Weisendanger Falls

This picture is all for me.  As I was really looking across my photos from my hike with Landon, I stumbled upon this one and fell in love with it.  If I don't put it on the blog there is a very real chance that I will forget about this picture forever.  Hopefully I will not forget about it if it's here to see.  Since it's my blog, I figure I can indulge myself :)

Spring Break 2010

Okay, Amy, pick yourself up off the floor....two in a matter of days...can you handle it??  :)

I am probably one of the worst parents.  I hate school, seriously hate it!  I hate having to wake my kids up, hate homework and can't stand a schedule :) 

So, we filled up Spring Break as much as I could.  I didn't have to work Monday or Tuesday but the rest of the time the kids were, unfortunately, on their own :(

The week started with a couple of birthday parties.  Can you believe our little Allie turned 5?  So shocking!  What a beautiful little girl she is.  We had her birthday party on Sunday.

Silly girl actually blew out her candles before anyone was paying attention and before we had sung Happy Birthday to her.  This is a "re-do"

Birthday Girl!  :)

Maddie needed a few gifts too

This little one didn't need her own gifts, she just needed to chew on Allies'

Tristyn watching the action

Little stinker, she just reached up and stole the camera from me.  That's okay, I had my iPhone so I could still take pictures of her.  She is such a funny little girl :)

Sometimes her daddy is just plan rude!

Although, it was pretty funny when she realized she had one on her nose and then ate it :)

Next up was Ella's birthday...she's 15 now!

A very rare moment where I got Maddie to smile...this is at Ella's party

Tuesday the kids and I went shopping at Maurices, then out to lunch at Canton Wok (A first for both Tristyn and Landon) then for a walk on the river.

Tristyn helped make this last year

It was such a beautiful day.  We were so blessed for Spring Break.  We had beautiful weather!

The other thing we did a couple of times was a fire in our fire pit.  This is a summer favorite!  It's great family time to just hang out and chat.  The kids are always running all over, snacking, screaming and just having a great time!

Dan and I both enjoyed some cuddle time with Tristyn

Ky had some good cuddle time with Chloe :)

We had such a wonderful time.  Despite the things I wrote about we also had extra kids spending almost every night and my kids going other places.  We just had an excellent time.  Bring on Summer Vacation!!

Wahkeena Falls to Multnomah Falls Trail

Yesterday Landon & I went for a hike.  It really is my most favorite thing to do.  The terrible thing about me is I tend to not ease into anything.  If I'm going for a hike or a bike ride, I'm going all out, regardless of what kind of shape I'm in.  I have always wanted to hike Wahkeena Falls but it is crazy to even try and park there in the summer.  So, I decided to hike there yesterday.  I mean, of course we can handle 5.5 miles, forget the 2.5 mile hike I was thinking about :)  So, this post will be alot of pictures!

This is the beginning of Wahkeena Falls

Here is Landon and I at the beginning of our hike.  We have no clue what we are getting ourselves into :)

Landon taking a picture with his new phone

I love pictures of paths and a pretty cool heart shaped leaf that Landon found

Wahkeena Springs (I'm getting better at taking pics of Landon & I)

Landon holding up a tree, he's pretty strong.

More of Landon & I and Wahkeena Springs

 Here is Landon and I at Fairy Falls.  I've always wanted to see Fairy Falls, it's just such a pretty place.  It's not huge but it sure is pretty.  You round a corner and just catch sight of it, so beatiful.

A cool trail marker long the way...good thing it's there, lets us know we are on the right path.

This is the beautiful path between Wahkeena Springs and Multnomah Creek

Now we have made it to Multnomah Creek, the beginnings of Multnomah Falls

Ecola Falls, which is above Multnomah Falls on Multnomah Creek

Weisendanger Falls, which is in between Ecola and Multnomah Falls

Landon and I at the bottom of Weisendanger Falls

Multnomah Creek, almost to Multnomah Falls

Landon at the top of Multnomah Falls...only 1 1/2 miles to go dude..almost done!  :)

Once we hit Multnomah Falls we had a .5 mile hike back to Wahkeena Falls, this was small "waterfall" along that path.  I'm sure by summer it will be gone. 

