Date "Night"

Tyler and I recently had the chance to go out on some dates. After dropping the boys at my parent's house for a two night sleepover we went to see World War Z. It was pretty intense and we both enjoyed it, despite the zombie story line. 

The weather, as of late, has been a little bizarre. It's been cloudy and cold in the morning and then by afternoon sunny and hot. It's like we're living at the coast, except that we're not. I still can't get used to wearing long sleeves in the morning and short sleeves by night. It throws me for a loop. Tyler's been itching to go golfing for a while and he originally was going to go by himself, but then decided it would be more fun if I was there. Of course it would. I'm a pretty fun person. He has yet to talk me into actually playing, but I make an excellent chauffeur. Since it was a Wednesday morning the course was pretty sparse, and so we could take as long or short as we wanted. I think it was nice for Tyler to not be in a hurry and we just enjoyed spending time together. Eventually towards some of the last holes we got caught up to a group of old guys and so we hung back not wanting to crowd them out. That's when Tyler hit some of his best shots. 

Hole in one...... 

Just kidding. 

But he did make a birdie shot. :)

Best golf cart driver. 

Period. 

After we finished golfing I had to return some things at the mall and we eventually decided on heading down town for lunch. We had picked a new Chinese place called Mandarin Cove, but due to separate lunch and dinner hours we missed the window for lunch time and had to change courses. 

Instead we chose a Thai place called Bangkok Palace. 

Tyler ordered the Pork Pad Tai.

 It was seriously so good. 

My fancy Star shaped rice: 

I had sweet and sour chicken. It had a delicious sauce and even had cucumbers, which I thought would be gross, but actually added a sweet crunchy aspect to the dish and I was pleasantly surprised. 

We will definitely go back. After stuffing ourselves with Thai food we needed a good walk and what better place to do it than on the waterfront of the Willamette river? 

It was such a beautiful day. 

When we'd done enough walking to clear up some room in our stomachs we headed over to a local ice cream joint on 23rd street which has gotten rave reviews from family and friends:

I made sure to look at reviews online for any helpful advice and I'm glad I did, because we came at the perfect time when the line wasn't through the door and around the block. We waited like 10 minutes and got to sample like 6 different kinds. Which sounds like a lot unless you know that they have some very unique flavor combinations.... 

You would think that some of these would be pretty gross... I mean olive oil and ice cream don't mix, right? Black pepper or cilantro in my sweets? Uh... yeah we were a little leery. 

That is until we sampled some.... 

Then we were TOTALLY on board. 

I got Blackberry birthday cake and Almond brittle with Salted Ganache.... 

oh. 

my.

gosh. 

It was seriously, heavenly. 

Tyler got Strawberry with Cilantro Lime Cheesecake and Sea Salt with Caramel. 

Both were equally as good as mine, though completely unique flavors of their own. 

At 10.50 for two ice cream cones it's a little on the steep side. 

But trust me every once in a while it would definitely be worth the splurge. 

Oh. 

SO. 

Good!

After all the eating we did, we went for a run together on a trail near our house that night. It was nice to run with Tyler, even though I know he's not really "running" like I have to to keep up with him. I can't really manage to talk much because I have to focus on breathing so that I don't hyperventilate. However, just hearing our feet on the ground in perfect rhythm and listening to his steady breathing allowed me to enjoy spending time with him that much more under the circumstances. 

One of the things I love about our relationship is that we're not identical. Tyler and I couldn't be more different in a lot of regards, but we compliment each other quite nicely. We're both equally stubborn and passionate, though in different areas. He pushes me where I need it and I help remind him how to be sensitive to other people's needs, mostly mine but I am so thankful  for a wonderful husband and for the chance we had to spend time together. 

Thanks mom and dad! 

The Oregon Coast

Tyler wanted to take us to the beach for one of his days off. After talking him out of an overnight camping trip, we both agreed on a day trip. We drove to Cannon beach and had a blast. This was the first time Zayden has been to the coast and he loved every bit of it. 

We brought a picnic for lunch and just after taking this picture we were drove away from this table from a massive swarm of bees from a near by tree. It was seriously freaky, but that didn't stop us from having a great time. 

After getting in a minimal amount of lunch the boys were eager to go play on the playground. Seeing as how they'd been sitting for two hours in the car we decided a little running around the playground wasn't going to hurt anyone. 

And I want to note that I have no pictures of Quincy because he was busy making friends and playing hide and go seek with a girl around his age. Everywhere we go Quincy's good at talking with others, which encourages me that he'll do well in school this fall. 

So happy to be independent. 

Although the beach was slightly foggy when we got there and it was a tad bit windy, it was perfect by the time we left. We couldn't have picked a more perfect time to visit the beach. 

Oh my sweet Zayden. 

How he LOVED the beach! 

What's not to love when you're 16 months? Sand? Check. Water? Check. Sunshine? Check. 

And free reign to run around to his little heart's content. 

"What IS this glorious stuff, Mom?" 

This picture below describes it all: 

Tyler trying to keep Z in check and notice how Zayden's off in his own little world, marching on to explore the unknown.

Attempting to build a sand castle.... 

Haystack Rock. 

Our efforts are spoiled by the tide... (insert sad face here)... we were almost done, too! Maybe next time. 

When the tide came in we moved back up to the dry hot sand. Here the boys had fun looking for seashells, chasing seagulls, and throwing sand into the wind. 

Making friends again. They joined right in with this pack of kids and started digging. 

Our little sand lover. Notice he's wearing B's shirt since his got soaked in the ocean when he toppled over while trying to beat the small waves rolling up on the sand. He would have been fine except for the wind blowing started to make him shiver. Eventually he discovered how wonderfully warm the sand was and just plopped his body down in it like he was swimming in the bath tub. 

Happy face. 

"I love this stuff mom!" 

Being silly trying to cheer B up... he didn't get a nap on the way to the beach and became a little emotional when he "spotted" a shark that was going to "eat" Quincy. He was beyond tired and so we were trying to distract him. 

Shark sight seeing.... ha ha

We loved Cannon Beach and can't wait to take the boys back again. 

It was SO much fun!