Oregon: Part Two

We had a great weekend to finish up our trip to Oregon.  On Friday, Marcus met his dad and brother Chris for some golf, while Lark and I took the kids to Burger King, and then to Chris and Julie's house.  We all met up at the splash pad for some water fun.

Emma and Jonas were "taking a break to warm up".

I loved watching the kids' faces when the water would suddenly shoot up.

Even Cousin Ada had a blast.

Drew wasn't too sure about the whole thing, but finally enjoyed trying to grab the small spouts of water.

On Saturday, Grandpa Steve took us out on his boat.  We spent the whole morning and afternoon on the boat enjoying the scenery,

 swimming in the freezing cold water (the kids, not the adults!)

and trying to entertain two fussy little ones who were miserable in their life jackets.

Don't they look thrilled to be here?

We finished up our trip with church on Sunday, followed by a nice dinner, then dessert at Marcus' aunt and uncle's home in Culver.

We had a wonderful time in Madras.  The kids had a great time on all our adventures, and loved playing with cousins and grandparents.  We really appreciate all the family who came out to spend time with us.

Our Oregon Trip: Part One

Halfway through our trip, I thought I'd take a little time and share what we've been doing in the great Pacific Northwest.  So far, we have done the following:

• picked up Alyssa in Portland (2 hours away)
• eaten at Dairy Queen
• gone swimming at the Madras Aquatic Center
• enjoyed a day away from the kids, which included
• dropping Alyssa off in Portland
• attending a session at the Portland LDS Temple
• eating lunch at Five Guys (the best fast food hamburgers around!)
• a movie ( Inception) and shopping at Clackamas Town Center
• a trip up Mount Hood to Timberline Lodge, where I am told, the interior scenes of The Shining were filmed.  

 It was pretty darn cold up there.

• played at Larkspur park in Bend

• went shopping at The Old Mill District, including a stop at Ben&Jerry's.

• ate dinner with friends Anissa and Lee Casto at Red Robin
• played at Sunland Fun Center in Bend, including go- karts,

bumper cars

batting cages,
and arcade games.

Emma won the jackpot, lucky girl.

And, we have an exciting development: Drew can crawl!  It's slow, and it's only a little at a time, but we've officially taken the next step towards mobility.

He also has shown no signs of his usual grumpiness, which, when combined with his demeanor during our camping trrip, leads me to conclude that he just hates our home.  Guess we'll have to stay here forever.  Is that okay with you, Steve and Lark?

Just kidding.  We'll just stay until Monday.  More adventures await.

10 Months

Drew is ten months old today.  He is a lot more active, so it's hard to get a decent picture of him.  He isn't quite crawling yet, but he is so close.  I expect it will come in the next few weeks.

I want him to crawl because I think he will be so much happier if he can get around on his own when he's bored.  But, once they become mobile, you lose the calmness and also sometimes the cuddliness you've been able to enjoy.  They're off to the races.  So for us, it will be a mixed blessing.

At his 9 1/2 month check-up (I was running a little behind!), he came in at almost 21 pounds and 28.5 inches.  Surprisingly, he was only in the 42nd and 49th percentile, respectively.  So for everyone who says how big he is, well, he's not even above average!

He's pretty much adorable right now.  He flirts with every woman he sees.  There's nothing cuter than those chubby cheeks, that toothy grin, and those beautiful, long eyelashes.

We love our big little boy!

Camping

We are home.  The car has been cleaned out.  The camping gear has been put away.  The clothes have been washed.  All that remains is our memories and the ever-living scent of campfire that permeates everything we brought with us.

So, how did Mr. Grumpy do?  Let's just say I debated never coming home again.  He was a completely different child.  Camping Drew sat in his Bumbo seat, looking serenely around for as long as we needed him to as we went about our campsite business.  Camping Drew slept through the night.  Twice.  Camping Drew missed a morning nap and barely even complained.  Camping Drew never uttered much more than a single whine here and there.  Camping Drew didn't whine and cry every time Mom left his sight.

Then we got home.  And he was immediately back to normal.  Whining, crying, general grumpiness....sigh.....

But here's a little bit more about our camping adventure.  We drove up Thursday night, and after a stop for dinner, got up to the Rim Lakes area a bit later than planned.  The campsite we wanted was full, so we had to drive a little further and pay a little more to camp.  We got the tent up, spent a long time trying to get a fire lit, and then ate some S'mores, before Emma said "I'm tired.  Can I go to bed?"  We sent the kids off to bed, and we joined them soon after.  We weren't really sure what time it was, because our phones said 11:10, but Marcus's watch said 10:10.

Friday morning we got up at either 5:30 or 6:30, ate a pancake breakfast, and then headed off to Willow Springs Lake.  The kids love "fishing" with their own poles, and Marcus caught a fish on his second cast.  I didn't see it, so I'm taking his word for it.

Kyle was proud that he caught something.  It was someone else's tangled line.  

After the kids got tired of fishing, I took them exploring.  Emma somehow got it into her head that they would find "ancient treasures".  To her, that meant pine cones, because "they're old".  Some other ancient treasures included rocks, twigs, and dead leaves.  We also had fun watching the chipmunks and lizards, and jumping from rock to rock.

We stayed at the lake about five minutes too long.  We knew it would rain at some point, as we went camping in Monsoon Season.  Well, the storm hit the lake right as we were preparing to leave, and we got soaked running to the car.  We drove back to our campsite.  Thanks to our Easy-Up, we were able to eat lunch and stay somewhat dry, and then the kids all slept through the worst of the storm.  Marcus and I sat outside under the Easy-Up, cold, wet, and miserable.

Things got a little goofy inside the tent.

Finally, the rain abated.  We took the kids to explore the campground and stumbled upon a section of the forest that had been decimated by the Rodeo-Chedeski fire in 2005.  It was pretty ravaged, even five years later.  It always makes me sad to see such beauty devastated by a careless person.

This tree made for a great photo, though.  It reminds me of some scary cartoon tree.  Or an Ent.

That night, after MUCH work, Marcus finally got a fire started.  What a fire it was!

In the morning, we got up early, packed up, and headed to the lake for one more fishing attempt.  It was really crowded, noisy, and the kids were being antsy.  We threw in the towel and decided to head home.

Camping with small children is a lot of work, but the kids had a blast, and hopefully will have fond memories of our camping trips someday.