Oregon with the Johnsons (June 1-4)

The first week of our official Oregon residence we spent in Philomath with my parents. This was perfect timing, because Alex wasn't back yet (still finishing up baseball season at FSU), and we hadn't seen my family since February, so Olivia had a lot of catching up to do on her mess-making. She has an unbelievable knack for finding the best mess opportunities - as all kids do - so for me it was a week of chasing around and picking up.

Here's Olivia just coloring one morning...she started out normal, then decided sitting on the table would make it more fun...



I'll never get over these beautiful blue eyes...

The evening of June 1st we went to a wedding reception for my second-ish cousin Natalie (I never know the actual relationship, but we consider ourselves cousins-from-a-different-grandpa :). While at this reception, I was schocked and amazed to discover the true root of all mischeif in the Romrell genes. Now I know my grandpa will claim innocence, and he has many years riding on honest and good behavior, but I am officially submitting my evidence that he is helping these impressionable youth break into a car during the reception...

And then he runs towards me, trying to destroy the evidence that I have just collected. Luckily I was fast on my feet, and able to hide my camera before he could get to it :)

It was a beautiful wedding reception, and I wish I had taken more pictures of the happy moments, but this one will be forever scarred upon my memory.

Later that evening, Olivia drove her first car through the grocery store!

The next day we went to the Bounce House in Corvallis. This place was a blast, and I can't wait to go again. Grandma and Grandpa got major points for going through the obstacle courses over and over and over...and Olivia was over the top ecstatic the entire time.

Other fun activities from that week included feeding the cat (who I'm sure gained 10 pounds during our time there) and jumping on the trampoline with grandpa.

And then we get to wonderful toddler shenanigans. We were able to have dinner with Grandma and Grandpa (x2) while we were there, and Olivia spent the entire time throwing food and making a huge mess. She is normally a great eater, and just hangs out while we eat, but she also loves to "perform" for company, so my grandparents saw her at her best :).

One thing she was super into was this dressing bottle. She was asking for something on the table, and it took quite a few tries to figure out what exactly she wanted, but it was this empty dressing bottle, which she immediately started sucking on. I think it was Balsalmic Viniagrette, so I'm sure it tasted intense to her, but she loved it.

Lastly, just another example of what can happen when you turn around for a second...she is always surprising me with how determined she is when she wants something :)