Watch Out

I like free cheese

I realize that Amy and I need to get some new routines...if you have been following this blog for a while, then this is not your first trip to the Oregon Coast and Tillamook cheese factory. But can you really say no to free cheese and about 60 flavors of really good ice cream? Plus, my parents were in town and they haven't been there before, so it seemed like a natural match. I promise next summer we will go somewhere different. Unless some of you are coming to visit and want to see the cheese.

Last time we went to the cheese factory, we went on a Saturday and there was no actual cheese production going on. There were still samples, so it wasn't a total waste, but nothing like the assembly line heaven we saw before us on this trip. The boys were pretty fascinated with following the lines of cheese to see where they would go next. And by boys, I include myself. I also spent a lot of time thinking about how depressing/delicious it would be to spend 8 hours a day working in the cheese assembly line.

There were plenty of fake cows for classy photo ops, but trying to get my Mom, Lila and Noel to all look at the camera proved a little difficult. Jonah was in one of his moods and refused to stand still for pictures, so we got a lot of these:

After cheese watching and cheese sampling, there was much ice cream eating. My dad offered to buy, so I got a DOUBLE and a WAFFLE CONE. I know not to pass up a freebee. In case you are wondering (I know you were, Lisa) my two ice cream flavors were chocolate peanut butter pie and sticky bun. Mmmmmmmmm.....sticky bun.......

After getting the boys some pressed pennies and some other random souvenir that they begged for we headed down the highway to find some actual coast. Tillamook is a few miles inland, and we wanted to see the water. We passed this store on the way

but we had just picked up some stuff at Costco and the things we had were still fresh, so we didn't need to stop.

I think it was in Bay City that we found some beach access. It was appropriately gray and windy and gorgeous like the coast here is. We prayed that Jonah wouldn't fall in the water, as he is want to do anytime there is water around and no changes of clothes. And miracle of miracles, he didn't!

Lila was in her typical "woman on a mission" mode and was determined to eat as many seashells and as much sand as time would allow.

Jonah and Noel were filling their pockets with seashells including some crab shells that were clearly left over from some sort of crab bake someone had done on the beach - gross. I mean collecting the shells was kinda gross, not eating crab on the beach. I am all for that.

It was a long but fun day. And the ocean was amazing. What is it about the ocean that makes we want to spend my life there. I think my Mom and Dad were sufficiently impressed with the state that they won't get annoyed anymore when we talk about how much we like it here.

It was great to have them come visit. The kids had a lot of fun seeing them and visitors always force us to get out of our routine and go do some fun things, which is always nice.

Jonah's Birthday

I sat down to write a post about Lila's birthday and then realized I'd completely forgotten to recognize the birthday of my newly 6-year old, Jonah. I figured that might come back to haunt me one day when he reads this when he's 25 and then has concrete evidence that Lila was, indeed, our favorite.

But I kid. If there's a cuter, smarter, more creative 6 year old out there I'd like to meet him.

Jonah's birthday was, as usual, a long drawn-out affair, and again, as I do after every birthday, I wonder why we, as parents, subject ourselves to such self-inflicted misery. You know, the kind of torture that involves spending hours planning, preparing and paying for a spectacular birthday party of the kid's dreams, and then hearing how it didn't go quite as they expected. Except with more yelling.

Jonah's birthday started with the obligatory breakfast in bed, which he barely touched. We tried. You'll notice that this year, as per his request, he had strawberries, powdered donuts, and grape juice. Perhaps we should abandon this tradition until the kids get older? Or until Jonah wants to eat breakfast within 2 hours of waking up.

He had school that day and a baseball game later that night, so in order to avoid any birthday present meltdowns, we opened presents in the morning. His birthday presents included: zhu zhu pets (why oh why was this the one and only thing he wanted for his birthday??), a hot wheels track, books, a couple of wii games and these beautiful wooden blocks that he didn't ask for but which made me feel better about purchasing the zhu zhu pets in the same Amazon order. And for the record, the blocks get more use than the pets.

The tradition is the boys get to pick where we eat for dinner and, no surprise, we ended up at Noodles for a bowl of mac n' cheese.

Here is Josh's first "cake." Now that I think about it, I actually made these. I don't know what possessed him to choose these for his birthday, but I imagine it had something to do with a worm coming out of his cupcakes that intrigued him.

