Owen, Sara &
Andrew Hoelter

Thanks to an extra-busy spring, I got way behind on sorting and posting photos to our site. With over 2,000 photos to go through across many events and months, the task seemed best suited for the lazy days of Summer. Plus, with Jenny blogging about most major events, you, our faithful reader, probably have the gist of what we’ve been up to.

Well, here we are in the Dog Days, and I’m officially caught up. I’ve posted not one but four galleries, dating from mid-March to mid-July.

So, sit back for a spell and enjoy a window into the last four months of our lives.

	Spring Break We gathered up the troops for a Spring Break adventure to Spokane, Washington, Wallace, Idaho, and Union, Oregon. One reoccurring theme: Getting wet-either in form of swimming (water park!) or the constant rain and/or snow falling from the sky. Good times!
	Rites of Spring Spring brought with it familiar experiences (Awesome 3000!), but also some special events, including Grandma and Grandpa’s 40th anniversary, the birth of cousin Carson, and the acquisition of three cute little backyard chickens.
	Scenes from Two Days on the Coast Over Memorial Day weekend we escaped to the Oregon Coast, visiting the beautiful stretch between Lincoln City and Florence. We were greeted by sunshine, blue skies, and Moe’s clam chowder.
	June and July Ah, summertime – a chance to get outside and do all of the things you dreamed about doing during the damp of winter. Our adventures so far include a Marsh/Wing trip to Medford (with side trip to Ashland), Owen’s first backpacking trip, Sara’s 4th birthday party, 4th of July celebrations, and a few (short) hikes.

When brother and sister stay up way past their bedtime, they become best of friends, even choosing to stargaze late into the mid-summer night.

Warm pajamas (both Owen’s), warm socks, wool blankets, and popcorn help set the mood.

Not sure how many stars they saw in our central city backyard with high clouds in the sky, but they sure were cute.

Summer on…

We helped to celebrate cousin Carson’s baptism last Sunday! The kids were uncharacteristically cooperative with the camera, and Peter took some great pictures of these 5 cousins.

No babies were dropped, I promise!

Her favorite gift was a magic wand, with which she granted wishes, turing all of us into “plain” princesses, as opposed to beautiful ones. I still haven’t figured that one out yet, either… She and her friend Maisy discovered that sidewalk chalk, when pounded into dust, makes excellent face (and body paint). Who knew?

We had a big summer party, lots of neighbors, kids and family, an overflowing tree house–here are some of the kids with cake!

Here’s to a great year, my girl!

We got up early this morning to my favorite kind of summer day–clear and crisp, warm and in our backyard, smells like honeysuckle. We let the chickens out to range in the yard and they settled on the back of an old bench to roost after kicking the compost out of Peter’s neatly edged beds and doing their running and flapping routine. This is a chicken version of  the “little lamb in big field” effect.

They are almost 3 months old and getting pretty big. They tend to be a bit skittish around the kids, probably wise in regards to the amount of illicit chicken chasing that has gone on around here, but this morning they were surprisingly tolerant of petting. Owen did a great job.

Their house is finished and working great. They like to spend time underneath in the cool dirt digging impressively big holes.

And yes, the kids (and camerawoman) were still in pajamas. The morning was too pretty to waste time getting dressed!

With a “just do it” sort of mindset, I took Owen backpacking this week. We only spent one night out, and Opal Creek is a nearby and familiar hike. But, my son did carry his 11 lb backpack 2 miles in and 2 miles out with (gasp) NO WHINING. Not a peep. I didn’t even have to bribe him with M&Ms. Chatter was abundant and awe of the ancient forest was punctuated by poop jokes, but hey! We were in the woods.

We found this lovely little campsite near the Merkens Mill area and set up our little orange tent.

After setting up our campsite, we hiked further up the Opal Creek Trail unencumbered.

We saw one salamander, one Stellar’s jay, some chipmunks after our peanuts, and lots of buzzing, nonbiting bugs.

We may be a few years from Hells Canyon, but we got out of the backyard.

Today was Awesome 3000, the biggest youth event in Salem and a favorite of our family. This was Owen’s fourth race, and he did great running 1500m. Every year it becomes more of a social event for him (and for his parents), with many of his closest friends participating. Uppa and Grandma Judy were in the stands to cheer the kids on.

Here is Owen warming up just slightly apart from his pack of (270!!) purple friends.

Sara was not going to be left out this year. All week she practiced sprinting around the living room. She was very excited (most excited?) to have same t-shirt as Owen. Jenny ran with her for the full 300m, and I think they both had a lot of fun. We are so proud of our little girl! She ran fast!

They posed for our traditional post-race photograph, though I don’t know where the kung-fu-ish stance came from.

Next year, we will have THREE runners at the event. I can’t wait.

UPDATE:

Owen was part of a group photo that ran on the cover of the Statesman Journal’s Mid Valley section. This is the second time in four years that his image has been on the cover of that section!

Source: Statesman Journal Web site