Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Road Trip, continued...to Sisters
Instead of heading back up I-5 the way we came, we decided to make a loop and go back through Sisters and spend a night with Ryan and Michelle's family. It was a great way to end our trip. Us four adults went out to dinner in Sisters and got pizza for the kids back at home and then we all went over to Black Butte where the kids got to go swimming and Michelle and I got to sit by the pool and chat. The big kids slept out on the trampoline that night--a summer bucket list item checked off for my kids. The next day we all drove up to Three Creeks Lake to play and paddleboard. It was a little windy and chilly for me to get in the water, but the sun was shining and a beautiful day. The kids all had an absolute blast on the water, and I had a blast watching them all. They did get me out on a paddle board for a few minutes, just to try it. :) Grant found out that he loves paddleboarding. He started out kneeling on the board but was soon standing up and paddling all over the lake. He was so cute out there! It was just a great time with the RM fam. The cousins put together a presentation/speech to convince us to stay one more night, but we decided to give them 5 extra hours instead and drive home late that evening after dinner. It was the right move, especially when we woke up the next morning, having slept soundly in our own beds. Our drive home was quiet and uneventful, the best drive back from Sisters we've ever had--no ear pain, no long delays or re-routing. All in all, just a great trip for our family. We made lasting memories together--couldn't ask for anything more.
Monday, July 23, 2018
Crater Lake Road Trip
Our "big" family trip this summer was a road trip down to Crater Lake National Park. We didn't realize until just before we went that Aubrey would be able to get us in free since she was a 4th grader this last year and entitled to a free park pass. Worked out great! We broke up the driving a bit with a stop in Winston, OR for the Wildlife Safari and another stop to visit The Oregon Vortex, a place Greg remembered visiting as a kid.
Feeding the animals from our car was the highlight of the safari. They crowd around the car to get to the feeding cups and even stick their heads through the windows. I had a close call with an emu at one point. I was frantically trying to roll up my window, as the emu's beak came very near my face. We were all screaming. I got it closed just in time. We laughed so hard. My screams startled Aubrey and made her dump the rest of her feed cup all over the inside of the van. I didn't get a photo of it, but that emu's gray head and pointy beak is a vivid up-close image in my head!
The Oregon Vortex was an interesting and weird little place. Things are backwards and contrary to what you think. A water bottle appeared to be rolling uphill and shorter people looked taller, depending on where they were standing. The house itself made me feel nauseous and motion-sick, so I didn't stay long in there.
We stayed at the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, and it worked out great for us. We played tennis, volleyball, pickleball (Kari and Joel were coerced into playing with some interesting people who were very excited about pickleball and teaching them the rules), and went swimming. We ran into the Riegelmann family there, which was fun. They were headed down to CA for water polo and stopped to see Crater Lake on their way.
Crater Lake was absolutely beautiful. We couldn't have asked for better weather. A few days after we left, we heard that wildfire smoke rolled in and visibility was poor. We were thankful it held off until after we left. Our drive from our condo to Crater Lake was the worst part of our trip. It was 45 minutes of grumpy, fighting kids. We didn't download any music to our phones, and there was no radio or cell service. Once we got to the lake, though, things got better. Well, until I tripped over a log and took a tumble (see the map for the label M.T.--stands for "Mom Tumble"). It was a major wipe-out. I was bruised and scraped and bleeding. But I didn't fall off the cliff, so it was ok!
We marked the map with our stops around the rim of the lake. First stop was Castle Crest Wildflower Trail. It was pretty early in the day, so it was a little chilly still,and the mosquitoes were so bad, we didn't stay long. We walked very quickly through and ended up going back there at the end of our day. We made the mistake of not bringing any bug repellent and some of us (Greg) had a lot of bug bites. They like him.
We drove to the Rim Village, bought some souvenirs at the gift shop and got our first looks at the beautiful Crater Lake. It truly is amazing how blue the water is. We got back in the car and headed up around the west side of the lake, stopping at viewpoints and trails along the way. Watchman Overlook was the trail I biffed it on. Grant held my hand on the way back down to help me down the hill. He was sweet. I was the one who ended up needing the first aid kit, not the kids. We stopped for lunch at a picnic area on the northern part of the rim and then headed over to the Cleatwood Trail to hike down to the lake. The hike down wasn't too bad but kinda steep. Took us 25 minutes to get down to the water. The kids and Greg all got in. I put my legs in, and that was enough for me. They all jumped off the rocks into the lake, too, which was so brave of them! They loved it. We played in the water for a while, and then we had to hike back up. The hike up was brutal! We were hiking at pretty rapid pace, too rapid for me. I had to take a couple extra breaks and was dying by the time we got back to the top. Greg timed it, and it only took 26 minutes to hike back up--one minute slower than going down. No wonder I was winded and tired! After that, we headed on over to the east side of the rim, stopped at various points to take photos. One last stop to see Castle Crest Wildflower Trail once more, and then we were done! We went to Abby's pizza for dinner and headed back to our condo to swim/hot tub and then watch a movie. We were all pretty tired from the day of exploring, but what a great day it had been--the best!
