Hockinson Fun Days

While Grandpa and Grandma Tolman were here they let us drag them to a small town parade. Why would we do such a thing? Well, the Grand Marshals of the parade were Grandpa and Grandma Pickup. It was a lot of fun to see them in the parade. Plus, there were a lot of Zane's favorite things in this parade--fire trucks, a train and plenty of John Deere tractors.

The crew--waiting for the parade. It was the first sunny, warm day in three weeks and we were not use to it!

You can't really tell in this picture, but Nora had a pretty rough day. Two falls, scraping up her face, sunscreen in her eyes, and a bit of sunburn. Not a happy camper.

Here they come! The Grand Marshals--Grandpa and Grandma Pickup.. . . Listen chums (Johnny Popper). Here it comes (Johnny Popper). When you hear that sounds rollin' through your town, the answer is clear it's a big John Deere!
Nora hugs the Grand Marshal

A boy, a lollipop and a fire truck.

Nora rides the Johnny Popper.

Zane rides the Johnny Popper. (I have video but it won't load--bummer)

The Beach-June 2010

We were lucky enough to have Grandpa and Grandma Tolman come visit for a few days in the beginning of June. I think they felt guilty for bringing a flu bug last time they came so they wanted to make it up to the kids and take them to the beach--I say whatever gets them here is great! We did enjoy a nice trip to the beach. It started off just a little breezy and cool, but by the time we left it had warmed up and Zane and Nora had their jackets off. Actually, Zane was completely shirtless because he fell in the ocean and he didn't mind one bit. Some of us even left with sunburns. How blessed are we, that a common post for us is a trip to the beach? If we ever move away, I am going to miss that!

Bucket? Check. Shovel? Check. Sand? Check. Go!

Daddy and Nora

Grandma and Zane filling the bucket, just so Zane can knock it down.

Grandpa and the kids digging.

One of Zane's favorite things to do was to knock down the "sandcastles" Grandma and Grandpa made. What a boy!

Grandpa, Grandma and Zane digging.

Isn't this picture AMAZING? If you could see it bigger it would be better. The background looks almost fake and you can see even the little specks in her eyes.

Anna--just chillin'.

Nora loved burying herself in the sand.

Anna

Zane loved gathering rocks off the beach

Nora was IMPOSSIBLE to keep out of the water. She just wanted to run all the way in!

Dad and Zane

The end of a great day! We like to go to the Sea Hag in Depot Bay. Forget Mo's clam chowder! Sea Hag's is much better. Then, of course we get some salt water taffy for the trip home.

May Pictures

One way Zane and Nora have found to entertain themselves while I cook dinner is to stick Post-It notes all over the fireplace. I figure, if it keeps them busy, keeps them out of the kitchen and gives us all some sanity during witching hour, then it's worth the price of a few extra sticky notes.
Zane got some new sunglasses and he thinks they are rather cool. He and Nora are becoming wonderful playmates.
Joey holding Anna. She is starting to develop a little personality. It doesn't take much to make her smile. You can see to the right of this pictures some of the spoils of my latest hobby--couponing. I can't believe how much money I've saved--especially on diapers!

One afternoon I heard crying upstairs (not an unusual occurrence at our house) and I proceeded to ignore it, as I do much of the crying that goes on around here (for the most part I think I can distinguish a cry that needs attention and a cry that will sort itself out). This cry however, was brought to me. Joey came down, Nora in arms and said "I think we have a problem." I took one look at Nora and couldn't help laughing at the poor girl. She tried to comb her hair and the comb got stuck.
One day in May I woke up feeling not quite right. It had been an unusually late night for Kevin and I and an unusually rough night with Anna, so I thought I was just tired. Then my vision started "strobing" and I thought that was weird. Then I started to get a little headache, I called and talked to Kevin for a minute and mentioned it, but didn't think much of it. Shortly after that I got very nauseous and completely wiped out. I realized I was having a migraine. I have never had one before, so I wasn't sure, but this is what I would imagine. I called Jennifer and Jessica, who thankfully had not found jobs yet. As soon as Jessica said she could come, I just started crying and went straight to bed. I was able to get a few hour nap and then felt much better, but Jessica stayed all day to help out. What a great sister-in-law and Aunt! I'm so thankful to her!!
Nora likes to organize things and put things in their place. One morning I found her taking all the wipes out of the case and neatly lining them up on the computer desk--so helpful!
Anna--like I said is easy to please. Just look at this big smile as she sits on a sleeping Daddy waiting to head off to church.

Trip to Idaho

In early May we got to take a trip to Idaho. The main purpose of this trip was to be a part of the blessing for our niece/cousin, Hannah. Hannah and Anna are two months apart. It was a great trip and we got to spend some wonderful time with family. Kevin and his brothers and our brother-in-law, Chris, who is like a brother got to go on a couple of bike rides (I don't have any pictures). We got to see our niece, Hailey, dance in her Spring dance recital. Of course she was the best little dancer and it was so cute! We had a super delicious dinner after the blessing. Zane and Nora got to play with their cousins and Anna got to be acquainted with everyone. One day we went to the Rex and played on the jumping equipment and went bowling. We stayed with Grandpa and Grandma Tolman so we got to spend some time with them too. We got to go see cousin Kyler sing with his class at school. Of course Zane and Nora loved staying at Grandpa and Grandma Tolman's and riding the John Deere--even if it feltlike February! Aunt Jennifer and Aunt Jessica stayed the week with Kristi and her family, I think mostly as a favor to me so I could stay an extra week with my family and not have to drive home alone with three kids. They were a huge help!!! On the way back to Portland we stopped at a rest area to let the kids run around, feed Anna and well, rest. Aunt Jessica helped Zane and Nora keep their eyes on this tiny little bunny we spied. We also got to stop in Boise and visit our friends Darwin, Hannah, Macy and Livia. We had a lot of fun jumping on their trampoline. It was a long ride home, but we did pretty good.

Kevin's Birthday

Kevin had a birthday. We won't say which number. We celebrated with the kids and Joey and with Grandma Pickup. Grandpa was in China. After eating at Red Robin we came home and opened presents. He got two big packages of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups from Nora, "The Patriot" (edited) from Anna, "Sherlock Holmes" from Joey, a fire starter kit from Zane, a weed-eater from me, a bluetooth from Grandma Pickup (mom) and a card with $$ from Grandma & Grandpa Tolman (my mom and dad). I think that's it. Funny how excited someone can be about a yard tool and Zane and Nora had fun with the box.

Sing, sing, sing!