Grandma & Grandpa Clausen Camping trip Summer 2009

Grandma & Grandpa graciously picked Soren up on Thursday and took him to the coast for some alone time. Which worked out wonderfully because mom and dad got some alone time too. A rare comodity these days. They took the baby and treated us to a night out to dinner. Although we missed our sweet boy, we enjoyed every second. Thanks mom and dad!!! I think the windy beaches were our only rough patch of camping, the rest was wonderful! We all had our highlights, but since I'm the one who runs the blogspot, I'll share mine... please feel free to add yours too!!!

One of my favorite things is star gazing. Although I dont know much. BUT! To see the milky way dust and spiral curve of the galaxy is always a humbling and welcome view. As a bonus, we all got to watch the space station as it crossed the night sky. We weren't quite sure at first what exactly it was. When it dawned on us, we just watched in silent amazement as it passed by. AMAZING!

We Be Camp'n!

Oh... My.... Gosh!

Gotta watch what you say around a 2 year old... they are the smartest of the parrot species!

This has got to be one of my favorite videos of Soren ever. He loved Grandma and Grandpa's bedroom in the 5th wheel. He would race up there every time a car, truck, motorcycle or bicycle passed by. Nate captured this priceless moment of him talking to himself in the mirror. I'll translate verbatim for you below... Remember this is from the mind of a two year old...

"Wanna go on the bridge? Right there. Right there you get in the truck. Right there you get in the cars.".... "You gonna hold the garbage truck?"... "I think you got the wheels... You remember?... When we go?"

Hang'n in the 5th wheel

Grandma and Grandpa just bought a 5th wheel!!! The pictures we have don't do it justice. It's amazing!!! They've waited so long and worked so hard to camp in STYLE! Congratulations you two! We loved helping you break it in...

Soren helped Grandpa build a fort to play in, christened the bath tub with his new squirt guns and blessed the comfy bed by taking a nap on it... Oh, and Nate got the tv and radio working in tip top reception! Me? I used the bathroom a lot to make sure all that hype about a private bathroom while camping is really true. It is.

Fun at the beach

The beaches were uncomfortably windy this trip and Big Blue was cold as ever. We still had a great time though! While at Seaside, Soren rode on the merry-go-round... and a Harley. He waved to Grandma, Grandpa and Daddy each time we passed around on the carousel. And on the streets he admired a sweet motorcycle. The super cool Harley guy, who looked like Santa Claus, offered Soren a quick "sit" on his bike. Of course we excepted! Santa, as we'll call him, even started the bike and pulled the throttle back so Soren could get the full effect. He LOVED it! Awe, his Papa would be so proud. Keeping with tradition, no one brought their cameras. Yeah, they got left in the 5th wheel. So, the memory will be etched in our minds forever and shared through this short story with ya'll. It was pretty adorable, trust me!

Driving in the front seat

Soren was sure that he would be driving us home. While Daddy and Grandpa prepared the 5th wheel for the journey home, Soren sat behind the Subaru wheel and had some fun. Boy, was everyone surprised by the horn, especially Daddy!

July 8th 2009

Happy 2nd Birthday Soren! We were all feeling under the weather so just the three of us hung out at home. Soren had a blast opening presents and playing with his new toys. Although, no hard feelings towards you gift givers, he seemed to like the cake and ice cream best! Poor little guy has yet to have an real birthday party. Next year we're gonna make up for it. We hope you all will be able to make it!

Birthday cake and candles

Happy Birthday To You Soren!

July 4th 2009

The Clausen 3 woke up refreshed bright and early this morning. Hopeful that after we attended the Lake Oswego BBQ Soren would lay down for a very late nap, sleep until at least 6pm, and be ready to stay up late and observe his very first firework show. We got home from the BBQ at 3pm. I took Soren out of his car seat, stripped his clothes off and changed his diaper without him opening even one eye. He slept 20 minutes and woke up. Nate and I sang to him, rocked him, held him and did every possible thing we could to get him back to sleep. He layed back down. We made it to the bottom of the stairs and he started fussing. We waited 5 minutes and just couldn't do the "cry it out" thing. So we got him up. He stayed up until 6:30pm, then totally crashed for the night. Nate crashed around 9pm. No firework show for the Clausen 3 this year... stay tuned for next year!

Daddy & Soren Slideshow

Months and months ago, I was getting ready to leave for a night class. I went to kiss my boys good-bye and found both of them in the dinning room. Soren was tucked into his high chair eating dinner that Nate had already prepared. Soren was smiling and admiring Nate as he sang to him and was snapping his fingers to the beat. I rattled off my usual list of "things to do" with the baby for the evening. Then quickly realized that I was being ignored by BOTH of them. I grabbed my bag, headed out the door, and took one last glance. Soren was smiling from ear to ear, chomping on his dinner and staring at Nate as he sang along to this song on the radio...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The 4th of July at Lake Oswego

Aunt Toni and Chris invited us to Chris's Aunt and Uncle's house on Lake Oswego for a 4th of July BBQ. The weather was beautiful, the views goregous, food was delicious and spending time with family and friends was priceless. Thanks for inviting us you guys!

4th of July 2009

You're NOT taking my picture while I'm eating are you!?

Mmm hmm... you ARE taking my picture. Snake.

Playing with the hose

Soren, the water balloon hog

Water balloons

Family