More Pool Time

Kellen and I hung out in the backyard both afternoons this weekend. He was in the kiddie pool and I was in a lawn chair in the shade. With his hair cut real short, Danelle and I were observing Kellen looks taller. Here are a couple more pictures of him in the pool.











Today Kristin got to go to a free soccer camp at the Nike World Headquarters here in Beaverton. All of the facilities on the campus are named after famous athletes sponsored by Nike. So she played on Renaldo field. Nike was very generous with the campers. They all got a free water bottle, soccer bag, and a new soccer ball. Danelle, Kellen, and I came a little early at the end of the day and watched the last hour or so of the camp. It was very pleaseant watching from the shade. Over ten girls from Kristin's club team attended and it looked like they all had a good time. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. That was the first time I'd ever been on the Nike campus. It is very beautiful. They must have a dozen full time groundskeepers.

Dinosaurs at the Zoo

Yesterday I took the kids to the zoo to see the dinosaur exhibit before it leaves (right after labor day). They had a lot of fun. Kristin was saying, "take my picture with this one..." She was having lots of fun. Kellen likes dinosaurs, but did not like the ones that "spit", it is really just water. We got up to the very large t-rex and Kellen froze at first and then jumped back.... he wanted nothing to do with that dinosaur. The t-rex used to scare Kristin too at age 4. :)

While at the zoo we walked almost everywhere and got to see lots of animals. It was nice to see one of the polar bears out playing and the giraffes were out walking around. That was impressive to me since it got pretty hot quick yesterday and usually the animals lay around once it warms up.

Today the kids had swim lessons. Kristin basically had a private lesson since only her and one other kid showed up and there are 2 teachers for her group. Got to like that! They even went and swam some laps in the deep end and polished off the lesson by jumping off the diving board. Kristin was all smiles after that. After lunch I took the kids to get hair cuts. Kellen's is really short, but it grows so fast.

This morning Kellen filled our little pool so that he could play tonight. It was hot enough today that the water really warmed up in the pool and we actually added a little cool water. Wow! Kristin didn't want to come out and play in the water, but I think she just wanted some quiet time.

Soccer in Oregon Never Ends

Well, the summer season rolled right into the fall season for Kristin and soccer. This fall she'll be playing to two teams. Continuing with the 'competitive' and also playing on a recreation team too. We had tried to get her signed up for fall softball, but it doesn't look like her club is going to be able to field a team in her age bracket. It was the first time her softball club has tried to join the fall league. Kind of bummed that softball isn't going to work out, but that does enable Kristin to continue with her competitive soccer team with the girls she has gotten to know over the last 18 months. The games are on the same days.

Kellen asked me last night if I would sign him up for a soccer team and get him a blue jersey with the number 4 on it. I'm thinking he has more interest in the blue jersey than the soccer, but time will tell. At any rate, he has to wait until probably at least next spring until he is old enough for a soccer program.

We'll since we've only taken soccer pictures lately, here's Kristin on a throw-in last weekend:

More Tourney Photos

Here are a couple more photos from the tourney:

Mount Hood Challenge

Kristin had her second and final soccer tournament of the summer this weekend. The soccer club she plays for is big enough to field two teams. This weekend, Kristin was placed on the 'A' team and was honored with being a co-captain at the opening coin toss of the first game:

During the pool play, her team struggled a bit and lost two close games. That put them in the third place bracket for a playoff. They did really well there, winning the semi-final 6-0 yesterday afternoon and then the final 3-0 today.

Kristin had a really good tournament and played well for her team. She had a handful of assists over 4 games and didn't seem too bummed that she didn't have any goals. Kristin is speedy out there, as you can tell from this series of photos:

One for the Bucket List

First off, Happy Birthday Anna!

The Stanley Cup visited our 'local arena' (as Kellen would say) in Sherwood today. The arena invited their patrons to come down and get a picture taken with it for a two-can donation to the local food bank. Needless to say, the Isenhart clan spent the afternoon in Sherwood.

It was a good time for all in the Portland metro hockey community. We got there about 50 minutes early, and that turned out to be just about right. The line quickly grew around the block after that.

Here are a few photos. You can't see my right hand, but I assure you I did not touch it.

Back to the Grind

We had a great visit with the Blair family. They arrived on an Amrtrak train last Friday afternoon. We took them to the Nike employee store in Beaverton that day. Neither Danelle or I had ever been to the Nike employee store but just last week I was offered a pass by a friend at work whose wife works for Nike. It was a fun time. They have a lot of merchandise there for a lot less that you would pay retain. We all ended up getting a couple things there.

On Saturday we did a day trip to the Columbia River Gorge to see the waterfalls. We stopped at a small place in Cascade Locks that does soft serve ice cream from the walk-up windows. It was really good. On Sunday we celebrated Kristin's birthday by opening presents and taking everyone to Big Al's again. Monday we tried Horning's Hideout, but got skunked because it was one of the two times all year that they aren't open to the public (they were cleaning up after a Blue Grass concert over the weekend). So we trekked back to Beaverton and went to the Cooper Mountain Park near our house. The kids had a great time playing in the sand and on the covered wagon (cover not on). On Tuesday we had a nice day just hanging out at the house before we had to take them to the train station.

The kids got along really well, especially Kellen and Alex, who are only a month apart with their birthdays. Kellen liked having Spencer around to play with too. Kristin was thrilled to have her Godfather visit on her birthday and was really sad to see him go. She told me later that she wished he lived across the street so she could see him all the time.

Unfortunately we weren't very good about taking pictures, but I'll try to post a couple later on.

And now it's back to work...

although Kristin has her first soccer tournament of the summer coming up this weekend and we're excited for that.

Friends Come to Visit

We're excited for the arrival of the Blair family tomorrow. They are taking the train from Wisconisn and will arive sometime tomorrow (Friday) and will spend a few days with us. Eric is Kristin's godfather, so it will be a special treat for Kristin to have him around on her birthday this year.

The kids have been busy with soccer and swimming. Kellen just finished up with skating lessons last weekend. Kristin's soccer team has been doing some intrasquad scrimmages in preparation for a couple tournaments later in the month. For being one of the younger players due to her August birthday, she does very well at competitive soccer. It is a lot of fun to watch her and her team play.

Kellen enjoyed T-ball so much that we're looking for a winter indoor program for him.

Birthday Party

Kristin had her birthday party on Sunday afternoon at a local place called Big Al's. The girls bowled and then had pizza, cake, and soda, and then had a good time in the game room. I think Kristin had about 15 of her friends there. Kellen got to bowl too.

Here's a picture of Kristin at the head of the table. Later on in the party, all her friends signed that bowling pin with a magic marker.

Danelle took the kids to the Washington County fair last Thursday. They got to ride the ponies.