Hello from Washington DC!

Chris is in Washington DC this weekend visiting Liz, Nic and Kaja!

Had a great trip to DC, then down to Virginia for some work stuff at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and all the kids got were these lousy t-shirts!

Stayin' Cool in the Pool (& Fountains!)

We've had a fun, busy August, and have spent the last week or so trying to stay cool outdoors (although our new A/C helps a lot indoors!)  Here are some pics of some of our recent adventures, starting with our trip last night to Lovejoy Fountain in PDX.  I've never been there and so we had fun playing and splashing.  We intended to go to the Keller Fountain, but it's closed because of a broken pump.  Lovejoy is not as cool as Keller, but its still fun enough for a 4-year old and a 1-year old!

Amy was less interested in the fountain, and more interested in the pigeons...

Sam had swimming lessons the last two weeks, and has turned a huge corner...he's now diving for things at the bottom of the pool, holding his breath under water, and basically not very scared of getting his face wet and all that.  BIG deal, especially for Dad.  Oh, and of course we've been obsessed with the Olympics and watch them all the time (sports doesn't count as TV, remember), and Sam has decided he wants to do Olympic soccer and synchronized diving.  Nice combo!  Here he is practicing some diving on the couch...good form!

Taking baths is cool, especially with "dinosaur hair"...

Swimming lessons at Sellwood Pool...

Cooling off at Grant Park...

Practicing out of water!  The next Michael Phelps and Natalie Coughlin?  Perhaps...

Sam didn't quite pass Penguins yet, but he got a cool certificate and a gold medal nonetheless...and that's worth everything!  

The Ericksons are Rural Folk

Ok, not really, but we did go to Sarah's family reunion this weekend in Marcola (east of Eugene) at her grandparents' farm.  Great times.  The kids get to experience some level of farm life (play with horses, cows, goats, eat apples off trees, etc.).   The river is a big attraction, so we spent a lot of time there, especially because it was hot.  We really have fun.  Here's some pics. 

Mr. Baseball

Sam had baseball camp this week.  I don't brag on my kids too much, but because I love baseball, I have to say that Sam is a good little hitter.  Check out the form!  Of course, his instincts are to run to 3rd base after he hits it, but those are just silly rules that can come later.  The point is he has fun and what about whacking a ball isn't fun?  Being in the field?  Not as much fun, but there's always dirt to kick and balls to chase after.  I see him as a DH primarily.  Hopefully will help mom and dad out in retirement when he signs his first big MLB deal.  Too much pressure?  Eh.  

I think my favorite part was when all the kids gave high-fives when the batter got back to the dugout. 

Black Butte Ranch

Last week we went to Black Butte Ranch for a great, relaxing, fun vacation.  We stayed with our friends the Bruggers, who have 2 kids slightly older than Sam and Amy (Quinn, 5 and Amelia, 2).  A great time was had by all.  It was very warm and we took advantage by swimming at least once every day and going on a lot of bike rides.  Our only weather complaint was some wind, which caused problems for some of our fair-weather swimmers.  Maybe the best part of where we stayed was that it was right on the golf course, so after dinner, we ran around and played on the fairways, in the bunkers (the kids' favorite), and carefully on the greens.  And the dads got to practice some putting and chipping while enjoying a few of our favorite cold bevies.  Here's some pictures from our trip.  Enjoy!

The whole gang

Sam being a very chivalrous brother (with some encouragement)...

Lots of very safe things to do, like climb on a big, abandoned pile of logs...

The kids in front of THE Black Butte: 

Sam riding his "tagalong" bike that we rented for the week - we attached it to Chris' bike and he got to pedal and balance and steer.  He loved it...

Another great new thing for Sam: A kickboard. 

Amy likes nectarines... 

Pretty typical...

Mt. Washington (and NOT 3-fingered Jack, as I had presumed, and told everyone)

The bike trailers were essential and were (sometimes) fun to be in, but usually only when Amy isn't strapped into it...

Lots of time spent at the pool...Glaze Meadow was our favorite for all ages!

We also did a lot of reading...

And finally...an Erickson family lollipop fest (hey, you gotta find something to keep 2 kids busy on a 3 hour drive).  

Sam's 4th Birthday

Although his birthday is actually on Tuesday (July 15th), we had Sam's birthday party on Saturday, at Sellwood Pool and Park!  We swam for an hour in the nice hot morning with the pool all to ourselves, then had cake and presents in the park.   Sam had a superhero cake (the Justice League holding court on top of the cake) and a good time was had by all.  Here's a few pictures from the great day!  

(The cake.  All year, Sam has been asking for a "Batman and friends cake." This is what we came up with...)

Thanks Mimi & Bampa for the great Banzai Climb & Slide.  It almost drove Dad crazy inflating it, but I'd say by this face it was all worthwhile. 

Thanks to the Dietzes for the soccer ball and soccer goal...we played a lot of soccer this weekend. 

Independence Day Weekend

Independence Day is one of our favorite holidays, mostly because we can enjoy the weather and because we like the traditions.  One tradition of the young Erickson family is to go to Sauvie Island in the morning every July 4th, and visit the Pumpkin Patch market for fruit and honey sticks.  The past few years, its been a bit difficult because of the Sauvie Island marathon run on that day, but we are undeterred, and have now taken the picture shown below 5 years in a row (the first year being 2004, when Sam was still in Sarah's stomach).  If I get my act together, I'll post them all as a collage.  

Sarah and Sam got to ride the slide at the Pumpkin Patch

Then, we always head to Oak Hills for the annual 4th of July parade...which always starts off with police motorcycles and fire trucks.  Its kind of loud.  But great.  

After a full day at Papu's, its off to the fireworks at dusk.  After a couple years of major apprehension, Sam did great this year and said he loved fireworks almost as much as superheros, and in fact, he thinks he wants to be a firework superhero.  Halloween costume, anyone?  Amy fell asleep about 5 minutes into the show. 

I've always tried to take cool pictures of fireworks.  So, again, I dorked out and here is the finest result.  Pretty cool, I think. 

The next day, we drove to Eugene and went to the U.S. Olympic Track & Field trials - very cool.  We hung out at Sarah's parents house and had a nice relaxing day.  Amy ate ice cream because it was hot....

Sam played with the puppy...

The NEXT day, after a fun family trip to the Portland Central Library, Sam and Chris went to the Portland Beavers game!  Very fun.  Sam got to see (and hug) the following: (i) Bullwinkle the moose (below), (ii) Sammy the Subway Sandwich (not pictured); and (iii) Lucky the Beaver (bottom).  He's a hugger, that Sam. 

Popcorn, of course (oh, and a pretzel and ice cream...Lunch!)

After the game, kids were able to run around the bases, which we had to take advantage of.  As we learned from Froggy, "first go to first, second go to second, third go to third, then go home." 

Once through home plate, he got some love from Lucky.  A truly great weekend.