7 Months Old!

Emerson is really moving now! In addition to two bottom front teeth that popped through yesterday, E is also begining to climb and pull himself up on things. He is so aware of his surroundings and LOVES to talk.Aha, you caught me! Sneaking up the stairs...
My two front teeth - popped through on the same day
This is Emerson's favorite spot. He sits over here till he is freezing from the AC, then I have to drag him away. :)

Showing off his new standing skills!

Lazy Day on the Lewis River

Norah's first smore!

Silly Faces

WSU - Vancouver Campus

This afternoon we took a stroll through the WSU-Vancouver campus. Its near our new home - and a great place for a small hike/walk. Very beautiful!Checking out the scenery
Mid-run - showing off her flowers

It was hard to take pics of Emerson, as he was on my back. :-)

She's NAKED!!!

Here's a parenting tip...
Taking your 2.5 year and 6 month old children to the Friday night showing at the Portland Art Museum is really NOT a good idea. Where do I start? We walked in the foyer (Big, marble, and QUIET) to purchase tickets. Norah sees a sculpture of a woman in the middle of the room and runs over and yells "She's NAKED!!". It went rapidly downhill from there. :-) Friday nights at the art museum are definitely not for kids!

Still singing...very loudly

Playing chase with daddy. While climbing on the sculptures. An appropriate museum activity... Poor Ryan, he missed most of the Rembrandt exhibit, which he had been waiting to see. It was such an awful trip, it actually was funny! We'll put this in the memory books.

Cinderella

Ryan bought Cinderella for Norah - she is all about the fairprincessballerina concept still, so this is just up her alley. As you can see from her face, she is not so sure about the stepsisters ripping apart Cinderella's dress. We've had lots of fun playing make-believe along the same lines :-)

Family Zoo Trip

This morning we met Gramma and Grandpa Skogen, along with Aunt Laurie and Baby'Belle at the Oregon Zoo. The kids had a great time - and Isabelle ran everywhere!Norah loves her cousin 'Belle!
Looking for black bears

This was right before Norah jabbed the rabbit in the eye...
Isabelle was much nicer to the bunny

One of our favorite toys at the zoo!
Isabelle and Emerson were so sleepy by the time we left...

Milestones - Norah's first haircut

Can you hear me crying? We didn't even do much (just a bang trim) but it was SO hard - for me, Norah didn't seem to notice. :-)

Are we having fun yet?

Today Emerson enjoyed his first ride in the little red wagon! Although neither of them look too excited, nor were they very willing to ham it up for the camera, they both really had a good time. :-) Emerson craned his neck every which way to check out this new view of the world. It was a great way to take everyone for a walk!

Columbia River Gorge - Upper Ponytail Falls

Ryan has been very busy at work the past few weeks, but he finally had a day off so we headed up the Gorge for a hike. This was the first time we had been hiking with Norah on foot, near steep drops. Don't let this picture fool you, Norah only walked up about a third of the trail. I carried her the rest of the way up (nice workout), but Ryan had the foresight to bring the frontpack, so we switched up on the way down - Emerson with me in the frontpack and Norah with Ryan in the backpack. She was MUCH happier.

Emerson stayed awake for the entire hike!
Ryan and Norah, climbing down to explore the waterfall.
Happy to be out of the backpack
It looks like Ryan is throwing Norah in the waterfall...

Fun Times

Norah cracks Emerson up...he has the most hilarious loud, manly giggle. If "manly giggle" isn't a contradiction. :-)
Dress up is great fun - as is playing with our stuffed "friends".
Ian gave Norah Franklin the Turtle. He's quite the fave!

Irving Park - Water Playground

It has been so hot and muggy lately! We walked down to Irving Park and played in the water area. Lots of fun and cool relief. Norah really preferred the mud puddles while Emerson wanted to eat the grass. :-)
So sleepy...

Mich-L

Everybody loves Michelle! And we managed not to break any of the neat things she has displayed in her home. :-)

What have I done to deserve this?

Emerson is now trying to pull himself up into a standing position. Really, I am not ready for this. Yep, those are the weights he lifts in the background. You don't get a figure like this from just crawling around, you know.

Crazy Games

My cousin Chris and brother Kodiak came to spend the night - mayhem ensued. This was part of the pre-bedtime gaming. Note the jammies. :-)

Happy Birthday, Grammie Peggy

Norah picked out a present for Grammie - she found some pottery pieces that she thought she and Grammie should paint together. She picked out a dragon for herself and a pony for Grammie. So cute - she came up with the idea herself and was EXCITED.
On Saturday afternoon we had a BBQ for Mom and invited a few of our family friends over to celebrate...
Charlie Ricks
Chris and Kaye O'Brien with Emerson

Emerson loves a party!
I put together little activity bags for the kids - Anna Ricks loved the notebook and spent most of her time practicing her spelling and drawing skills.
Norah and Charlie ran around and around - he plays a great game of chase, Norah's fave activity.
Munching on the goods that Ryan 'cued.