13.1

In honor of Erin's birthday, we ran a half-marathon.  And there were TRAILS!  They were hard, but nobody cried or even threw up. 

A Very Carrie Visit

One thing is, I love it when Carrie visits.  And not just because she likes to watch the same trashy hip hop videos that I like to watch, (although that's super fun) but because Scarlett gets reaaaaaalllyy excited about a Carrie visit.  I think she might think Carrie is another little kid, like her.  In any case.
Crown Point:

Hood River:

Ice cream (mint, obviously, because it's green)

Pajama time!  Scarlett loves this game where she picks out a bunch of pj 'options' and lays them out on the floor, then she sorts through them and talks about them.  These are too hot, these go in the not gonna wear pile, these have frogs, etc etc.  She and Carrie celebrated the finale of this game with a hug (or, a Scarlett attack).

Cousin Dance Party

One day, Scarlett went to swimming lessons.  When she came home, COUSIN DANCE PARTY:

Followed by us walking to Burgerville for ice cream, Esther dropping an ice cream cone on the ground, me giving her my sundae, and all three girls sharing theirs with me.  In all fairness, it was a huge, top-heavy ice cream cone that no three-year-old could really handle.  

Vive La France

To celebrate Bastille Day (and Uncle Tom's birthday!) Scarlett and I shared some mini croissants. 

Baby's First Sparkler

I remember being afraid to hold sparklers when I was a kid.  But Scarlett was pretty thrilled with them.

There were other firsts!  Like, Ramona's first July 4 as a big sister!

A first combined tree-climb for Scarlett and Lucy.  They played butterfly and frog.  At one point, I thought Scarlett was still up in the tree but she had climbed down and gone inside the house.

A first July 4 for Charlie and Theo, who are somehow both tiny and big at the same time and almost six months old.

At the end, we cuddled under blankets and the guys played like little kids, setting off explosives.  That is nothing new.

Scarism: It's never too early to hate the Lakers

 Scarlett, to daddy, at the dinner table:

"You made dinner and it's good!  Nothing is yuck around here but purple and yellow."

Sunday afternoon

Scarlett says she is going to Chicago after her nap and needs to pack.  I asked, what are you packing?

"TOOTHBRUSH!!!
Toothpaaaaaaaaaaste
I don't need to bring my Dora puzzles but I can if I want to
Important things, like Arnie and Og
My toothpaste
Bring Arnie
My owl pants that Arnie got me
The owl big red balloon
Also, a flower pot
A flower
Arnie
My new lunchbox if I'm going to the zoooooooooo
Owls
Those are all the things.
I mean, not my new lunchbox, my frog lunchbox
And I have to bring them all in a big bag like yours

Happy Carrieday

Happy birthday Carrie!  Did you know you are my only college friend?  Other people are like 'oh, my college friends' because they have many, and I have one.  But one is all you need, when your college friend is as awesome as this...

Scarlett says that today is also Arnie's birthday and he wants his favorite kind of popsicle, leaf banana.

Escaping the Heat

During the day yesterday, Scarlett and her cousins escaped the heat by going to OMSI.  There were some college researchers there doing a study on how young kids manage these magnet blocks.  Afterwards, they send kids home with pictures of themselves playing with the blocks.  Scarlett was excited to hang hers on the wall, next to her bed.

 After dinner, she and I went to the swimming pool, where she wouldn't go down the big slide "because it isn't green". 

Then in the evening, Charlie put an AC window unit in Scarlett's room, and once she went to bed, moved it to our room.  It was lovely, and everyone slept well, including this beauty:

Berry picking

This is the part of the blog where I really want to complain about the weather.  In the 90s?! Gross, give me a 65 degree overcast morning any day.  Last night Scarlett, who is scared of fans, had two fans blowing into her room.  She likes to sleep with blankets covering her, and doesn't understand that the blankets are what is making her feel so uncomfortable.  So, none of us slept great, and the heat wave is only just starting. 

Now, something happier, berry picking.  We picked raspberries and strawberries last weekend, and Charlie made really delicious jam.  Scarlett and I mostly ate pounds and pounds of berries.  We had a picnic for Esther's birthday and because it wasn't 90 degrees, everyone was happy.

We call this American Gothic, Portland style