Back from the land of the Uncommitted

I have been out of the blogging world for almost two months now. Of course, I have checked out of most things for the last two months. It's been fabulous. If I had my way, I would just spend all day snuggling with Graham. Since that's not realistic with four children, at minimum we have just lived life uncommitted - I don't commit to being places or doing most things (minus school and church) and we just take life as it comes. I haven't committed to having more than one room of my house clean at any given time (so if I won't let you go upstairs, you know why!). But, we are slowly getting into a new life rhythm and though we are still minimal on commitments, I am ready to start documenting our family's life again. So, of course that involves a rewind and review, as April was a very eventful month for us!

Three days after Graham was born my husband renewed his super dad/husband certification, taking the boys of for a great weekend of planned fun, leaving me and Graham to recover, sleep, and relax. We did this with Luke and it was such a win-win, the boys getting to do fun things and have daddy time while I get a break from doing anything but taking care of and bonding with the new baby.

Friday morning Matt and Nathan, Carter, and Luke headed off for some costal camping, first stoping in Banden, a costal town three hours west of here. They were lucky enough to score a yert for the night. Never heard of a yert? Neither had we, but they are these great little huts available to rent for the night on the coast. You get all the fun of camping (campfire, outdoors) with the comforts of home (bunkbeds, walls and a roof to protect from cold and rain, and electricity). It's a great way to go with young kids! The boys called them "ewok huts".

Here's what the outside of the yert looks like:

And an inside view with the boys looking comfy:
The boys being boys - getting their energy out with a boy wrestle!

In Banden, they went to a great little animal park that included tigers, camels, bears, goats, sheep, llamas, ostriches, even a peacock or two. Nathan loved looking at and touching them all. Carter and Luke liked looking, but really wished the animals would stick to looking and stay far away from them!

Peacocks happen to be one of Nathan's current favorite animals, so he was pretty excited to stand next to this real one!

Also, they hit the beach. Of course, this was like most Oregon beaches - cold, windy, and rocky. But, they are also gorgeous and fun places to explore.

Though it's a pain to clean up, I love how little boys will dive right into sand, mud, or other fun messy materials. Here they are laying and rolling around in it, making sure they could bring home some of this fun trips in every crevice and pocket.

After spending the night in Banden, they headed up to Florence, about an hour north, to check out the dunes. Now you might wonder what you do at the dunes when you don't have any of the fun toys to do with it...no worries, you can rent them! Or, in the boy's case, pay to ride on a giant dune buggy. The boys to this day still sing a song they made up on their dune buggy ride, it was so much fun. They even took them over a few hills, which was super fun on this giant dune buggy. While they waited to take their buggy ride, they played a litlte golf...minature of course.

I love the look on Nathan's face - can you say "cocky"?

A view from inside the dune buggy:

The last day of the trip ended up in Eugene. Dad of course had researched fun parks they could play at and get energy out at until the grand finale - watching "How to Train a Dragon" at the theater. The boys don't get to see movies in the theater often (come on - 3 kids ages 6 and under? Not the best use of money - we do better at home!), so this was a treat and it was especially great to have such a good "boy" movie out after the baby was born. They loved it!

Here's a picture holding up their movie tickets, anxiously awaiting:

I can't thank Matt enough for all his hard work in planning and executing this amazing boys weekend. I hope the boys will remember in some small way how much their dad loves being with them, wants to be around them, and wants to make memories for them. It's never easy, but always worth it.

And, I will end with a picture of another little guy who is worth every sleepless moment and hour tied down nursing - precious Graham:

More to come, hopefully sooner, versus later!