June (Senja 10 mo)

June brought more days of sunshine and Senja's 11 month birthday.  She continues to increase the speed of her crawling and is standing with ease.  She's starting to work on her balance without holding on to things.  She has discovered it is much fun to climb up the back stairs.  Justin celebrated his first Father's Day as the Papa of two.  We got him a new Italian stove top coffee maker...does that tell you anything about the past 11 months?

June also brought the return of Crowder (he spent the last five months enjoying rest and relaxation with Oma and Gimpa Luoma in Connecticut).  Crowder has to adjust to a crawling and standing Senja -- a little different than the four month old she was when he left.  Cadel makes sure Crowder is brushed and looking sharp and he often asks, "May I give Crowder his kibble?".  Crowder is quite pleased that Cadel knows how to open his food container.  

 Cadel races in his first road race -- a criterium in NE Portland.  Here is is on the start line, focused on his race.

 

We went on our first camping trip in the Pacific Northwest -- it was Senja's first camping trip ever!  And it was an adventure.  We camped at Mt. St. Helen's and did a hike through a lava tube cave.  The hike was only 1.5 miles, but it was all underground (flashlights and headlamps required) complete with boulder fields and 8 foot tall rock walls.  Cadel was well entertained by the experience until we were well past halfway through, at which point he began pleading to "go back that way!" Although he cried for the last quarter of the hike (and my do those cave walls echo!), upon popping back out into daylight he asked, "May we got back in the lava tube?". 

Here we are enjoying a day at the Rose Garden.  (Getting a nice photo of Cadel and Senja still eludes me.)