All Things December

Around the first of December we had a record snow fall of about 7-9 inches in the Corvallis area followed by a cold snap lasting more then a week with temps dipping down to the single digits at night.  They say this type of storm only happens every 20 years.  This was definitely the most snow I have ever seen here.

 

We had to sweep off the truck before going into town. 

 



 

Gabe enjoyed sweeping so well, he took the liberty to do all of the vehicles.

 

The snow was so dry it was almost impossible to even make a snowball.

 



 

Our first trip into town. This is our local Safeway parking lot.

 

 

We did get out to play in the snow too!

 

 

Since the city does not have the resources to deal with this amount of snowfall followed by freezing temperatures, the downtown area remained icy for over a week.

 

 

Gabe was helping me decorate for Christmas.

 

 

The Gingerbread Construction Project.  Dan said you must decorate the sides first before you elevate the structure.  I definitely think that was a wise choice.

 

 

Of course Gabe had to sample all of the candy.

 

We were all very proud of our little candy house!

 

 



Gabe opened the marble maze as his Christmas Eve gift. It was a big hit!  He has enjoyed playing with it every day since.

 

 

 On Christmas morning, I got up early and set up the fully charged video camera to record the whole event.  In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Gabe hadn't really seemed all the excited about it, so we weren't sure what to expect. He started opening presents with a pretty calm attitude....at first. There were some books, etc. in the first few gifts, so he was happy about that.  The second gift was a Tractor pulling a trailer, so he started to get a little more excited.  The Third gift was a remote control Monster truck, and that was the moment everything changed.  After recovering from his surprise, he jumped up into the air, spun around chanting something that we couldn't quite make out, and proclaimed "It's present opening day!" in the most excited voice I have ever heard.  From that moment on, bows and ribbons were flying, wrapping paper was ripping and the rest of the present opening was somewhat of a frantic blur.  It was so much fun.  Okay....so the reason I went into great detail about this event was because later on in the afternoon I accidentally deleted the video I had taken of Christmas morning and, despite all my efforts,  have not been able to recover it.  I guess it will have to live in our memories.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and enjoy a very prosperous and joyful New Year!

Holiday Parade

Gabe and I rode on the Benton County float in the Holiday Parade again this year.  We had alot of fun, although Gabe was frustrated because he wanted to be with all the kids on the street getting candy.  Luckily our float was toward the beginning of the parade, so we jumped off at the end and circled back around to watch the rest of the parade and gather candy with the other kids.

 

 

Halloween 2013

Sir Gabriel, The Dragon Slayer!

 

Fall Fun

This year we visited the Airlie Hills Farm for their annual Harvest Festival.  There was lots of activities for kids, but Gabe really enjoyed the various slides the most.

 

This weekend we had a visit from Dan's Mom and Grandma.  On Saturday we carved our pumpkins. Gabe was not too thrilled about getting his hands in the gooey, slimy pumpkin insides so the rest of us ended up doing all the work.  He was, however, insistent on the pumpkins having mean, scary faces.

 

 

Gabe was showing off his biking skills for his Grandma.

 

Labor Day Weekend in Seaside

Gabe and I drove up to Seaside to spend the Labor Day weekend with my folks and my sister's family.  We stayed at a condo right on beach.  This place had it all too and the location was great.  You just walk right out the door onto the boardwalk, beach, or busy shopping district. 

 

The boys had a great time in the "kiddie" pool, but they did spend time in the big pool and the hot tub too.

 

There are swing sets along the beach, and there happen to be one right in front of our Condo so the boys took turns being pushed by Greg (he is such a good sport!) while Erin and I sipped our coffees in the morning sun.

 

They found a hole in the sand and spent a few hours playing in and around it...sending their cars, trains, and airplanes down into the hole to be ultimately buried in sand.

 

 Enjoying a morning stroll in the surf.

 

 Gabe was very excited to fly a kite, so we let him and Ian take turns holding the string.  There were a few dropped exchanges, but we managed to retrieve the kite every time.

 Here comes the best part....So I had to leave on Monday to head back to Corvallis, but I left Gabe with my folks to finish out the week on the coast with them.  The rest of these pictures my mom sent me throughout the week so I could see what they were up to each day.

 

They found a nice playground the first day.

 

They headed up to Fort Stevens State Park the second day.

 

 

They got to take a tour in the back of this cool truck.  I hear that Gabe was very excited to ride in it and he may consider a career in the army after that experience.

 

 

Of course you cannot go thru Astoria without a visit to Fort George

Brewery.  Okay, I am slightly jealous about missing this part!

 

 

Going to the Oregon Coast was a great way to spend the last official weekend of Summer before everybody starts school again.  Because of the crowds, we are planning this trip again for a different weekend next year.