Summertime

Our poor third child doesn't get nearly as many pictures taken of him as his siblings did. It certainly is not because we love him less, though! Just check out this baby love:

Barak pretty much thinks it's his job in life to make sure Sebastian never goes more than five minutes without being kissed, and Lizzy loves to hold him. No, the lack of pictures is not due to a lack of love. We've just been busy doing the summer thing. You know, eating Popsicles outside,

going on picnics, and generally having a good time. On one such day of summer fun, we decided to head into Salem, where we rode the carousel. Lizzy wanted to ride the covered wagon, like Ma and Pa. Barak, however, was less impressed. When we tried to get him on the carousel, he made this face:

so we let Lizzy ride it twice, because we had already gotten two tickets. She LOVED it.

And Sebastian just slept through the whole experience.

Hello, Sebastian.

Sebastian Berk Washburn was born Wednesday, August 3 at 1:45 pm. He weighed 9 lbs 13 oz and is 22 inches long. The nurses were very impressed by his manly little chest and they said he looked like Superman. He sure did love the warming lamp. Never have I seen a newborn quite so relaxed.

Barak and Lizzy were happy that he was born early enough in the day that they could come visit him. They were even able to help Daddy give him his first bath.Both older siblings are very pleased with their new brother. They love him very much and have been so good and helpful. They like to hold him and give him kisses, and they want to be a part of his every action. It's good to be a family of five.

Playing Ma

I don't feel interesting enough to post. Mostly I wander around the house wondering when I can get my next nap.

Lizzy, on the other hand, is very entertaining. For the past few months we have been reading the series of books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Today we finished The Long Winter. Ever since we started she has been a little bit obsessed with the characters. She constantly wants to play "Laura and Mary," which mostly is just acting out scenes from the book. I'll be honest, I find the game a little dull.

Recently, however, she has invented a new twist. She now likes to play "When Ma meets Lizzy." I get to play the part of Ma, while she is of course Lizzy. I am then instructed to exclaim over all the things I don't understand and ask a lot of questions about how Lizzy lives and what life is like in these times.

Seriously, I think Lizzy is extremely clever. She really enjoys explaining things such as what a car is, how a light switch works, and that there are no blizzards in Oregon. She came up with a great way to compare and contrast our time with the time of the Ingalls family. She's learning, I'm learning, and the game is actually fun.

Memorial Day

On our honeymoon, Isaac and I drove across the Astoria bridge and all along Highway 101 from Astoria to Newport. Since then, we have made trips along that same highway from Newport to Florence. We thought it would be really fun to drive out to Florence and then follow 101 all the way to the California border, thus being able to claim that we have travelled the entire Oregon coast, stopping at many various beaches along the way. For Memorial Day that's just what we did, but we extended our trip a little farther south, in order to visit the California Redwoods. Despite a little bit of rain, we had a great time.

Before we left, Isaac showed the kids how to make Hobo dinners. (Sorry if that's not a PC term. That's what he calls them, and I am too brain dead at the moment to think of anything else.)

The kids really enjoyed heaping carrots and potatoes on top of little hamburger patties and then wrapping them in foil.

I'll admit that I was a little skeptical about how they would turn out, but I have truly never enjoyed cooked carrots more. The potatoes were also very, very good. My husband can be a very good cook.

That's Barak behind the giant cup of cocoa.

I remember as a kid going to Sunset Bay, down by Bandon. It was always one of my favorite beaches, though we almost never went there. It was just too far away from where I grew up and plenty of lovely beaches were much closer. I was determined to stop there on this trip, but as we got closer, I began to wonder if it was really such a special beach, or if maybe I just had a really good time there once as a kid. None of my pictures do it justice. It really is a small, but amazing beach.

Seriously, how often do you get to just see a seal (or is it a seal lion?) lazing about in the sand?

D is for Daddy.

We stayed the first night at Bullards Beach. Barak really liked sitting by the campfire... as long as there was no actual fire. The smoke was too much in his eyes and made him cry.

Saturday and Sunday night we were in California, checking out enormous trees. Isaac thought there were a couple of places that would be perfect for an Ewok village. We spent Monday driving back. Overall we had a really great time, and I am already looking forward to our next adventure. As a side note, I think next time we go tent camping and I am seven months pregnant, I will give in and get an air mattress.

Camping at Silver Falls

Two weeks ago, most of my family met up at Silver Falls State Park. We rented three cabins and spent the weekend sitting around the campfire, eating good food, and goofing around. We missed the out-of-state members of our family, but we still managed to have a great time.
I started off taking a lot of pictures, but I didn't manage to get a single shot of the waterfalls before my camera batteries died. I guess you'll just have to imagine how beautiful and full they were this time of year.
Isaac and I arrived with the kids first, so right away we put them to work hauling wood.
After that, Isaac hauled the kids around for awhile. Can you see the expression on Barak's face? He loved the ride.The kids had a truly great time, for several reasons. Even though I thought she was too young to sleep up there, Lizzy had a chance to at least check out the view from the top bunk. (She has been asking us to get bunk beds for about a year now.)

Lizzy, Barak, and Aunt Amy

All of the aunties are greatly loved, but Barak has a special place in his heart for my sister Cheryl. He followed her around all weekend, and when she managed to get out of his sight for even a moment, he would demand, "Where Shayzo?"And let's face it, it's hard not to have a good time when you get to poke a stream with a stick. Anne, Barak, and Lizzy all got some good jabs in.Even Helen found a stick she could manage.Clearly, Isaac didn't think a stick would give him enough information about the stream's water quality, so he had to use one of his children. Lizzy didn't mind at all.Barak has not stopped asking for Grandpa since we got home. The two of them bonded over walking sticks.Here's the one my dad gave Barak.Somehow, we took a hike right during lunch / nap time. Bear was mesmerized by South Falls, but also falling asleep on his feet. Anyway, we enjoyed ourselves a lot, and I think this has become a family tradition. Maybe next year we can convince those on the East Coast to come join us. We'll even let you poke the stream.

Just hanging out

In the Washburn home, there are plenty of tantrums. Some of them are even thrown by the children. I find myself with mountains of laundry, dirty dishes constantly piled in the sink, and an inability to be on time for ANYTHING. On the other hand, there is so much good going on, that all of the above is rather insignificant (most days).

There is a lot of sibling love here. I hope my children are always this close. Sure, one of them tends to be a little bossy and the other one thinks it's funny to knock over block towers, but for the most part, they play together very well. Their affection for one another is obvious.

I also love how much they enjoy reading. One day I noticed how quiet they were being as I cleaned up the breakfast dishes and discovered this:And let's not forget the love we all feel for the daddy of the house. Poor guy can't even take a decent nap on the couch. We live in a great place, too. Sure, we're still living the apartment life, but I like it here. We were sitting outside on our patio one evening, and along came two ducks for a visit. They were pretty sure we had some food for them, so they were not at all shy about walking right up to us. I think that's awesome.I think some of the best moments in life come when we are just hanging out. The kids are always doing things to make Isaac and I laugh. Lately, Barak has developed a wicked little laugh that makes us think of mad scientists and mischief. I tried to get him to do it on camera, and was not successful. Next time, maybe.

And finally, I love the little songs this child continuously makes up. Is there any doubt she's a daddy's-girl?

Easter

I just uploaded the pictures from my camera, so let's pretend Easter wasn't a month ago. Unfortunately, the kids were in non-stop motion, so most of my pictures turned out blurry. (I'll blame the kids instead of my photography. :))

Aunt Amy helps Barak find some eggs.

Quite a lot of eggs.

Little stinker knew I was trying to get a decent picture.

I love this smile.