Romantic Anniversary ... or not!

The day went as usual until 4pm when we went to pick up dad at work. We had eye appointments. Turns out Blake needs a stronger prescription of lenses and I need glasses. After spending $60 on new glasses (yay, no more headaches) we headed over to Moscow for dinner. Why did I choose not to get a babysitter, I will never know. I don't think Blake and I said one word to each other except, "do you want to take Braden out or me?"

We came back and watered our ward garden (which looks amazing) and then came home to put Braden to sleep. He went to bed right away, yay, actual adult and quiet time. We came downstairs and watched our wedding video (thanks, Aunt Patty, Kara and Jenny) and had some good laughs. We have determined that Braden is exactly like his cousin Micah. Once the movie ended, we were ready for an actual adult conversation. We headed upstairs just in time to hear Braden freak out.

I went in to calm him down and it didn't work. He was hysterical. After some Tylenol and some cuddles with mommy, he was calmer. Brade's wouldn't have anything to do with dad though (which was opposite from dinner). So, our night ended in our bed with me, Blake and are teething toddler. What a romantic anniversary. Happy 4 years honey, I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Happy Anniversary Babe!

4 years down and I am still madly in love. We have eternity to go, so I hope you continue to have patience.

Click to enlarge
This is a colleague of us cutting our cake. It's kind of fun.

Team Reid

All Jillian needed him to say is, "I am in love with you" or better yet, "I think I am falling in love with you." That's all she would have needed to keep him, but he couldn't say it to her. He told US (the public), but not the girl he was falling in love with.

For this reason, I hope he comes back tonight (which he does) and says those 3 magic words. I think Jillian fits in best with his family. Kiptyn's family seems a little too 'rich' for Jillian's good. And her mother-in-law would drive her crazy. As for Ed, I just don't like them together. He seems like a good enough guy, but I am completely TEAM REID.

A Boy's Best Friend

(I decided just to post all our vacation at once. So there are like 3 more posts below. There will be no more posting for awhile. Blake doesn't think I can go 3 days with blogging, well, watch me.)

My mom has a Bison Frise (known as Bitchin Frisbees in the dog world). Instead of naming him Bitchin, they named him Frisbee. Audrey & Toren have a wild and crazy Beagle named Baxter. Before you buy a Beagle, please talk to a beagle owner.

Braden loved his Uncle and Cousin. He didn't master and real Aunt's or Uncle's names, but he did master 'Baxter' and 'Isby.'

His favorite thing was to attach them to their leashes and walk them around the house. Frisbee had the look of "Ah, geez little boy. What are you doing to me." He was very cooperative though.

Baxter on the other hand thought, "I'm on my leash, where am I going? Where am I going? Here little boy, let me show you where we should go." He was the one to walk Braden.

Eventually Braden gave up on walking Baxter. That's something he couldn't master.
He loved wrestling with the dogs and especially calling their names. We heard 'Isby' and 'Baxter' all the car ride home. Audrey & Toren got him a little dog for Christmas and he now likes to feed it, walk it and interchange it's name.

For the record, Blake and I are not animal people, so we will NOT be getting a dog or any animal for that matter. I didn't grow up with animals (minus rats) and am doing just fine. Blake grew up with dogs and is even more insistent on NOT getting dogs. So no, we will not be accepting animal gifts (Mom & Audrey). Although, I think my mom has left us with Frisbee in her will.

Tillamook Cheese Factory

Saturday morning the boys went golfing and then we met up with them at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We all know that this is the best cheese. I can never get sick of eating their Medium Cheddar Cheese.

Tillamook Cheese Factory & the Morning Star boat.

The main reason you go to the cheese factory besides cheese samples, is Tillamook Cheese Factory. Mallory & Brent.

Not the classiest eater

Loves ice cream
The hidden secrets of the Tillamook Cheese

The cheese would come out in this HUGE block and then be cut down into 16 5-pound blocks. I could have jumped down there and eaten everything.

If you know me, you know I love operation. I mean, the best date would be going through a factory tour of Blake's work. With that said, it was so fun to watch their quality control and operations.

I love the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I could never get sick of it or the ice cream.

Uncle Toren & Aunt Audrey

Braden woke up at 6:15 am every morning of our vacation. Considering that he usually doesn't wake up until 8-8:30 every morning, this made us quite upset. Besides us having to wake up early, he was ready for a nap between 9:30-10 am. He was getting grumpy, so Uncle Toren and Aunt Audrey volunteered to take him on a walk to the beach. (pics courtesy of Audrey)

Rockaway Beach
We called this Serpent Rock

Uncle Toren giving snuggles.

