The Oregon Trail

We recently made a trip to Florence.  No, not the Florence near Tuscany with the rolling hills of Italy, but Florence, Oregon.  This was a fun chance to make the 8 hour trek south to visit Sydney's Uncle Nathan, Aunt Amber, and cousins Desi, Alex (aka Pickle), and Lelend.

Lelend, of course, is her newest cousin and he still has that 'new car smell.'  Sydney got to meet him for the first time on this trip, as did the rest of us.  Lelend is quite a character...always smiling and laughing.  He must have also logged a few miles in his walker while we were there.  He was also given a baby blanket that has also gone through Nathan, Joe, and some of the other kids.  We'll see how much more wear it can take beyond the nearly four decades it's already been chewed, slobbered on, drug around, and used for various purposes.

Sydney and Lelend

While in Florence, we also managed to log quite a bit of time in the pool.  We managed to swim, float, bob, and play with any and all flotation devices until the pruned nature of our skin was quite evident (I think I shrunk about 3 inches).  Sydney also did great putt'n around the pool...no surprise there.

Other than that, we were able to hit the local farmer's market and just relax a bit at Nathan and Amber's house.  Of course, while we were there I had to educate the younger generation on the benefit of pure skill and experience when it comes to Mario Kart Racing on the Wii.

The trip, all in all, was great fun.  The end of the visit unfortunately meant returning to the confines of the car for a long drive back.  Sydney, during the return drive, repeatedly said that she wanted to see her cousins again.  She obviously had a great time and was already missing them.


My mature girls...


In other new, this week marks the end of Sydney's first soccer season.  It was a great experience, and actually was quite humorous at times.  I'm sure I'll have more to share about this next week.  Until then, have a great week!!!





Fun games...too bad Sydney
doesn't realize she doesn't have
batteries in her controller :)

Practice and Games

Sydney has continued to blossom in her new sport...futbol (soccer to you less educated folk).  Her skills have improved, and her vision for the game is unparalleled for her age group.  OK...I guess that's a little untrue.  Well, in fact, there's not much truth to it at all.  Sydney spends more time picking up cones and sticking them on her head, pulling her shirt over her head, playing in the dirt, playing with the grass, and picking random flowers than actually playing with any real intention.  But, I guess that's really the way it's suppose to be when you're three!!!  So, as long as she has fun (even though she doesn't usually know which direction her team is going), then that is what matters.  She's had positive experiences with all of her other sports and hobbies, so this shouldn't be any different.  Her practices take place on Monday nights and her games take place on Wednesday nights, so it has kept our schedule fairly busy, too.

In a few weeks, Sydney will flex her fins and re-engage her gills as she takes back to the water for swimming class.  She always enjoys it, and this time she'll likely have a couple of friends joining her in taking 'the plunge.'

In other news, we are preparing for a trip to Oregon to visit Sydney's uncle and cousins.  That should be a fun trip with our first chance to meet her newest cousin.  That's it for now, but we hope everyone else is doing well!!!