Westmoreland Asays

Aaron has Pee'd twice in the toilet today. His motive may be skewed, but the end-result is what matters at this stage. You see, he tells Meg that he wants some candy, so she replies that he needs to pee in the toilet first. And to our surprise, he heads to the bathroom and pees in the toilet--and then demands his candy, of course.

While changing Aaron's diaper before bedtime, he began farting--almost like he was trying to push something uncomfortable out. So I asked him, "Do you need to poop?" to which he replied in the affirmative--much to my surprise. So I quickly carried him into his bathroom, sat him over the toilet, and began coaching him--Push it out Aaron! After a few seconds and many grunts, I heard a little plop. I lifted his buns from the seat to behold a tiny poop. We were all so excited, even Aaron.

Grandma Asay, Little Megan, Elaina, Ethan, and Aurora drove up to see us and experience swimming in a real municipal pool (sorry, Salem: it's one of your few flaws) on one of the hottest days this summer. We took them to the Connestoga pool (part of the THPRD hegemony,and one of the few things I happily pay my taxes to), which was built recently and has a great family-oriented play area. When the boys get older, I think we will enjoy our neighborhood pool more, with all of its crazy-high (10-meters) diving boards and platforms to lauch from. Proudest Moment Aaron is so comfortable in the water now. He went down the water slide all by himself each time (with Michael or Meg to catch him at the end, of course), and he no longer minds his head getting dunked. Although this happened at a different pool two days later, Aaron moved even further along by jumping off the diving board into nine feet of water--all on his own whim. Meg didn't even get there in time to catch him, but fo...

Annual Golf Outing Skip, Phillip, Josh, John, and Michael spent the late afternoon putting around the Meriwether National Golf Club . I look forward to my yearly golf experience, even though I spend most of the time wondering where my ball landed. I held my own on maybe three of the nine holes (read: I didn't take the maximum score), and John, to the surprise of all, played the best game. Camping in Cascade Locks Even though we set up a tent and slept in sleeping bags, we really weren't camping at the KOA in Cascade Locks . But we did learn that it isn't much fun trying to camp with a three-month old baby, and with loud trains belting down the tracks ( only 100 meters away ) at all hours of the day/night. We ended up coming home late Friday night to salvage some sleep. Wind-down in Sherwood We spent the majority of Saturday and Sunday at the Booren's place in Sherwood for more eating (Navajo Taco's, baby--the real spark that drove my interest in Megan Booren...

The Georgia crew (sans Matt) are in town for the month, so the BeavertonBoys (and Meg) stopped by KeizerCentral to visit. The surprise highlight was the impromtu soccer match on the front lawn. Aaron and Grandpa had stolen away to practice kicking the ball. Ethan and Aurora joined shortly thereafter, and the war for the ball begun. and The action-packed, super-high-resolution video is available upon request .

Saturday Hike to Silver Falls State Park The four of us hiked about 2.5 miles--much of it uphill along the Mapleridge Trail--on a loop around South Falls and Lower South Falls . We arrived to the park early, so we enjoyed most of the hike in solitude. Aaron happily walked the entire distance--he even raced and beat me up several of the switchbacks near the end--and Meg carried Edward the whole way--what a bunch of dedicated troopers. This year marked the 6th annual independence day hike (all of which have been in Oregon). The list so far includes: 2009: Silver Falls State Park (Silverton) 2008: Cottonwood Canyon, Solitude Lake (Utah) 2007: Champoeg State Park (Newberg-ish) 2006: Shellburg Falls (Mehema-ish) 2005: Silver Falls State Park (Silverton) 2004: Wahclella Falls (Columbia River Gorge) 2003: Pittock Mansion Area (NW Portland) 2002: Mary's Peak (Central Coast Range) 2001: Opal Creek (Santiam Wilderness Area) 2000: Smith Rock State Park (Redmond, Orego...