Give me the gum!

Another note from Carly... ha!  So, they got home from school today and both kids stomped up to their rooms.  Apparently there were "Issues" on the way home.  As in, Ben got gum, Carly didn't.  He made sure she knew HE was the "lucky one"...  So once home, a little voice says, "there's a note for you... on the stairs...." 

HA!  I love love love notes from Carly.  They are so very entertaining for us.  Sometimes, Gum Madness pays off for us, afterall!

Ryan added in a little more information on the Madness:  Ben was smirking and smacking (keep in mind Carly LOVES gum, serious Love) and she was tattling and upset, so Ryan said, "Ok Ben... share your gum with your sister!"  Well, that made them go "Eeeeewwwwwwww" for about 4 minutes, then Carly the Gum Lover goes, "Ok, we can share the gum".

School Started!

Ahhh, the First Day of School. Love it. I believe it snuck up on me this year, however. Suddenly, it's here.

Ben started his first day by WORKING... he signed up to be on the Morning Show and well, since his DAD run's said Morning Show, he was an anchor on the first day of school! The 5th graders rotate jobs all year long so everyone does everything, but ironically enough, Ben's a natural as an anchor! He did a great job this morning, along with all his friends...



I'm sure Ryan's family will agree, he couldn't look MORE like his Dad (at the same age) in the picture above, huh?!?!



That's Greg editing... he's been in Ben's class since K-5 and his mom also teaches at Lee... she will be Ben's afternoon teacher this year.



Ryan directing the kids... he is so patient with them! The "news show" they put on every morning is actually really pretty good!



And Carly... heading off to 2nd grade! Notice her hand-me-down backpack that she loves so very much.






Their school is Lee Elementary School of Technology and World Studies, and every grade level learns a different continent each year... 2nd grade is Australia. Carly and her teacher, Mrs. Bowling... last week we went to Sneak Peek where you meet the teachers... which is kind of humorous for us "Hi Mrs. Bowling-who-we've-known-for-9-years" She said she was pretty happy too get a McGregor! Sure helps the kids transition to new classrooms when they know their teachers so well already!


No pictures of Ben in the classroom... 5th grade, you know. Plus, he was "tied up" with his new job.

They got home around 4pm today and ALL were excited about the great day they ALL had! (Yes, even Ryan!)

08.11.09

08.11.09

Oregon State Capitol and The Coast

Our hotel was only a couple of miles from the Oregon State Capitol, so we were able to arrive there just as it was opening for the day. Really fabulous grounds! 

We enjoyed walking around for quite a while before we headed inside. 

Beautiful flowers and fountains were everywhere.

We were fortunate enough to be able to climb up 121 steps to the "Pioneer Gold Man" on the roof. Apparently the passageway had been closed for about 7 years and had recently reopened. We climbed the very steep spiral staircases that led to the roof.

 The view was spectacular!

Afterwards, our tour guide gave us the Inside Tour of the building, which included many interesting facts, and fantastic murals all over. 

Lots of covered wagon paintings around this capitol. It was neat to think of the early settlers coming to this amazing land.

I think the grounds were about the prettiest we have seen yet. 

Super soft, cool, GREEN grass. And my most favorite statue EVER. The man riding a horse and reading a book! Made me pretty happy to see what Ryan would have looked like if he'd been born in the 1700's.

We headed over to Highway 101 after our Capitol visit.

 Seriously? 

There's not much I can add to the experience. Except I'm so SORRY you can't even GRASP with these pictures the amazing beauty. YOU MUST GO....

This is Cape Foulweather... which made us laugh for very obvious reasons... This was actually our first glimpse of the Coast.

The Devil's Punch Bowl (above)  When the tide comes in, it is completely filled with water which fills in via that "small cave" in the upper right corner of it... I say SMALL, but a good sized boat could sail right in there...

Driftwood Beach... yup, it's really called that.

Above... Devil's Churn

It's really hard, in pictures, to appreciate the MAGNITUDE of all these areas.... the picture above is taken from the top of a cliff... it looks like a swimming pool!  If someone were sitting on the edge of those rocks, you couldn't even be able to see them!  Also above, that is Devil's Churn.

Hiking down to see Devil's Churn a little closer... a pod of whales were playing just past Devil's Churn and we enjoyed watching them... they are quite a bit harder to photograph.

This is the Spouting Horn (above), it's an ocean geyser... water rushes in to those caves to the right of it and forces water and air through the cracks, the pressure creates the "Spout" every few minutes... we enjoyed watching it!

Heceta Head Lighthouse (above)

The Sea Lion Caves... 

And yes, Ben worried and worried over tsunami's... He had a plan to get us out safely at the first sign of danger... and yes, he knew those signs, too.   Hmmmmm.  Preparation is everything.  I'm thinking he'd make a GREAT Risk Manager someday... or perhaps FEMA would appreciate his services?

We eventually got off the road (it was a very hard thing to do... but it was getting dark) and found a hotel outside Coos Bay... mostly because we wanted to stay in a town that shared the same name as Carly (we've called her CooCoos for years!). Found another Drive By Pick restaurant, this time for seafood, and it was EXCELLENT. We were quite pleased with ourselves for our great Dinner Luck. We found a Baskin Robbins because we decided we needed ice cream cones, and what do you know, it was $1.50 cone night! Score! Back to the hotel for BED... with sweet dreams of the Oregon Coast. Again, you MUST go.

Oh, we were quite certain that at some point during the day, we saw a weasel run across the road! Weasel Sighting. FYI.

08.10.09

08.10.09

Washington State Capitol

We started our morning by driving down to Olympia, Washington to the Capitol building.  It's a really stately building (ha!  duh...), extremely magnificent compared to Juneau!  There are several "matching" buildings on the grounds that house various branches.  The flags on the grounds were all at half mast.  A soldier from Washington had been killed that week in Iraq, so they were honoring him.

We took a tour and learned so many things about the building.  That's Ryan in the rotunda...

All of the light fixtures are from Tiffany, and were so beautiful.

While in the Reception Room, the guide was talking about the antique piano and said it would be really nice if someone was there who could play it since it really sounds so beautiful.  Of course, I immediately said, "He can!" and pointed to Ryan!  He was kind enough to throw out a little Mozart, and it really was beautiful!  He said he didn't mind:)

The chandeliers in the House and Senate Chambers.

Over the balconies in the Rotunda... These are supposed to represent "Fire Urns" like they had in the government areas of ancient Rome.  And I'm sure I got that wrong, but you get the idea...  they are in front of the flags from each county.

More of the Rotunda...

The grounds outside were nice, too... and it was another beautifully, cool, no humidity day!  We were loving this weather!

Ben and Carly... in case you were missing them.

We had our picnic lunch outside on the grounds, after getting our Christmas Ornament from the gift shop. 

In the afternoon, we drove down to Oregon.  We stopped in Portland to check it out and were sadly not impressed.  We did, however, stop at Powell Books because our Guide Book said it was the biggest book store in the US.  I believe it!  We spent some time there (pretty happy that it was color coded!) Carly got the kids version of "Marley and Me" and immediately started reading it.  

We caught a picture of Mount Hood... you might remember it from our FIRST day of pictures, flying over it.

We got a hotel in Salem, Oregon and went out for Mexican food at El Matador.  Another "Drive By" choice, and it was REALLY yummy!  We were missing Ti'juana Flats!  We called Renae for her birthday!

After dinner, we went swimming at the hotel then crashed in our room catching up with iCarly.  Hey, a new episode came out while we were on vacation, and iCarly and iBen were very excited to see it!

Bed... we stay pretty busy!