Owen, Sara &
Andrew Hoelter

We (Peter and I, my parents, Brother Joe and Brother Lucas) hiked to the top! I didn’t fall in!

Now, how many girls get an anniversary gift like this??

No sextegenarians were harmed in the making of this post.

Keep climbing…

Madonna the chipmunk can hold 2 grapes and several M&Ms in her cheeks at the same time. I think she’s had practice…

Dad, Joe and Mom making the final push to the summit.

Me and my Pa

The lot of us, TOO ***ed close to the edge!!

Joe and Lucas carried cardboard ALL the way to the top, but ended up sliding down the glacier on their shoes.

The hike was 9 miles round trip with about 4500 ft. elevation gain. The summit is at 8, 300 (and change) and the views of the crater really put the eruption in perspective. My parents are amazing! Where should we go next year?

Now that Owen and Peter are out of school, we are LOVING summer. Our recent adventures have included:

A Father’s Day “puppy pile” with no injuries! **LOVE that Daddy**

A trip to the Oregon Zoo with the Grandparents Hoelter and cousin Jackson…

A day that was nearly warm enough to slip’n’slide!
*Not recommended for those over 30, DON’T be fooled by the little cushion provided.

An attempt at Dragon Boat Racing at the World Beat Festival here in Salem! The CHAOS Water Babies (despite needing to come up with a much FIERCER name) did not capsize, run into the bank or win any races, but we did have a good time and got wet in the Willamette on a sunny day. In case you wondered, it’s best to paddle in unison…

Lots of yard work and gardening, including the transformation of the part of the “back 40” into a play area WITHOUT broken glass and bottle caps.

And a BBQ/Birthday party for our big 3 year old. It was a lovely evening with new/old friends and family, piles of bratwurst and  chocolate cake! With sprinkles! AND popsicles! Here she is sporting her latest Beaver Gear. Her response, “I’m good at soccer!”

Hope you’re all having a lovely summer, too!

Normally when we come to this day of the year—the last day of school—I would have pictures of Owen carrying an egg on a spoon, passing it quickly to a classmate. There would be a shot of Sara looking on, wanting to join in, and Drew hanging out in the backpack.

Not this year. Owen, who has stayed home sick just once this year, came down with a fever last night, and thus missed the very last day of 1st Grade. He was a classy kid throughout the day, assuring himself that “there’s always next year”, even though he was missing Field Day.

The day did have its upsides: A rainy 57° F June day is not a great day to be outside, and with the little ones at daycare, it was just Owen and Dad. This meant iPad time, a sack lunch meant for school but eaten at home, a two-hour nap, and, best of all, a full-volume screening of “The Empire Strikes Back”. Feel free to now do your best Chewy impression out loud.

It was also the last day of sorts for Sara. She begins preschool in the fall, and is home for the summer. She’s been going to “Billie’s house” since she was two-months old and has always loved it. She is excited about school, but we know she will miss Billie and her friends there. At least she will get to visit when we pick up Drew.

Nov. 2008: Sara and daycare friends saying goodbye for the morning.

It’s fun to watch these kids march forward in life—sometimes as planned, sometimes in unexpected ways. They both ended the day happy, you can’t ask for more…

My little sweetheart was waking up with out-of-control bedhead, compete with little mini-dreds, so it was time for a haircut. I only have time to negotiate hair combing with one child in the mornings.

Sweet baby curls before haircut

This nicely co-incided with a visit from Grandma Judy, so (using my giant and very sharp Don’t-touch-mom’s-scissors scissors) Drew was sheared.

Post-shearing

He kind of likes having his hair played with, so he didn’t mind sitting in the chair until his little ear got in the way of the big bad scissors and he ended up with a tiny nick.

There was a little pile of curls on the counter when we finished, now safely in an envelope.

I feel like we’ve been passing a lot of milestones in the last few months. Now Drew is a walking, jabbering, mimicking almost 14 month old. I don’t really miss the days of having a newborn (though he was an exceedingly sweet newborn) and I know from watching him with Owen and Sara that things only get more fun from here. I’m just saying that when he insists on being in my arms and no one else will do–I might sniff his baby smell and kiss his baby hair and try to remember exactly what it feels like.

Yeah for birthdays! I took the day off (highly recommend this approach to birthdays) and we had a very nice day.

We took our first bike trip with all 5 of us, (the two little ones in a 2-seater Burley trailer, and Owen on his own) at Minto-Brown park and had a picnic dinner! Drew tolerated a handed down pink panda bear helmet, Sara only pinched him a few times, and Owen, except for one spectacular downhill crash on a bridge, did GREAT.

We had angel food cake with strawberries when we got home. My favorite.

Peter and I took a little vacation to Hood River/Stevenson, WA over the weekend, while the kids had a sleepover with Mark and Miriam. (We LOVE Grandparents!) We stayed overnight at Skamania Lodge and enjoyed the view of storms moving down the gorge from the outside hot tub. We slept ALL NIGHT and read the ENTIRE newspaper!

We were all pretty wiped out when we got home on Sunday afternoon, so we wolfed down a pizza in the backyard. Don’t leave Drew alone with a pizza…

We have been working with Owen on learning how to ride his bike (without training wheels) for about 18 months now, and it has been a long and not-very-fun process for all involved. In fact, “This is the worst thing you’ve ever made me do” and “You’re ruining my life” are only a sampling of Owen’s opinions on the subject, despite his parents attempts at coaching and psychology.

But Monday night…

Owen: “Mom-can I eat my WHOLE package of Lifesavers if I really GRASP how to ride my bike tonight”?

Mom (with a note of sarcasm): ” Owen, I’ll take you to the store and buy ALL of the Lifesavers if you really grasp how to ride this bike tonight”

Boy gets on bike and (with a small push) rides bike all the way down the street. I guess we hadn’t explored all of the bribery options. By the time we got home, he’s riding in circles and gives the above quote shortly before crashing into a rather large rosemary shrub.

I didn’t have the camera that night, but can post a picture of our kids and their Uncle Micah, who is in Bogota, Colombia tonight! Have a good trip Micah!

We want to share our pictures and kids with you in a new, more current way, so we (okay, we all know it’s actually Peter) have given owenhoelter.com a new look and added a blog. Now we can join the cool kids (Christy, Aaron, Micah)! Yeah for Peter! A few things:

• Peter will still post his photo galleries periodically, linked from the home page
• Pictures posted by me, Jenny, must carry  a disclaimer that they HAVE NOT BEEN COLOR CORRECTED, and thus should not reflect poorly on my diligent husband, would never post incorrect colors.
• We will probably add the password protection back again soon—it’s easy—any of the kid’s middle names will work, and if you can’t remember, just email us and we’ll fill you in.

And now, some cute kid pictures, because that’s what it’s all about!

These are from Easter! Note Willow the bunny in her Easter dress, the prominent display of Owen’s missing teeth, and Drew walking with assistance (sort of). He has since started walking on his own! Whew!