Fire Nearby

View from our front window as they were getting the fire more contained.

Well, on Monday there was a forest/grass fire that was extremely close to our house. It burned over 1,000 acres. The wind was blowing in the opposite direction of our home, so we were safe. Others had to evacuate and thanks to wonderful firefighters no homes were lost and no one was injured. I was home alone with Sage and was frantically trying to figure out what I would do if we needed to evacuated. Not much room left in my car with Sage and 3 dogs.
This plane is coming straight towards our house as it drops retardant on the fire. It was so loud in our house, having planes and helicopters so low right nearby.

Four firetrucks came and sat right across the street from our house. I think they were on watch for wind change and hot spots.

Now on to cute stuff........Sage in the bath last night. I'm in the second week of my photography class and am trying to implement some of our lessons.

We were doing this little photo shoot in our backyard when I saw a helicopter come right over our house with a bucket of water. I looked over my shoulder and could not believe the smoke that I saw.

A 2 1/2 year old and a sucker. Makes for a perfect photo shoot.

Last night Sage informed me that she would like to be called Sagey because "that's what everyone calls me". Hillarious!

No More Diapers!!!

My big girl is potty trained. She was ready, so it was fairly easy. We haven't had any accidents since last week. I was totally ready for it, but I still can't believe it. YIPPEE for Sage!!!!

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I Love This Kid

Making Cookies

We made cookies for the first time together. Sage did great and I was pleasantly surprised by what a great attention span she had. She stuck with it until the chocolate chips and M&M's were added. Then, she only wanted to eat them. Who can blame a girl though?

Sage was watching 101 Dalamtians the other night, while me and Scott were painting the kitchen. All of a sudden she burst out sobbing....real sobbing. We ran down to the living room, thinking she had hurt herself. No, she was crying because one of the dalmatians was hanging from a window sill and she though it was going to fall and get hurt. For those of you that know me well.......all I can say is SHE IS MY DAUGHTER.

New Lens

My niece Sadie

I bought a new lens for my camera that I am loving. It is a fixed 50 mm f1.8. There is no zoom, so that is an adjustment, but it gives that background blur that I so love. It is the signature look of Karen Russell, the person I am taking the photography class from. That class starts next month. Can't wait. Here are some of my first shots with the new lens. The picture of me and Scott was taken by the wonderful Laura Davis.

More Newport Pictures

Running on the beach with her cousin Megan. They are chasing after Scott, who is barely a blur in the photo because of fog.
Listening to marine animal sounds on the special phone at the Hatfield Marine Science Center

Octopus! So disgusting. She was fascinated. I hate animals in tanks...they're gross.

This is a picture of the jellyfish tanks at the aqaurium. I love how this picture turned out.

It is so hot here right now. It reached 108 today. It is the by far the biggest heat wave we've had since I've lived her (10 years). It is miserable. We're taking off for one of the mountain lakes tomorrow to cool off a bit. Sage is very excited about hanging out with her friends.

We spent a very long weekend at the vet's office this past Friday and Saturday. Our sweet Lucy (who my blog is named after) has been ill appearing for a couple of weeks. Finally took her in to the vet and she has something called "Idiopathic Vestibular Syndrome". It is basically vertigo (dizziness). She has been a little off balance recently and has this funny head tilt. Her appetite has been terrible. Well, after lots of labs, xrays, medications, and IV fluids, my Lucy is much much better. Almost back to normal, other than her cute little head tilt. It may never go away. She is 12 1/2 now. She's had a great life, but I'm not ready for her to leave me quite yet. Feeling so much happier now that she is better.

Newport

We're back from our vacation to Newport. We had so much fun. It was our first time to Newport and I thought it was so magical. We had a great week.

Sage on the beach. She had tons of fun building a sandcastle with her cousin Megan.
Looking at crabs at the aquarium. They were the creepiest crabs ever. You can't really tell from the picture, but they were huge. The one in this picture kept following Sage along the tank. She was yelling "He's following me". These are the kind of crabs that nightmares are made of.

Cool girl with her sunglasses.

This was at the interpretive center at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. It was so windy at the lighthouse and beach, that Sage didn't enjoy it at all. She was very happy to be back in the center where she could color and explore inside.

Me and my baby.

She spent the entire afternoon with her head on Scott's shoulders becuase of the wind. It was blowing a good 35 MPH. It was not pleasant at all. It was a beautiful lighthouse and beach though.

Possible, my favorite picture of the trip. She's copying her dad, who is cleaning the sand out of his shoes.

The house we rented with Scott's sister and her family. It was a 3 minute walk to the beach and to this great little historic district called Nye Beach.

I'll post more pictures this week. We took TONS of photos.