Monster Mom

This is what happens when Orin says,
"Mommy, make a scary face"
and then takes my picture.
Yikes!

Enjoying the River...

Death Cab!

Here we are at the Death Cab show.
I had a great pic of the three of us, but Orin took this one
and I love the only-a-kid-camera-angle.
It was a great concert,
Orin danced the whole time
and the weather (which was supposed to be horrible) held out.

Now back to Portland to finish packing...

Bend- Day One

Yesterday we headed to Bend to see
Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes.
We were planning on camping, but at the last minute
we were invited to stay with our friends Kyle and Ann.
It was great to see them and tour their new house
and sleeping indoors beat the heck out of outside
where the nighttime temperature was 37 degrees!
After dinner we walked the dogs down by the Dechutes River
while Orin and Ann rode their bikes.
It was a beautiful night and there were swarms of swallows
flying over the river.
Ah, we will miss Oregon!

Wild Child

Purple T-Rex

For the last 4 months, whenever we have asked Orin what
he wanted for his birthday he has replied "a purple T-Rex"
However, I never thought I would actually find one.
Then, one day, my mother called me up excitedly.
She told me that she had found a great purple T-Rex
and was sending it right away.
Although it arrived months ago, I have
(despite my mother's protests) made Orin wait to open the
mystery box in his closet.
After his first party, Orin started to get nervous
about the status of his dinosaur
and confided in me that night as I was tucking him in that
"the purple T-Rex was taking a long time."
I told him that it wasn't his birthday yet and that he
needed to keep being patient.
So yesterday, on his birthday,
Orin finally got to open his purple T-Rex.
It was worth the wait.
It is a pretty awesome purple T-Rex.

The Siblings

Dad and Nana

Relk and Chris

Morgan, Dad, and Matt

Candace and Cory

Miles, Sherri, and Liam

Jon, Devon, and Greg

Candace and Michael

Jess and Cosmos

5 Birthdays

This weekend kicked off Orin's 5-birthdays celebration.

On Saturday, our friends came over for a
birthday celebration / moving party,
on Sunday, we went to Nana's for another
birthday party with the family,
and on Monday (Orin's actual birthday) we had a party
at Miss Jessika's with his friends from school.
The last two parties will be at Baba's house and at the new house
on Cape Cod once we get there
(because a three year old can never have too many birthday parties).
So, because I am behind on the daily pics,
I am going to post a random assortment of pictures from the parties
for the next ten or so posts.
Enjoy!

Orin's First Protest

Last weekend, Orin and I went down to one of our favorite stores,

Naomi's Organic Farm Stand, for a protest/ party.
See, Naomi is leasing the lot from a tire center
who bought the lot a while back but wasn't ready to build on it.
Now the tire center is threatening to stop leasing to Naomi's
even though they could share the lot (it is huge)
if the tire center ever decided to build there.
So Orin and I biked to an organized protest to show
our support for Naomi's.
Orin had a great time marching around with his sign
and petting the goats and chickens living at the store.
Hopefully, the protests and petitions will work and
the tire center will back down.
I will try to remember to keep you updated.

New Shades

Orin loves his new sunglasses so much he insists
on wearing them everywhere,

including inside.

Definite rock star potential,
don't you think?

Smiley

The young photographer (again)

I was flipping through my camera the other day
when I came across this shot.
Orin must have taken it (the camera angle is a give away)
so the credit for capturing this classic Atlas expression
should go to him.

Real Bubbles

Orin has been deprived of a really bubbly bubble bath

for his entire life up until now.
This is the face of bubble bliss.

Soils 2011

If you thought you were a nerd,

think again.

If you are having trouble reading the text it says
"Soil Scientists Around the World:
Making a Difference."

What kind of difference, one might ask?
Who knows.

Bye Doghouse

This is a picture I took of Orin watching two Craigslisters
loading our doghouse into their truck
(a rather humorous process, actually, because the doghouse
probably weighed more than they did!)
If you think he looks sad, you are right.
Later that day, completely out of the blue,
he looked up at me and said "Mommy, it makes me sad
that those people came to take the doghouse."
He never explained why.
I guess it was a pretty special doghouse.

More boxes

Orin is probably more excited about our move than Casey or I.
He loves to tell me at least once a day,
"Okay mom, time to go to Cape Cod!"
(The concept of 4 weeks is a little over his head still).
He loves to help us pack boxes and bring us things
from his room that he wants to take to the new house.
Today he even helped us load the first boxes to take to FedEx.

Soaking in the sun

Purple very rarely likes to be outside,

but once in a while she will sneak out to the patio
and sunbathe for a couple minutes
before returning to her nearly permanent position on the couch.

Hi Fish!

Most of the time, Orin stays out of trouble.
But, on occasion, catching him in the act is so funny
that I just have to get my camera.

Happy Mother's Day!

The move begins!

...slowly.

Outside

It has been a lousy, cold spring.

Portland has seen precipitation 170% above average.
So when the sun finally made an appearance today,
there was no way I could convince Orin to play in the yard
in even one additional article of clothing.

Pretty Hair

Some see Atlas as incredibly tolerant.

I see a dog that has given up on dignity.

Rock stars

You don't need much of an imagination
to envision these two on stage!
(Maybe in slightly different outfits, of course,
and Orin might need a real guitar instead of a baseball bat
but the enthusiasm is certainly there)