Headed Home

Well, it's official--my time in Oregon is coming to an end. It's 11:00 at night and tomorrow morning I will be boarding a plane to return home. I'll be honest...my immediate reaction is excitement. I can't wait to be back in my own home, with my own bed, snuggled up with my own dog.

I will also miss my times here in Lake Oswego. I've made some great memories with the Vaiciulis clan that I hope we will all treasure for many long years.

The girls love stories so I am sure we will be able to talk about some from the summer. Like the boy who got kicked out of the swim park for swearing or how I got lost going berry picking. Hopefully they'll remember us swimming in the lake with our noodles and riding in the lazy river at Wilson Pool. The girls have gotten me caught up on the latest Disney shows which I will admit that I will have to watch when I get home. I'll have to check in on Hannah Montana and the Wizards of Waverly Place. I'll think of the girls every time I hear the Jonas Brothers as I hope they will think of me when they hear Mamma Mia. I'll hear Paige's voice in the word COUSIN and I'll see Gwynn when I pass Abercrombie.

Auntie Mar and I have the best looking toes in Lake O thanks to Suzanne and her girls at Elite Nails. I will miss my shopping buddy :). Uncle Mark and I have shared baseball scores and replays. It'll be fun to watch the Pats and Raiders this fall...there will be no tuck controversy.It's been a good five and a half weeks.

Gwynn and Paige, you are very special girls to me and I love you very much. I hope you know how much I care about you and how special these summer memories will be to me.

Final Activities

This week, we have been trying to cram in some last minute activities. Monday was spent at one of my favorite places this summer, the lake. The girls swam for a little while but they mostly enjoyed when I went in with them and threw them into the air. You should see how high Paige gets. The water seems to have gotten a little murkier so it's not as clear and refreshing as it was in the beginning of the summer.

Tuesday we headed to the Sherwood Ice Arena. It was supposed to rain most of the day so I tried to plan an activity that would get us out of the house for a little while. It was a good idea in thought but in actuality it was not as fun as I would have liked. It was cold, the skates didn't fit right, the girls had trouble...you know the rest. It just didn't work out. I did get some cute pictures though.

Wednesday afternoon was still a little cloudy so we decided to head to Southwest Community Center for their indoor pool. The girls and I love this pool. It has a long waterslide, a rope swing, and "a leisure pool with interactive play features" (that's a direct quote from the website since neither Auntie Mar nor I could accurately describe this pool). The girls especially like playing Aquamarine with me. It's based on the movie of the same name. We all pretend to be the characters from the movie, Gwynn is Aquamarine the Mermaid, Paige and I are the two human friends.

We ended the week with a playdate with Anna and Abby. After picking the girls up, we headed to Oaks Park. This is an amusement park but smaller than anything I can think of back home. This is no Six Flags or even Lake Compounce for that matter. It has maybe 20 rides but that might be pushing it. It seems that they cater to two different groups of people-young children (3-5 yrs. old) and those that want to spin til they puke. It was harder for Gwynn and Anna to find rides that they liked. They both enjoyed the miniature roller coaster while Paige and Abby liked the giant slide. We ended the afternoon with $1 souvenirs and ice cream cones. It was a nice way to end the summer. Stay turned for a slideshow of our Oaks Park Adventures.