We were lucky to have family visiting the weekend after Jonah's birthday. So we booked a bowling lane for his randomly-chosen BOWLING theme party. This is where things got a little dicey. The boys had fun, and we loved having my mom, grandma, sister, aunt and cousin for the celebration. But then somewhere along the line, they started melting down. And the walk back to the car, I'm quite certain, consisted of a conversation involving lines such as: "Why are you such an ingrate!?!" and "Next time we won't have a birthday party!" and "Why is it never good enough for you?" or something like that. But, that being said, the cake was delicious and clever and the gifts were thoughtful and well-received (thanks family!).

Here are SIX fun and interesting facts about 6 year old Jonah:

1) He has serious rhythm. It's perplexing. Josh and I dance as two middle-aged, tall, self-conscious people would dance. . .which is to say not well. Then here comes this seemingly- reserved child/dancer in the making. Last night, he performed a t-rex inspired lyrical piece that would make Mia Michaels proud.

2) He's as smart as a whip. I know every parent thinks that, but this time it's really true. He reads. He writes (he spelled "ostrich" today, for heavens sake!). And the most annoying thing is he argues like a champ. And he has really good points. And it's hard not to give up when you see those cute little eyes behind those cute little glasses pounding your argument into the ground.

3) He's an insomniac. We put him to bed at 7:30. He wanders the house until 10. Admittedly, it's a little light when we put him to bed, but I think he really enjoys the time to explore and relax and do his own thing. After the 14th trip to the bathroom for a drink, we tend to lose our patience the teensiest-weensiest bit.

4) He's up for anything. He loves doing things. And he doesn't mind doing it on his own. He's done sports classes and art classes and is SO excited to be signed up for Zoo Camp in a couple of months. Right now, he's big into baseball, where he tends to be embarassed anytime Josh and I acknowledge him in any way:

and he's taking a martial arts class. How cute is this?

5) He builds cities. He loves to get out his blocks and legos and train tracks and create giant, intricate cities (which he then insists on keeping set up in his room, as I swat away his little sister and gingerly avoid crushing to put away laundry).

6) We adore him. He makes us proud every day. He has a big heart and is the most earnest child I've ever met. And I hope that even when the day comes that his earnestness may be perceived as a wee bit nerdy, he'll continue undaunted to become the success that he is sure to be.

We love you, Jonah!

Two types

I think there are two types of people in the world...the Sweets and the Savories. Maybe if you are not obsessed with food as I am, then you might divide people by their political beliefs, or their gender, or whether they plan on reading Tyra Banks' new novel, Modelland. But not me. It is all based on what you want to eat when you can eat whatever you want.

Savories are people who want to eat potato chips or french fries. Sweets are people who would rather eat carrot cake, or chocolate chip cookies, or cheesecake, or pie, or donuts, or eclairs, or pasty or lime pound cake with raspberry sauce, or fondue, or coffee cake, or truffles, or peanut butter bars, or lemon bars, or pecan bars, or  candy. Can you guess which one that I am?

Lately I have been trying to lose a little weight. And I have been realizing that I am a little jealous of the Savories. If you are a savory, and you want something savory to eat, there are literally one million options. Many that are unhealthy, fo' sho'. But plenty that are delicious and not bad for you. Roasted asparagus, edamame, whole wheat crackers with goat cheese and tomatoes, baked potatoes, etc. Amy is a Savory and she can always find some delicious and healthy snack to eat while watching Parenthood (are you watching this show? It is delightful.) But when I have a craving for something sweet, there is no healthy options. Sure there are Skinny Cows. But it JUST ISN'T THE SAME. Yes, fresh strawberries are delicious. But they are better when served with vanilla ice cream and sprinkled with brown sugar. You can have raisin bran, but wouldn't you rather have Cinnamon Toast Crunch? Nothing, sir, is as good as chocolate chip cookies. The non-healthy option wins out every time. I mean seriously, which of these would  you rather eat.

Option A:

or Option B:

Is there ANY option really? Where is the joy and the satisfaction in eating Red Velvet Cake flavored yogurt? There is none.

So here I sit, watching Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, wanting something to snack on, but lamenting the fact that there is nothing out there in the land of healthy options for us Sweets. If only I had a chocolate chip cookie flavored yogurt...and instead of yogurt, it is ice cream. And instead of fat free, it is fat full. Yeah, that is what I want.