Taryn's First Bikeride (poor Taryn)

I had to pick up Amber from preschool one day.  Though it is only a half-hour walk from our house, I decided to expose Taryn to the joys of bike riding.  It was not only her first ride, it was her first solo ride in the trailer.

This captures Taryn's first ride in the bike trailer.  I don't think it was the ride as much as the helmet required to ride.  

Amber is a pro at this.  Taryn calmed down considerably when Amber joined her for the ride home,
though she still wasn't took keen on the helmet.

This is what Taryn thinks of Daddy blogging about her first ride in the trailer

The pumpkin patch

Living on the urban growth boundary gives us great access to local farms (and wineries).  Each fall we make a pumpkin run and an apple run.  This year we visited Hoffman farm with 'this' Grandma and Grandpa

.  They have a tractor that takes you two their pumpkin patch.   

riding the train out to the pumpkin patch with Grandma and Grandpa

Daddy and Taryn found the perfect one

I love these two photos of Amber because they capture her contemplative/content smile

This is such a beautiful place!

Down at the farm

Recently we went to our favorite farm 'Smith Berry Barn' to see the goats and chickens.  It was a beautiful Friday afternoon for a wagon ride.

Taryn insisted on pulling her own.

A few cute photos I came across

What else do you do when your princess Amber asks for your hat and sunglasses

Taryn taking a snack break on the way to see Grandma and Grandpa

Amber giving her friends a ride in the bike trailer while camping with Grandma and Grandpa

Taryn on a beautiful summer day

Mommy reading to Taryn

My funny Amber wearing her snowsuit in May

Ambers 4th Birthday!

Our sweet little girl turn 4 today!  This was fun because Amber is finally old enough to appreciate birthdays.  She really wanted mommy to make chocolate cupcakes with white frosting so we could sing Happy Birthday to her while she blew out candles.

So we did

a xylaphone

said cupcakes (yum!)

a Princess book

Taryn wanting to play the xylophone

Happy birthday Amber.  We love you!

Happy 4th!

We had a quiet Independence Day, trying to keep Taryn's nap schedule in-tact.  That still allowed us to visit Beaverton's community celebration in the early afternoon.  Amber was able to jump in the bouncy house and slide before they closed it.

 We grilled in the back yard and the Sandi's family joined us for dessert.

Then we celebrated our country's birth and no bed time with fireworks.

Amber really liked our little fireworks display. The noise was sometimes too much for her but she LOVED the sparklers. 

 This was Taryn's first experience with fireworks (she slept through it last year) and gave it about a 5 out of 10.(She's a tough critic.  I loved every minute of it.)

Our grand finale:

We didn't get to bed until almost midnight.  Our neighbors had a pretty good show of their own that we saw from our upstairs window.  Even Taryn was interested in all the pretty lights across the street.

Our New Piano!

We just got a piano!  A friend moved and decided to give it away.  Sandi jumped on the opportunity.  It's all tuned and ready to make music.

not a movie, just a picture of a cute little
Taryn playing the piano

Amber and sheepy playing the piano

Sandi was playing a few songs tonight and I can't express how warm our house feels with music drifting through the rooms. 

The beauty of this gift is that it is already 'broken-in' (it's about 50-years old). Come on down and plunk away at the keys.  Compose a melody, scratch out a tune, play 'Desperado' or 'Chopsticks' or Bethoven's 9th, perform a recital, gather around and sing Christmas Carols, whatever you want.  This piano is here to make music with you.