Feeding the animals from our car was the highlight of the safari. They crowd around the car to get to the feeding cups and even stick their heads through the windows. I had a close call with an emu at one point. I was frantically trying to roll up my window, as the emu's beak came very near my face. We were all screaming. I got it closed just in time. We laughed so hard. My screams startled Aubrey and made her dump the rest of her feed cup all over the inside of the van. I didn't get a photo of it, but that emu's gray head and pointy beak is a vivid up-close image in my head!
The Oregon Vortex was an interesting and weird little place. Things are backwards and contrary to what you think. A water bottle appeared to be rolling uphill and shorter people looked taller, depending on where they were standing. The house itself made me feel nauseous and motion-sick, so I didn't stay long in there.
We stayed at the Running Y Ranch near Klamath Falls, and it worked out great for us. We played tennis, volleyball, pickleball (Kari and Joel were coerced into playing with some interesting people who were very excited about pickleball and teaching them the rules), and went swimming. We ran into the Riegelmann family there, which was fun. They were headed down to CA for water polo and stopped to see Crater Lake on their way.
Crater Lake was absolutely beautiful. We couldn't have asked for better weather. A few days after we left, we heard that wildfire smoke rolled in and visibility was poor. We were thankful it held off until after we left. Our drive from our condo to Crater Lake was the worst part of our trip. It was 45 minutes of grumpy, fighting kids. We didn't download any music to our phones, and there was no radio or cell service. Once we got to the lake, though, things got better. Well, until I tripped over a log and took a tumble (see the map for the label M.T.--stands for "Mom Tumble"). It was a major wipe-out. I was bruised and scraped and bleeding. But I didn't fall off the cliff, so it was ok!
We marked the map with our stops around the rim of the lake. First stop was Castle Crest Wildflower Trail. It was pretty early in the day, so it was a little chilly still,and the mosquitoes were so bad, we didn't stay long. We walked very quickly through and ended up going back there at the end of our day. We made the mistake of not bringing any bug repellent and some of us (Greg) had a lot of bug bites. They like him.
We drove to the Rim Village, bought some souvenirs at the gift shop and got our first looks at the beautiful Crater Lake. It truly is amazing how blue the water is. We got back in the car and headed up around the west side of the lake, stopping at viewpoints and trails along the way. Watchman Overlook was the trail I biffed it on. Grant held my hand on the way back down to help me down the hill. He was sweet. I was the one who ended up needing the first aid kit, not the kids. We stopped for lunch at a picnic area on the northern part of the rim and then headed over to the Cleatwood Trail to hike down to the lake. The hike down wasn't too bad but kinda steep. Took us 25 minutes to get down to the water. The kids and Greg all got in. I put my legs in, and that was enough for me. They all jumped off the rocks into the lake, too, which was so brave of them! They loved it. We played in the water for a while, and then we had to hike back up. The hike up was brutal! We were hiking at pretty rapid pace, too rapid for me. I had to take a couple extra breaks and was dying by the time we got back to the top. Greg timed it, and it only took 26 minutes to hike back up--one minute slower than going down. No wonder I was winded and tired! After that, we headed on over to the east side of the rim, stopped at various points to take photos. One last stop to see Castle Crest Wildflower Trail once more, and then we were done! We went to Abby's pizza for dinner and headed back to our condo to swim/hot tub and then watch a movie. We were all pretty tired from the day of exploring, but what a great day it had been--the best!
Saturday, July 14, 2018
Cousin Camp and Beach
The kids had a wonderful time at Cousins Camp, and we had a wonderful time without them. :) Greg worked the first day the kids left, so I had a day to do whatever I wanted--worked on my class (to renew my license), bought some things for Grant's birthday party, browsed Nordstrom, and wandered around Hobby Lobby, just because I could. Greg and I went out to dinner than night at The Local Cow and enjoyed our kid-free time together. The next morning we headed to Newport where we were meeting Ryan and Michelle and Eric and Leah for the night. We stopped in Woodburn to shop at the outlet stores and had some lunch before we were on our way again. The place Ryan and Michelle were at was really nice, right on the bay next to the bridge in Newport. We took a VERY windy walk across the bridge and wandered around the Bay Front for a bit before we headed back for another VERY windy trek back across the bridge. It was hilarious just how windy it was. We all had dinner at Rogue Brewery, which was fun and just hung out that evening, chatting and watching John Crist youtube bits.
