Been a while!

Kung Fu Fighting

One of our favorite things about Oregon is the U-Pick farms.
Riley's theory was "one in the bucket two in the mouth."
Challenger Soccer camp.

Halloween

Brock and Riley were pilots for Halloween this year and "Grossman Brother's Aviation" flew around the neighborhood for trick-or-treating.

Riley went to five or six houses this year. Riley had a screaming fit at each house. He wanted his "canny now." He didn't want his candy in his bucket to eat latter. He wanted to eat it as soon as he got it.

Brock realized this year the more houses he went to the more candy he would get. I think he would have trick-or-treated all night if we would have let him.

We asked Brock what he wanted to wear as a pilot and he said, "a white shirt, a tie, and stripes on my shoulders."

The Hideout

There are several blueberry bushes in our backyard. We all enjoyed them this summer. The boys would eat blueberries by the hand full. At some point this summer, they discovered the back side of the bushes. This became Riley's favorite place in the yard. He would go outside and disappear. Eventually you would see two little feet behind the bushes. Before we realized this was the "new" hideout, Riley disappeared. Shannon looked all over the yard, yelling for Riley. She looked in the house and still could not find him. She made one last check of the yard before complete panic set in. Then she saw those two little feet and Riley said,"Momma I found you."

The Oregon Coast

My brother Jess and his family (his wife Kelly and children Kaitlin, Kourtney, and Keegan) came to visit us last week. It was so nice to have family here. We went to Newport, OR on the coast to play in the sand for a few days. My brother's oldest daughter Kaitlin, has said all summer that she "wanted to fly a kite on the Oregon coast."

Brock really had fun with his cousins. He and Kourtney became good pals. She was willing to play firefighter with him without complaint. She tried to get him to play house. Kourntey told Brock, "you can be the boy and I will be the girl." Brock responded with a firm "No, but we can play firefighter."

Riley is in absolute heaven on the beach. After getting wiped out by a wave last spring he has no desire to go in the water. But, there is an unlimited amount of sand. You could stick him in a pile of dirt or rocks and he would be happy. He has always been that way. I don't think his love of dirt will change any time soon.

Max

Our family spent ten days dog-sitting for some of our friends while they were on vacation. The great "Max" was a well loved guest during those ten days, especially by Riley. He had a new friend and at times a new resting place. We are not sure who spent more time in the dog bed Max of Riley.

Splash and Dash

We have enjoyed the differences between Brock and Riley from day one. Riley is our daredevil, no conscious child, while Brock is our cautious one, "wait until I am ready" child. This summer water has brought a change of roles which has left smiles on our faces. Riley loves to splash in the water. He would stand by the red wagon, filled with water, all day with his toy tractors and splash if we would let him. However, he will not run through the sprinklers. The sidewalk is as close as he will come. You never see him on the lawn if the sprinklers are on.

Brock on the other hand, becomes a maniac once the sprinkles are on. It doesn't matter how cold the water is, he is there running from sprinkler to sprinkler. Every night he asks, "can I run through the sprinklers." This is the same boy who will shed tears if he has to get his hair wet before combing his hair.

Can you spot the classic?

We took the boys to the park the other day and when we got there we took the first available parking space. Thirty minutes later we were in the middle of a car show.