Summer has arrived here in Portland and at my mom's house here in Loveland, Ohio.  It's been a while since my last post...and I'm just now learning how to used my iPad (thanks, mom!) to blog.

My baby turns 1 tomorrow and I can't believe how the time has flown!  We're in Ohio to spend time with the 'rents and celebrate!  I'll be sure to post pictures of our celebrations :)

In the meantime, here's a review of our trip so far :

Mom and Carl convinced us to stay for two weekends so Carl could teach Brandon how to use all of his fancy tools.  I picked out a few things for them to build, and I can't believe how good everything has turned out!

This was the first night of work.  It's going to be a cheaper, better quality, prettier, more meaningful version of this Potterybarn tree:  http://www.potterybarnkids.com 

Carl printed the picture, drew a grid over it and a huge piece of wood, and then drew it to scale.  Here Brandon is cutting the tree out.

And Carl looking on.

And, of course, no woodworking project could be complete without a little Phil Collins on the radio.  

While the boys have been busy in the garage, the girls have been busy playing and shopping.  Who knew that Plato's Closet actually had cute clothes for cheap? I'm talking super cheap.  This is one of my new favorite photos, and I just happen to be wearing a top from Plato's Closet that only cost $4.80.  No joke.

Needless to say, we've been back to Plato's Closet a few times.  I've also been taking advantage of Chick Fil-A while we're here.  Oh, Chick Fil-A, how I've missed you.  I'm on vacation, so it's ok to eat out every other day, right?  Yeah, right.  Good thing my parents have an elliptical downstairs.  

Til tomorrow!