The next morning we went out to coffee and walked around the marine exhibit before packing up and heading north to Lincoln City to meet the kids. We stopped for lunch at Tidal Raves, Ryan and Michelle's favorite restaurant at the coast. It lived up to the hype--the view, the food, the atmosphere-all of it was amazing. We watched whales play in the surf while we ate our lunch and just had a great time together. We also had the best key lime pie I have ever tasted in my life. Mmmm.
In Lincoln City, we met up with all the kids and grandpa and grandma, spent some time on the beach, and spent the night with them there. We headed home the next day, everyone slightly tired but happy. :)
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Camping with Wilsons
After last year's fiasco of a camping trip, we decided we'd do thing differently this year and make back-up plans for our back-up plans. It didn't work out for us all to caravan together, but we decided our family would go up in the morning and find a site that would work for all of us. We borrowed Mom and Dad's Tundra, and we had a destination plan A, B, C, and D. Once again, however, we encountered some challenges in our quest for the perfect campsite.
Our plan A place, Peterson Prairie, had a double site for us, but we wanted to see if there was anything better, so we paid for the site, thinking the worst that would happen is we'd be out $30 if we opted for another spot. So, we left camp chairs in the site and taped a note to the Wilsons on the message board (part of our plan was for the Wilsons to check the message board for changes in the plan) letting them know that we were exploring other options and to please pick up our chairs if we weren't there and go on to the next plan. We drove 9 miles up a gravel road to our plan B place, Cultus Creek. It was a long, bumpy trek up the mountain, and when we finally got to the campground, we saw small overgrown sites, no people, and LOTS of mosquitoes, as in, bugs flying into our mouths when we stepped out of the truck. It didn't take long to decide this was not the place for us. We drove back down the mountain and decided to set up camp at Peterson Prairie. The kids helped unload everything, and we set up camp, tent and all. We ate some lunch and did a little exploring and quickly realized there wasn't much to explore--no creek, no lake, no hiking trails. We decided to go check out some of other places nearby, just for future trips, of course.
We drove 6 miles down another rough gravel road to Goose Lake. It was pretty, and I was tempted to relocate there, but the campsites were literally on the side of the hill, had to go up a flight or two of stairs to get to the sites, and we, ultimately decided it wasn't worth the hassle and $30 to move there. Forlorn Lakes were pretty, as well but still not worth moving campsites. Forlorn Lakes were on a loop on the map, so we just continued on the road rather than turning around, but we ended up coming to spot on the road that was washed away and impassable. The road was too narrow and had the mountain on one side and a steep cliff on the others, so Greg backed down the road a quarter of a mile and when we came to a spot where it seemed feasible, I got out to help him back up and turn around. It was a little stressful but very exciting. :) We were going to head back to our camp, but there was just one more place we/I really wanted to check out--Trout Lake Creek. So, we drove 30 minutes past our campground and found an amazing spot right on the creek, so amazing that I was able to persuade the rest of the family that it was worth relocating. They agreed that it was a better spot but were reluctant to drive all the way back to our other campsite, tear down, and set up all over again. It took some convincing, but they all agreed. We paid for the site, left the trusty Great Grandma quilt to claim our spot, and were back on the road again. Unfortunately, we took a wrong turn on our way up to the main road and ended up going 15 minutes up a mountain, the wrong way. We had to drive until we found a safe place to turn around (again), and another 15 minutes later, we were back on the right road and drove the half hour to our campsite where we took our tent down and loaded up the truck in a mere 20 minutes and drove the 30 minutes back to our final destination. At this point, it was 6:30pm. The Wilsons rolled up before we even had our tent set up. They loved our spot, and we were all glad we'd switched, even though it had meant many hours in the car and extra work. From that point on, it was pure fun! Well, except for Grant falling in the creek fully clothed in his tennis shoes and except for Kari getting attacked on the nose by a horsefly.
We explored an ice cave, natural bridges, another cave, played in the creek, and ate yummy food. Great time with great friends!
Our plan A place, Peterson Prairie, had a double site for us, but we wanted to see if there was anything better, so we paid for the site, thinking the worst that would happen is we'd be out $30 if we opted for another spot. So, we left camp chairs in the site and taped a note to the Wilsons on the message board (part of our plan was for the Wilsons to check the message board for changes in the plan) letting them know that we were exploring other options and to please pick up our chairs if we weren't there and go on to the next plan. We drove 9 miles up a gravel road to our plan B place, Cultus Creek. It was a long, bumpy trek up the mountain, and when we finally got to the campground, we saw small overgrown sites, no people, and LOTS of mosquitoes, as in, bugs flying into our mouths when we stepped out of the truck. It didn't take long to decide this was not the place for us. We drove back down the mountain and decided to set up camp at Peterson Prairie. The kids helped unload everything, and we set up camp, tent and all. We ate some lunch and did a little exploring and quickly realized there wasn't much to explore--no creek, no lake, no hiking trails. We decided to go check out some of other places nearby, just for future trips, of course.
