we got to meet each other’s newest additions to each family: Magnus and Grant.

After ice cream we went to Oceanside. The weather that day was beautiful. It was actually a good day to swim, though we did not. This beach also had a tunnel that leads to another beach.

Here is the whole troop minus me.

This is Magnus’s new cousin Grant.

A beautiful beach

And some of the off shore rocks:

Though we didn’t swim, some of us had fun playing in the water:

Here we are going back through the tunnel.

We let Magnus feel the sand in his toes. I don’t know if it was his baby reflexes, but he always curled them up. If you look closely, you can see his feet inside of my footprints.

Here is Magnus’s impression of a salty old sea captain.

Here are Magnus and Grant hanging out after our walk.

We decided we needed some Burgerville afterwards (the Guptill GPS pronounced this with a soft “g”, making it sound French). Everyone enjoyed the yummy food and good company.

Baby swap! Baaaaaaby swap!

All in all it was a great day at the coast.

Roll over, Thor!

Magnus Rolls Over

Magnus Thor is just starting to roll over. Tonight was the first time we saw him really do it. And he did it several times. This is his best attempt (taken July 18, he was born May 3, 2011).

Magnus meets the Ocean

On Wednesday, July 6th, we took a little trip to the beach. This was Magnus’s first trip to see the ocean. Usually when we go to the coast, we like to visit several spots, but with a baby in tow we thought we would take it slow and just visit one beach. We decided on a favorite of ours called Short Beach. This is just south of Cape Meares and north of Oceanside. It is not a very well known beach, so there are hardly ever any other people there. The hardest part it the long stair climb from the road.

A fun side note about our trip is that we came here for part of our Honeymoon five years ago. We have come other times in between, but now with an addition to our family it adds something more. 

It started as a very nice sunny day. We set up our chairs and had our supplies ready:

Magnus fell asleep by the time we were on the beach. I wanted to get a picture of him and the ocean, so here it is:

The tide was way out when we got there, so we had fun walking out to the rocks and seeing the fun animals.

After a short time of being on the beach the clouds started to roll in:

A cool tide pool:

And in the cool tide pool I found this sea slug. It was almost an inch long when moving. Those orange things on its back would wave around like anemone arms. It was very pretty. I also found some hermit crabs and fan worms.

Here is Magnus enjoying the sea air:

When we finally left the blue skies were gone:

We made a stop at the Cape Meares Lighthouse (it is the shortest lighthouse in Oregon). On a sunny day you can the ocean from here . At some places along the cliffs the clouds were thin enough to see the waves below. While we were looking we saw a sea lion swimming along. He looked like he was in a hurry.

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Five years ago we had our picture taken in front of the Octopus Tree, now it was Magnus’s turn.

He seemed to have a good time on the Cape.

On the the way back to Tillamook, we stopped to watch some bald eagles hunting over the bay. One even tried to snag a small sea bird on the water. After a short struggle on the water, the eagle lifted off with the bird in tow. But the bird was able to break free and fell back into the bay. It was intense to watch.

We finished our trip with the obligatory (and delicious) stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We sampled their cheese and got some ice cream. Yum! Other visitors thought it was quite adorable to see Magnus playing the part of the Tillamook farmer. Last time, it was Dave that got that privilege.

After the Tillamook Cheese Factory, we went to the Blue Heron Cheese shops. That is where we got to see the emu.

So, it was another good day on the Oregon Coast.

Our 4th of July

We know it’s a bit after the fact but we thought we would tell tales of our fun fourth.

Every year our neighbors have a Fourth of July BBQ. Last year the chicken they made was amazing, so we were looking forward to it this year. They did not disappoint. Though, Magnus is not sure how he feels about the sun yet.

After eating, we walked the two blocks to the Fort Vancouver 4th of July Celebration. They had events all day long, but we wanted to see the Abraham Lincoln press conference. It was part of the commemoration of 150 years since the Civil War began, since the army barracks here were in operation during that time.

It was fun to listen to him talk as if it was 1865 and the war was just ending. We even got to meet him after the press conference.

We then walked back home to wait until it got dark to come back and see the fireworks. By the time we came back the place was really filling up. Luckily, Anton had a friend who came and saved a great spot at about 6 AM (Thank you, Crystal).

Here we are waiting for the show:

My dad was nice enough to brave the lines and get some delicious elephant ear for us.

Fireworks!

After the show, we got home quick enough to see our neighbors doing their own firework display.

So, we ate some great food, celebrated our history and saw lots of fireworks…it was a good 4th of July.