The past few weeks...

I haven't posted in a bit! Its been a busy few weeks here full of this-es and thats...

At our "friends" Thanksgiving this last year, we made a  specific (really yummy) cocktail all weekend that used Luxardo cherries - Michelle and Amanda had driven all over town looking for them and it became our joke for the weekend. I stumbled on a recipe for them recently and we have tons of great cherries in season here, so I got a head start on holiday presents a few weeks ago and made a big batch of homemade Luxardo cherries. I pitted cherries for ages that Friday night, but it was worth it, they turned out REALLY good! And we got to see Michelle that weekend on St. Helens, just in time for me to pass a jar along to her...

We took off early that Saturday for Mt. St Helens to meet up with everyone, camp that night, and hike the mountain on Sunday. We met at this great park on the way there, swam, ate, hung out - such a beautiful day.

Early Sunday a.m. - the whole group before shoving off on the hike. I only made it a ways (I get out of breath so easily lately). The trail is also not the best for dogs because its so steep and full of scree, so Carmen and I turned around and hung out back at camp while the rest of the group made it to the summer. So unfortunately I have no summit pictures this year! 

We did have a GREAT bbq once everyone was back to the trail head - brats, corn, watermelon - it felt like a great kick off to summer.
I was more bummed than I thought I'd be that I couldn't make it to the top with everyone this year, but am glad I still got to tag along, hang out, camp, hike, and soak up some sun : )

I had to get a photo of where I seem to constantly find Ashley these past few weeks: in the garage working on his new bike. He has been out mountain biking the last three days in a row.....

Last weekend was the start of "Pedalpalooza" in Portland - a few weeks of bike related parades and events. I went on one of the rides with my friend Kellie (there was also a pregnant ladies ride last weekend : ). Isn't that guy's bike set up with the doggie side car awesome?! Not sure Carmen would be okay riding along like that...
The rest of the weekend was full of bbqs, took Carm to a vet appt, etc. - a nice weekend around town catching up on things.

We also of course got our big news last week that we're having a BOY!
I finished knitting up this yellow sweater and went out and bought some blue yarn so I could start knitting an actual boy sweater! So excited! 

And this weekend we headed to the coast with Steve and Merritt. They bought a house in Cannon Beach that has this adorable little guest cottage - how cute is the bed and painting?
The boys went biking Saturday a.m. while Merritt and I and the dogs went on a loooong walk on the beach, went out to lunch, took a nap and picked up dungeness crab in town for dinner - such a nice day.

Merritt with Frankie and Carmen on the beach.

Ashley and Carmen on their deck around dinner. It hazed over later in the day, so you can't see the view from here, but it has a beautiful view of the water.

After dinner we went for another walk on the beach, and of course again on Sunday morning after we went out to breakfast in town. Carmen is absolutely zonked next to me right now as I type : ) 

Sounds like Morgan did great at her track meet this weekend! She didn't quite make it to PA this year, but there will be other opportunities for her to show off her skills : ) Also looking forward to hopefully meeting up with Heather in Seattle this week. Can't wait!