We drove 6 miles down another rough gravel road to Goose Lake. It was pretty, and I was tempted to relocate there, but the campsites were literally on the side of the hill, had to go up a flight or two of stairs to get to the sites, and we, ultimately decided it wasn't worth the hassle and $30 to move there. Forlorn Lakes were pretty, as well but still not worth moving campsites. Forlorn Lakes were on a loop on the map, so we just continued on the road rather than turning around, but we ended up coming to spot on the road that was washed away and impassable. The road was too narrow and had the mountain on one side and a steep cliff on the others, so Greg backed down the road a quarter of a mile and when we came to a spot where it seemed feasible, I got out to help him back up and turn around. It was a little stressful but very exciting. :) We were going to head back to our camp, but there was just one more place we/I really wanted to check out--Trout Lake Creek. So, we drove 30 minutes past our campground and found an amazing spot right on the creek, so amazing that I was able to persuade the rest of the family that it was worth relocating. They agreed that it was a better spot but were reluctant to drive all the way back to our other campsite, tear down, and set up all over again. It took some convincing, but they all agreed. We paid for the site, left the trusty Great Grandma quilt to claim our spot, and were back on the road again. Unfortunately, we took a wrong turn on our way up to the main road and ended up going 15 minutes up a mountain, the wrong way. We had to drive until we found a safe place to turn around (again), and another 15 minutes later, we were back on the right road and drove the half hour to our campsite where we took our tent down and loaded up the truck in a mere 20 minutes and drove the 30 minutes back to our final destination. At this point, it was 6:30pm. The Wilsons rolled up before we even had our tent set up. They loved our spot, and we were all glad we'd switched, even though it had meant many hours in the car and extra work. From that point on, it was pure fun! Well, except for Grant falling in the creek fully clothed in his tennis shoes and except for Kari getting attacked on the nose by a horsefly.
We explored an ice cave, natural bridges, another cave, played in the creek, and ate yummy food. Great time with great friends!
Monday, July 09, 2018
4th of July
The Wilsons hosted a 4th of July party at their new house this year. I brought my camera and rediscovered the joy of taking photos. It had been a while. My camera is on it's last legs and doesn't always work, but it was working that day. I had fun capturing lots of faces. Even coerced my family into a family photo.
Wednesday, July 04, 2018
Lunch Time Shenanigans
We have a plethora of fruit in our house right now, and we're all thoroughly enjoyed it all--Rainier cherries from Hood River, raspberries from Burns farm down the road, marionberries and blueberries from my parents' house. These kids can pound the fruit! I had my camera out and started taking photos during lunch. All four kids were home, which has been a rarity, and they were all in silly, happy moods. I love summer.
Kari's 8th Grade trip with Ashlynn and G&G
All four of them had a fantastic week together in sunny California. We enjoyed seeing photos and hearing from them via Facetime while they were gone. They just had an absolute blast! Many wonderful memories for them all.
Joel P2P Beach Trip
Greg took Joel away overnight to the beach to go through the Passport to Purity material. They went to Seaside and had some fun along with discussion. It included food, playing arcade games, and a trip to the Nike store. :)
Tea party, outside play, legos
Sports camps are done (except soccer training days for Kari), and true summer has begun. The kids spent days taking apart Legos and organizing them. Now they're building sets again. Aren't those bins a beautiful sight?
Great Grandma Carrie would love that the kids use her teapot for their tea parties. I'm fairly certain the only reason Grant plays "tea party" with the girls is so he can have "biscuits," a.k.a. cookies.
One afternoon they played "15 passenger van" and set up camping chairs for the seats. I love when they use their imaginations and play together nicely.
Our trampoline bit the dust, and the kids were motivated to take it apart before the new one arrived. We're on our 3rd trampoline now, but it's worth every penny!
Great Grandma Carrie would love that the kids use her teapot for their tea parties. I'm fairly certain the only reason Grant plays "tea party" with the girls is so he can have "biscuits," a.k.a. cookies.
One afternoon they played "15 passenger van" and set up camping chairs for the seats. I love when they use their imaginations and play together nicely.
Our trampoline bit the dust, and the kids were motivated to take it apart before the new one arrived. We're on our 3rd trampoline now, but it's worth every penny!
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