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Jack and I toured the USS Blueback at OMSI. Jack got to drive both ends of the ship, and did an impromptu martial arts performance on the dock.

So, I had been under the impression that I just had to hold on until Saturday for the sun to make an appearance. However, this morning in the paper, I saw that today would be our only shot at sunshine for another week! Well. I threw the breakfast in a baggie, the kids and stroller in the station wagon, and pretty much left tire marks on the driveway in my haste to ensure that we would not miss one minute of our fleeting chance to be outside without rain slickers and galoshes!

We pretty much had a blast. The Oregon Zoo is really fun, the exhibits are designed so you can really see the animals, and my only gripe is that when our double stroller is loaded down with two boys and a diaper bag, it is pretty much impossible to push up the winding hills that make up the zoo's weirdly multi-level layout. We spent all day and the kids napped in traffic on the way home. Now, a bath and early bed time for all. The only thing missing from an almost-perfect adventure was Aaron!

Hi everyone! Here is the first installment of photos of our new house. This batch pretty much covers the main floor. Things are still pretty crazy, but the fine tuning is coming along slowly but surely. I decided to try to distract you from the mess and chaos in the photos by strategically placing cute "props" in the foreground of my compositions :) Enjoy! Up next: upstairs.

By day, they're Neela, Roli, Jack, Elliott and Oliver. By night, they're a band of miniature super heroes known as Neela and the Batmen.

Oli's favorite OMSI exhibit today was the weathercaster training. He happened to be wearing a solid green shirt, which made his head appear to float on the TV screen (look in the bottom-right corner of the TV screen above Oli's head). He was completely mesmerized.

We spent the morning at OMSI, and by the end of it Jack was exhausted. He gathered up some acorns and bedded down inside an old growth tree. See you after the long Winter, Jack.

This is the photo finish for Kentucky Oaks 136. See that guy with the tiny camera who looks kinda out of place. That's me.

About two minutes after this sweet encounter, Jack stopped dead in his tracks in the crowded mall and shouted, "Oh! Oh! Oh no! I forgot to tell Santa that I'm a GOOD BOY!!!!!"