Rollerskating!

Hunter went on her first rollerskating adventure to Oaks Park! She unfortunately was a little tired and cranky when we got there in the later evening, but overall she seemed to have fun, and so did we!

Her first moments standing on her skates... She seemed a little indifferent.

She was eager to take her first lap with Aunt Erin and Brandon.


She got a little frustrated towards at the end of the lap or maybe they were working on their war faces.


She spent most of the time on the sidelines watching people skate with Uncle Payton.

And chilling with Jaleana.

We were able to get her to go out for a final lap with Brandon and I before heading home.

I almost took a dive into the floor and Brandon sure thought that was funny. I was too busy watching Erin and her amazing backwards photography skills and I almost tripped over Aneka (Jaleana's cousin, in the yellow shirt).

I definitely think we need to purchase her a pair of skates and we'll get some practice in at home out on the street. I got my skates, Brandon has his blades and Hunter sure has the look!

It's raining chickens!

Our neighbors jumped on the chicken craze bandwagon this spring. Their chickens have taken to flying into our yard and hanging with our chickens or just hanging on the fence.



One happens to be a rooster too. He's pretty young so not that much crowing yet, but he sure is pretty and makes me want one! He kinda even looks like the tattoo on my arm, blue feathers and all!

Wisconsin Train Trip - Part 3 of 3 - Hanging with John

Time spent with my Dad was really fun, we got to see so many relatives I haven't seen in a really long time. I definitely miss Grammie and Papa Al, lots of awesome memories. Grammie is probably the one responsible for my love of the board games!

Papa Al, Grammie, Dad, Me, Brandon and Hunter

This is a cool shot of my Dad, his kids and grandkids.

Then my dad (being a goofball) with his three kids, aka all my brothers.

Dad with us kids and all our partners and kids. So many different pictures to take. :)

And with the timer of my camera we got a shot of all of us!



Hunter walking down the line to give high fives to everyone.


My nephew Charlie looking ridiculously cute.



More Charlie cuteness.

And this one even though he's looking kinda pathetic, he's still too cute.



Hunter had SO much fun running around for hours with all the other kids. She was even showing off some of her sweet jump tricks. Notice the frisbee whizzing above her head.

Her and Brooklyn spent some time wandering around, that is, when Brooklyn wasn't making an escape for the front yard.

And we had to do one night of playing games with Grammie and Papa Al. We played a card game called "Shit on your neighbor". I won the first round of course, but let others win a few hands too. :) My Dad and his fiance, Theresa joined us while Brandon kept Hunter occupied with all the toys I grew up with playing.

On the last day we were there my Dad took Hunter and I to a really cool park near his house. It was ridiculously hot outside, and all the slides were really hot, but we managed to have a really fun time.

Although, Hunter would not climb into the fishes mouth to let me take her picture.

I hope we make it back in a couple years and get everyone together again, it was really great to see everyone. Hopefully we'll stay in better touch. Thanks to Facebook, I think we will. :)

Wisconsin Train Trip - Part 2 of 3 - Hanging with Dorrie

Wisconsin was well over a month ago, but I'm finally getting the rest of these photos put up!

We kinda split up our time a bit between my Mom and Dad, here are the pictures from hanging out with my Mom and family.

We of course had to take the group shots,

From left to right Hunter, Brandon, me, Dorrie (my Mom), Kevin (her husband), Alicia (Kevin's daughter, Morgan and Mackenzie (Alicia's daughters), Alicia (Sister-in-law), Alex (Brother Mike's son), Mike (brother), Danita (Rob's gf), Brodie and Brianna (Danita's kids), and then Rob.

For those that don't know each of them I've probably totally confused you. :) But a fun bunch of people out at my Mom's house!

My brother Rob, me, Mom, Aunt Jackie, Brother Mike

Hunter, Brandon, Me, Mom, Mike, Alicia, Rob, Alex

My Mom lives out on a small lake in Milton, Wisconsin where they built their house a few years ago, and it is gorgeous with lots of wildlife. They have a canoe and paddleboat of their own. Hunter, Brandon and I went for a few rides on the paddleboat.



She surprisingly didn't mind the lifevest either. Safety first!



The temperature was in the upper 80's and 90's almost the whole time of our visit, but with the humidity it sure felt like the 100's. You can tell Hunter's face is a bit flushed from the heat, but she still is adorable as ever!



A close tie for adorableness is my niece Brooklyn. She's only about 15 months and Hunter is definitely jealous of all her hair.

Hunter and her cousin Alex out blowing bubbles in the yard.

We took a trip to a smaller local zoo. Brandon and I got lost on the drive, ended up in Illinois after an hour of driving. Whoops! It was a total of three hours of driving to get ourselves over to the zoo. They were all pretty tired so we didn't stay too long, but long enough to check out a few animals.





And to pose as apes, or are they gorilla's? Either way, Hunter didn't quite get where her head was supposed to go.

The zoo was surrounded by a cute little forested area that we cut through to get back to our car. Again you can see on their faces just how hot it was. A big reason I don't live in the Midwest anymore, the extreme weather! Scorching Hot or Freezing Cold, that's the seasons. :)

Wisconsin Train Trip - Part 1 of 3

We started off our on Wisconsin adventure on May 18th, a Tuesday afternoon from Portland train station. We were smart to get a sleeper car as it was such a different experience than the times I've taken coach to Wisconsin. We had our own privacy, beds to lay out at night and all our meals were included! Our very own picture window, and as you can see, it was gorgeous the whole way.


When Hunter got bored of looking out the window she kept herself busy with all her toys we carried with us. She never did quite get her train legs and had a few bumps and bruises by the time we got to Wisconsin, two days later.

It was so awesome to spend that time with her. She's too darn cute.

Playing in my suitcase early in the morning.


She was able to get her resting time in too, even with all the motion.


On the way home it was just Hunter and I, and we were stuck riding coach. Sleeper cars were all booked. And without Brandon (he flew home) with us, it made it a much more challenging trip. Not a lot of privacy and it was all me. We had alot of fun, but the ride home definitely had many frustrating moments and a sore back from Hunter taking up the chairs at night.

We spent a lot of time putting stickers everywhere, I mean everywhere! On the windows...


Which had some amazing views! Going through Glacier National Park was awesome.


She put stickers on her dolly...

And even all over her dvd player.

My Mom was nice enough to let her bring some trains and cars with us to put in her new purse from Walgreens (had to stock up on new entertaining toys!). We were sitting at a table in the observation cart in this picture. We did a lot of walking back and forth from our chairs to this car.

The train in itself was a whole vacation time totally almost four days of being on it. But it was awesome and worth it. Next time, sleeper car for both ways. :)