Three hours in the car, one hour at the beach

Robin took Beth and the kidlets out to the coast earlier today. Weather here in Portland hovered in the high 90's. Temperature at the beach: Brrrr! Everyone had a good time, though, even if was nasty, brutish and short.

The pictures do a better job than I do, so I'll let them tell the rest!

The week in review

We've been home from the hospital for a week and two days, and there's been lots of changes. We've been enjoying our time together, and we've gotten a little less sleep than we're accustomed to, so this is my first post since we've been back. (Of course, it also helped that I magically turned our computer into a paperweight for a week. It's all fixed now, but it wasn't pretty. I was less than popular until the right part came in the mail. :-P )
M. has gained back all of his original weight! He's not as chubby as C. was at this age, but he's packing it on pretty well. It sure is fun to watch him grow. The other kidlets love to hold him (especially K.), and they all tell him how cute he is.
Yesterday, M. was lying on the bed, waving his little fists, and blinking at the ceiling. B. ran into the room, saw him there, and came over to the side of the bed. She kissed him on the cheek, and said, "I love you, M!" It's little moments like that that make the whole parenting experience so incredible.We've had lots of people over the last week or so say something like, "Wow! Four kids! You guys must be experts by now!" Err . . . no. We're certainly a lot more relaxed, but there's always surprises and imperfect memories to contend with. You'd think, for example, that I would remember the little techniques that make it harder to get squirted during a diaper change. You'd be wrong. Some things come back faster than others. :-)
The 4th of July was a busy day for all of us. We started with an 8:30 pancake breakfast at the church, where M. was passed around and around and around. Later, everybody but B. went to see Ratatouille, and the whole family went to see the fireworks in the evening. All of these things were loud, bright and crowded, and we were anxious that M. might get a bit overwhelmed. He did great, though, even through the crash/flash of the fireworks. (Better, in fact, than B. did. She collapsed into a little ball and made me cover her head with a blanket and hold her until she fell asleep, about five minutes later.)