Furball... limp to the links

So a little background info on Furball. http://scotthughes.net/index.htm It is a fundraiser that Pat's family puts on each year. It is to benefit a camp that hosts pediatric kidney patients for the summer and allows them to attend sleep away camp while maintaining their dialysis and medical care. One of Pat's cousins died of kidney disease at 24 years of age and he had worked and loved this camp. Furball was his college nickname. So anyway, Pat's cousins Mike and Shannon have hosted a 3on3 basketball tournament for the past 8 years and it has always been super fun and something that we have supported and helped with. This year they decided that everyone is getting too old to play basketball (the injuries were starting to rack up) so they moved it to a golf tournament. I love this idea b/c you can have lots more people participate and include families. This June was the first Furball limp to the links and it was a HUGE success. not only did they more then triple the money they raised from years past, it was just a really fun event. Rory and I ran the putting contest in the morning and then returned for the dinner at the end. It was at the oregon golf club and I thought Rory looked especially country club in her little pleated dress- I swear she has somehow channeled my grandma ding's style-between all her accessories and her fashion sense- she is an old soul. (and yes, she has her own fashion sense. at 15 months she has started wanting to pick out her own clothes and having protests and opinions on what goes on her body. it may be a long 17 years...). The team we sponsored this year was Pat, Evan, Brady and Brian. Brian won a driver (I can't remember what for- maybe for just being a super good golfer?) and was nice enough to give it to Pat. They all had a great time and I think this will continue to be one of our favorite family traditions.

back to the gilbert house...

Since fun new kid activities are hard to come by, when we find one, we like to over indulge as much as possible. This trip consisted of borrowing my dad's mini-van (actually, I was driving it for the week while my car was getting fixed from the accident) and hauling 5 adults and Rory down to salem to meet shahnaz and the boys for the day. This is one of those days when you actually start considering the purchase of a mini. I think it has passed now, but for that week I gotta say, I was a bit smitten. So we all spent the afternoon tracking the kids around the entire place. once again the bubble room was a fav- rory got a little more hands (er, head?) on this time. It was also fun b/c since Owen is 3 he is able to do things better then the babies and is fun to watch him get so into all the discovery stuff. At one point he and rory were on a stage dressed as pirates? knights? not really sure, but they were cute and into performing for their entourage. We also visited the carousel that is near by. Rory loved it, and was very into kissing her horse. Owen was into what their names were and how they were designed. All in all a really fun day.

a playdate at the Gilbert House

We recently visited the Gilbert House in Salem. Lisa lives there and Eli and Rory are at a great age to get together and let them run around while we all talk. We did decide that having the third unattached adult (in this case, Mandy) was essential as we found that in that place you need to out number the kids. It was a really fun day and there was lots to do. I think the favorite was the bubble room and then the HUGE outdoor play are with music, slides, and whimisical decor. I am not a huge fan of Salem (sorry, not trying to offend anyone) but this definitely is a good place to go, and is 1/2 way in between portland and corvallis so is convenient for family get togethers. After we left there we went to lunch with 2 sleepy babies and managed to make it through the day successfully. At lunch Rory was obsessed with sharing her blanket with Mandy- she kept making mandy smell it. When she gets tired she rubs her blanket under her nose so I am sure she was just trying to be sweet, but it was very funny. It was fun to get to hang out with the ladies and Rory and Eli are pretty cute together. Rory being older and bit of a bull in a china shop tends to overwhelm Eli a bit, but overall they were sweet and did lots of sharing! We'll see if that lasts as they both enter into their second year. See I told you my blogging would get more frequent and tedious the longer I was stuck on this couch!!! ~Britt

beach, beach and more beach...

So for our token memorial day weekend outing we headed to pacific city for a day at the beach. It was so fun to see Rory really play in the sand and water- it definitely showed how old she is getting! She loved watching my mom's dog run wild and playing "football" with dad.

We are excited to take her on some camping/boating adventures this summer. maybe next time the weather will be better!!! ~Brittany

Happy 30th Birthday Mandy!!

So not a Rory centric entry, but noteworthy. Mandy turned 30 and we celebrated with some wine tasting and a great dinner at a really good Italian place (Alba Osteria on Capital Hwy for you pdxers.) We were supposed to go hotair ballooning as well. We arrived at 5am (yikes!) only to have them cancel it due to weather. We were then stuck down in salem until the wineries opened at 11- so what else could we do but hit Spirit Mountain Casino? I won some cash playing craps- and it definitely was a unique way to spend the morning. It was also the first time we left Rory for both the day and night. Needless to say she did great and even slept through a fairly heavy thunderstorm. I think now it's time to start planning a whole weekend away. vegas anyone? Anyway, it was a fun day- Happy Birthday Mandy

Rory finds a friend that is a GIRL!!!

So Rory is surrounded by boy baby friends. Her cousins- boys, our friends who have had babies recently, almost all boys, even the classes we have attended have been boy heavy- so it was so fun to attend a BBQ at our friend Robin and Justin's house with some of their friends who have baby girls. One was exactly Rory's age (Addie) and Rory and her were very cute together. We even discovered later that they take swimming lessons at the same place. Robin has had her baby since these photos, welcome Jonathon Hawthorne, (yes, another boy!) but I loved the ones of Rory sitting on her belly (these were taken her 39th week). I also love the one of Addie giving Rory what appears to be a headbutt- but is actually an attempt at a hug. Anyway, we are excited to expand our baby friend circle and look forward to more playdates with this crew! PS- This post as well as the next few are from late may and early June- I got behind on my blogging. Now that I am stuck on a couch due to a knee injury I will get caught up and may be driven by boredom to blog incessantly until cured! I am sure you are all looking forward to whatever rants may come from my trapped little self. ~B