Tour of the Oregon Caves April 21, 2012

Calvin assuming the standard position!

Porter, Emma and Roc outside the caves with the water fall that is fed by the water in the cave.

The sign marking the entrance to the cave, this is where the brave continue on and the others (the too short and non-walker) stay behind with Stacie.

Roc and Emma just inside the cave, Ryan was the only one who had to duck.

These are called straws formed on much of the ceiling, if you break one off you can drink through it, one of Roc's and Emma's favorite sights.

Roc forging ahead of the rest of the group.

The heart of the cave, naturally formed structure.

Volunteers cleaning every aspect of the cave for Earth Day.

Anytime we were near the surface we saw an increse in these familiar creatures.  Again danger appeared around every turn.

Emma in the "Banana Room"

Roc in the "Potato Room"

After two hours Emma and Roc emerge from out of the cave unscathed with the exception that they were wetter.  Notice that their eyes are still adjusting to the bright sunlight.

Porter happy to be reunited with the rest of his family after two hours of worrying.

To prevent Porter from feeling left out he was given the opportunity to venture in the first part of the cave.

Porter and Roc outside of the cave sitting by the stone commemorating Elijah Davidson, the man who discovered the cave while bear hunting (actually his dog discovered it, he just went in after the dog),  It took him 30 minutes to get in too deep and took him over 3 hours to feel his way out.

Today, we had the opportunity to go to the Oregon Caves, one of the few known marble caves in existence.  While we all went to the caves, Emma, Roc, and Ryan were the only ones to forge ahead and explore the "Marble Halls of Oregon”, deep blow the earth’s surface. Meanwhile, outside the caves Stacie faced a task almost as difficult as climbing through the underground maze; she was left to watching Porter and Calvin.

Roc's Spring Football Camp with Southern Oregon University April 15, 2012

Southern Oregon University put on a spring football camp in Medford prior to their spring scrimmage. Roc had the opportunity to move through several drills showing him a wide range of possible football positions that he could play. Porter was even able to learn a thing or two while watching.

Easter egg hunt

The start of the egg hunt we made Roc help Porter get the first egg so he would at least get one.

Roc running ahead to make sure he gets the most eggs.

Emma following in Roc's wake.
Notice an egg broke open but niether one would pick it up cause it had broken open.

Porter picking up the broken egg and having a little snack in the process.

After picking up the broken egg and having alittle snack, he sat down by the fountain and started to break open all the eggs and just eat.  Ryan went over to help him stop, and he grabbed a handful and ran off.  Clearly not interested in the eggs not picked up yet.  Look at how many are still in the picture.

Ryan picking up Porter's spilled bag of eggs and candy.  Poor Calvin just laying there waiting on dad.

Emma checking out her loot before going in and having to ration the amount she eats.

I'm not sure Calvin enjoyed this as much as the everyone else did.  He seemed a alot happier once we went back in side and let him roam.

Over all the egg hunt went quickly and they had fun.  The kids got what they wanted, to hunt for eggs and candy!!  Although this year we only hid like 25 eggs, they were still happy and enjoyed sneaking candy when mom and dad weren't looking.  That's ok because their candy only lasted for a few days.  It'll be interesting next year when all four are in the hunt.

Angry Birds 2012

For Easter the kids got an Angry Birds game.  Now to understand the humor behind this picture you don’t require any knowledge about angry birds, all you need is some simple logic about how catapults work.  As long as you held the catapult still and provided the object to be catapulted, Porter without question or thought would be happy to catapult it for you, even if the catapult was aimed at his forehead.  We thought for sure that he would only do it once and figure out that it was going to bounce off his head but he continued time and time again to catapult the angry birds off his forehead.  He would smile as the rest of the family would laugh and each time he would become excited when the bird was placed back in the catapult.

Easter 2012

The family tradition of Easter egg coloring, the kids tried to contain their enthusiasm but with each Easter egg that got colored they knew that they were one step closer to the possibility of Easter candy and presents.  As we colored the eggs Roc’s intuitive mind got the best of him when he asked “I wonder what kind of candy will go in these eggs.”  As his parents laughed, they tried to explain the concept of hard boiled eggs versus plastic eggs.  Like always, Calvin watched from the sidelines thankful for the moments of peace without any siblings in his face.

Calvin's crawling

This is how it starts.  Clavin getting ready and Porter waiting to push him back down once he gets up.

Look at the concentration on his face.

He gets so happy once he gets up on all fours.  The funniest part is he crawls backwards. 

What to do about Calvin, none of the other kids crawled this early. Just over five months old and he's already all over the place.  I think he sees everything else going on and wants to be right there with them and he's quickly figuring out how to do that.  Before we know it he'll be running and chasing after them, it seems just like yesterday I was holding him and he was so tiny.  How things change in a blink of an eye.