Braden & his Aunt Audrey

Braden with Uncle Toren & Cousin Baxter

Wrestling with Baxter

Already asleep. It's only 9:30 am. Fortunately, he did take a 3 hour nap later in the day.

I am so blessed with great sister-in-laws that I could talk to for hours. We're also lucky that they love Braden and Braden loves them. I guess I am pretty lucky with my brothers & brother-in-laws too.

Rockaway: Petting Farm

Friday morning we headed into Tillamook. We stopped by a French Cheese Factory to check out their petting zoo. Frisbee loved watching the goats. All the goats were afraid of him.

Family of animals
Dad & Son

Braden the cow

Braden chasing the rooster.

Braden hung out with Aunt Kalen for quite a while.

Braden checking out the animals.

Family Photo

Blair & Kalen doing their photo shoot on the old vehicles.

We had fun with the animals. It was fun to hear Braden make all the animal sounds. The weather was perfect.

Rockaway Beach: Day 1-2

We were excited to be on vacation, especially at the beach. If you haven't been to an Oregon beach, let me share something with you. The water is freezing and NOT swimable. Do you ever get used to it, NO! This doesn't mean we didn't have fun. Blake, my dad and Brent hanging around on the sandbar.

Blake showing Braden the water.

Braden only lasts for about an hour or so and then he's done. He sure loved the beach and would have spent longer there if it were warmer. I am sure our Couer d'Alene trip will be fun for that matter (beach, warm water and warm weather).

We woke up and went into Tillamook. After eating at the $4.99 Pizza Hut buffet, we headed to the Pioneer Museum. There was a Tillamook native who donated his collections to this museum and what an impressive collection.

Lincoln's Life Mask (the 13th in the collection)
Braden getting some information from Smokey the Bear.

Playing at the museum

Grandma pointing out all the stuffed animals. There were tons of animals, ones that will pretty much give me nightmares the rest of my life.

Braden holding a baby doll.

Grandpa & Braden. They dressed alike.

After getting back from Tillamook (Rockaway was like 20 minutes away), we decided to have a friendly ping pong tournament. Blake and I were playing doubles with my mom and dad. Braden asked for a drink, so I left to go grab him his sippy. Blake asked if Braden wanted to play. He ran down from the stairs, grabbed the paddle and continued to play for me.

It's so cute how he understands something after 5 minutes of watching it. He kept throwing the ball on the table and then picking up the paddle to hit it.

Mallory & Brent joined us earlier in the evening and Toren & Audrey joined us even later. We had a preliminary tournament before Toren & Audrey arrived. Blake was the champion.

What Vegetable is This?

The neighbors that live above us our from China. Their parents have been here for the past year to help raise their children. They don't speak a lick of English. Well, I got a knock on my door this evening and the mother dropped off this vegetable from their amazing garden. Since she doesn't speak English, she didn't understand me when I said "Thank you, what is this?" Do any of you know what vegetable this is?

Note Post Below

Oregon Day 1: Rivercrest

The drive was long and Braden was uncooperative. Any tips on driving with a toddler? Anyways, we got into town late Wednesday night. Braden took immediately to Grandma and Grandpa, as well as Frisbee. My mom had a fun car garage and cars waiting for him. That's all he needed.

The next morning Blake and I woke up and ran 2 miles. Blake complained about his achy body the rest of the trip. No more running for him, or more of it. After our run we met up with my lifetime friend Jennie. She has a son (Blake) who's a little older than Braden. I love getting together with her and was sad we only had an hour or so to play.

We got together at Rivercrest Park. When I was growing up it had a little wading pool for the kids, but have recently turned it into a fun spray park. Mallory is the head camp counselor at this park, so she was more than thrilled to play with Brade's. Kalen, Blake & Braden enjoying the water.

Blake and Braden enjoyed each other for just a minute and then they were off in their own directions.
Braden really enjoyed playing in this little toy car that wasn't ours. Boy does he love cars.

Kalen was having too much fun. She loved to get dumped on by this bucket of water.

Braden didn't know what to think about the water. In fact, he would only go in with Blake. He wanted nothing to do with me.

Little Blake took to the water immediately.

Daddy & Son all wet

After our long morning at the park, we came home, packed our stuff and headed to the beach. Braden fell asleep right away. It made the ride pleasant.

Kalen drove with us. We listened to some Brian Regan, music and tried to nap a little. 2 1/2 hours later we ended up at Rockaway Beach, OR.

We got to the house we were staying at (thank you Ards) and were very impressed. It had a fuse ball and ping pong table. You better believe we had some tournaments. More to come later. We went out to eat at The Bite and met up with my dad. My mom and Blair showed up a little later. Day 1 was fun & eventful.