This was truly a great day.  There were not  alot of people out, although there were more then I expected.  Landon and I have decided to hike every other Saturday and I'm pretty excited about it.  I was glad we did this hike this time of year.  It's great to hit the waterfalls early in the Spring because the runoff is so huge!  It's nice to have one kid that loves it as much as I do.  Even when it was really intense, he never complained, he just enjoyed the moment. 

You can start this hike at Multnomah Falls and go the other way if you want.  I personally am glad that we started at Wahkeena.  I think that going down some of the spots around Fairy Falls and Wahkeena Falls would have been more difficult due to rocks and tree roots, the path going down Multnomah Falls is all paved which makes a little more easier.

A Bunch of Randomness!

Seriously, I haven't posted since December 28th. Man! That's just crazy. It kinda seems odd to me to just post randomly once every three months but oh well, I'll post anyway. I know there are about 3 people interested :)

Unfortunately, I have lost my battery charger for my camera so I do not have any current pictures of anyone, besides what is on my iPhone. I went through my iPhone and picked some pictures from the last several weeks.

Allie had surgery last Thursday to take her tonsils out. She was such a little trooper. On Wednesday night, she had to give Kyleigh 100 kisses before we could go home :) Kyleigh spoke with all of her teachers and was able to take Thursday off to be with Allie. Allie loved that and Kyleigh stayed in bed with Allie to help her feel better. Allie is doing much better now, although it was so tough in the beginning. They even needed to take her back up to the hospital last Saturday in order to have an IV because she was so dehydrated.

Two Sundays ago was such an incredibly beautiful day that Dan and I could not fathom staying inside, so we literally dragged Kyleigh & shockingly, Landon, out for a hike. He normally loves to hike and is cooperative, however this time, required some dragging on our part. Ky's friends were more then willing to go, my kids were the problem. I intend to hike this year. I say that every year but then am usually held back by one thing or another. Not this year, I'm so tired of just sitting at home doing nothing. I will do what I love. I have already told Dan that for Mother's Day, I am buying hiking boots, I can't wait! I haven't had them since the fire, and I really missed them the few times I did hike last year.

Here are some pictures of that day:

Here is Ky with her BFFs (Best Friends Forever). Usually one, or all, of these girls are at our house every night and it is so much fun! I love having a house full of kids. In fact, last night was the first night in probably over 2 weeks that I only had two kids at the house, and they are two of my own, no extras. We seriously find so much joy in loving these kids. They bring loudness and happiness to our house, plus alot of really great conversations. These girls are smart and know how to think.

We are gearing up for Spring Break. Dan's sister and niece are coming to stay for a few days. They haven't seen the house since before the fire so we are excited to spend some time with them. That means...cleaning!!! Yep, my kids are spending this Saturday cleaning their rooms. I'm going to help though and I'm hoping it doesn't take too long. I thought today was going to be rainy, but the sun is out and beautiful.

LOL!! Kyleigh's puppy, Chloe is running around the house barking and Ky just said to Chloe "No one thinks you are cute when you do that". Hmmm, I think I have a new saying for when my kids are being punks! That's great.

Here is a picture of Dan & I from the last Saturday in February. Dan's uncle passed away and this is us before the funeral. It's a great picture of us, but notice what's in my hand??? Ugh!! Stupid phone! That thing is attached to me. I'm slowly trying to do better and when I am home I usually put it down. I need to live in the moment with the people I am with and love, not my phone.

How do you like this post? Just a bunch of randomness, which is pretty much how I live my life...fairly randomly :) I should rename the blog to The Random Life and Times of the Thomson Family.

Thanks for reading, see you in six weeks :)