Owen, Sara &
Andrew Hoelter

I was out of breath, having a hard time keeping up with this little girl yesterday. She told me as we were lining up to start the race (together) that she wanted to run NOT holding hands this time. Okay! I had to cut the corners to meet her at the finish line.

And this speedy guy finished strong and made 2K look like a piece of cake. Of course, he immediately ate a hot dog and all of our snacks, then had a hamburger for lunch. Plenty of energy for horseplay with the buddies.

Little enthusiasm for a post-race picture. The best thing about this one is the stand of native camas blooming in this little piece of preserved Willamette Valley oak savannah. It only got a little trampled.

We got out of town today to Neskowin and got a start on this year’s failed Christmas card photos! Lovely, warm and windy day on the beach. Loving being at a point now where the kids are able to dig their own holes and gather their own rocks, leaving Peter and I to relax on a blanket and have a Real Conversation. They helped each other wipe sand out of their eyes and took turns with the shovel. It was magical!

Well, it happened again — I got way behind in sorting and posting photos. So the time has come for another catch-up post. Presented for your enjoyment are three galleries from the Fall of 2011.

Christmas photos are next on my list — perhaps before Valentine’s Day?

	School Daze Fall brings with it the familiarity of back-to-school events: Photos on the front porch, a trip to the beach with Dad, visits to the pumpkin patch, soccer games, fun runs, and more.
	Disneyland Thanks to a purchase at a wine-fueled charity auction earlier in the year, in late October we headed down to California for two days of magic at Disneyland, with a bonus day at Legoland. Grandpa Mark and Grandma Miriam joined in on the fun. Needless to say, it was an amazing trip!
	Things That Happen Around This Time of Year Trick-or-Treating, fall leaves, birthdays, outdoor adventures, and Thanksgiving with family – it was an active Fall for us. This gallery begins with three little Angry Birds, and ends with a sunny hike along the Santiam River.

Here are some odds and ends, including the long awaited matching Christmas T-shirt picture…

And here are a few from our trip to the beach with the Wings!

And, we have a 9 year old!

Peter, a brave man, took these 5 characters bowling to celebrate the occasion. He won. By a lot. Just in case anyone wondered. His score was like 190 or something.

After a few busy (stressful!) weeks, everyone was grumpy at the Hoelter House. Brothers and sisters kept poking/pushing/snatching from each other, Mom and Dad found that there are limits to the mood elevating effects of caffeine, and we were SERIOUSLY thinking of giving up our no-TV-on-weekdays rule for 30 minutes of Dinosaur Train (don’t get me started…) and peace.

We realized that none of us had the wherewithal to obtain the 90 minutes of best behavior that is required to get through church and “cookie time” today, and so pointed ourselves west.

It was a bit on the chilly side, but sunny and only a little windy. The kids found “trails!” and “secret houses!” in the grass and dunes and explored, dug, and jumped for the better part of the afternoon. I love that Drew is big enough to tag along for parts of this–he is completely enamored with “Oweee” and so eager to play.

And don’t tell my husband I found this dreamy guy in the dunes…

🙂

Hooray for beaches and cousins! The Hoelters, Watsons, and Wings x 3 converged in a (large!!) house in Lincoln City for some family togetherness. Ben and Owen explored and learned how to skateboard, and the “little” cousins stole trains and blocks from each other and were generally herded around by Sara. Lily smiled and crawled and crawled and crawled.

And of course, there was the beach! Sunny, clear, windy and a smidgen chilly, great for sand dune jumping,

And dragging around kelp,

And “accidentally” getting caught by waves!

For next time:

1. 5 bedrooms is VERY nice.

2. Remember the waffle iron and the dice.

3. Nobody eats salad, but EVERYBODY eats grapes and cheese crackers.

Now we all have to get over the viruses we swapped and send packages with left/misplaced pajamas, glasses and doggies back across the Pacific NW!

Here are some other favorites!

For the past couple of years, Peter has taken the kids to the beach for the last day of their collective summer break. This year the weather was NOT cooperating, but they braved the raindrops and climbed the big dune. I love these pictures where the kids look like they’re about to fall off a cliff into the ocean!

They specifically requested Pacific City so they could climb the “big dune” (aka Cape Kiwanda). Here is some great video of Drew and Sara rolling/falling down the dune.

There is no video, however, of Peter simultaneously carrying two small children up much of the 750ft dune.

Maui! We’d had enough of a rainy spring, said “pooh-pooh” to a 5 hour flight with 3 little kids and headed to Hawaii for some sunshine and adventure. Peter and I honeymooned here 11 years ago and have been itching for a swim in the warm ocean ever since we left.

We had the extreme good fortune of being “test guests” for Julie Mercer’s (Auntie Jen’s Mom) condo in Kihei. Very comfy digs, I tell you. If you find yourself headed to Maui, we highly recommend contacting Julie for details! (By the way, we ARE available to test other people’s vacation homes, as well!)

Our days started early, on the beach like this, (at Big Beach in Makena)

And included lots of sand castle building and unbuilding, (at Ka’anapali Beach)

And digging big holes, (at Ulu’a Beach in Wailea)

And eating sand

And some body surfing/getting rolled around in big waves. (at Ulu’a Beach) Owen became quite the body surfer!

One day we drove to the top of Haleakala, the volcano that makes up the south end of Maui, over 10,000 ft high! Here is Owen peering down into the “erosional valley” at the top (not a crater, we learned). It was amazing to be up ABOVE the clouds and the views on the drive up/down were great, too.

Another day we went to Lahaina for a ride in a Yellow Submarine (this delighted our 3 year-old Beatles fan). While not REALLY a submarine, we did ride below water level over a shallow reef and saw corals and lots of fish.

We also rested at the “World’s Largest Banyan Tree” and attempted a picture of our fantastic 3. Drew was attempting a “moon”–tough to do in a onesie!

Another day we took at drive to the other side of the island (the wet and rainy side) and took a hike in a bamboo forest

to this waterfall. Owen and Peter scrambled up a 12 foot rock wall to get to another one as well!

In the afternoons, we napped and then swam at the condo pool which had a big tile Orca in the bottom. Sara was never fully convinced it wasn’t going to bite her. This was Owen and Sara’s most favorite thing–swimming every day.

We ate our share of Maui pineapples and mangos, and (at Owen’s request) bought a coconut at the farmer’s market. A woman with a big machete chopped off the end and stuck in a straw! We all tried it, but Drew was the only one who went back for seconds and thirds and fourths…

After dinner, we would seek out a sunset (at about 7 pm!) across the street from the condo

or along the fancy Wailea Beach walk

We took some self-portraits

And finally got a picture of everyone looking in the same direction! Taken by a mother of three (teenagers) who Drew very effectively charmed (a recurring theme!).

We had a GREAT time and are still cleaning off the sand. We’ll be back someday!

We’ve been looking forward to a Memorial Day weekend trip to the beach for a LONG time. We joined the rest of the Hoelters in Manzanita for a few rainy days of beach walking and sand castle making, some foosball, board/card games and CUPCAKES to celebrate Chris’s Birthday. There was an impressive array of idevices, much to Sara’s delight. Sara and Owen got to sleep in bunk beds, which made going to bed FUN and bonded with their cousin Jackson, 7 months.

Here are some pictures!

Eat sand or run into the ocean? So hard to choose…

Manzanita has Cape Cod-esque dunes that Owen and Sara had fun exploring, with lots of climbing/jumping/rolling. There was sand where no sand should be!

An EXCELLENT frosting:cupcake ratio

Thanks for sharing your toys, Jackson!

A good looking bunch of Hoelter cousins…

The whole crew, minus one bearded world traveler. We miss Micah! (Sara, in her nearly 3-year old obstinate phase, insisted on sitting RIGHT there)

A very silly Silly photo.

Thanks to Mark and Miriam for making this happen—we all had a wonderful weekend—rain can’t ruin the magic of the beach!