Vacation

Ahhhh.... Vacation. Most vacations are supposed to be relaxing, right? Well, ours was a whirlwind adventure of driving, visiting, beach hopping, aquarium exploring, barbecuing, swimming, and driving. Did I say driving already??? Well, that should tell you just how much driving Chris did (thanks, Honey!!!).

Sometimes, I think pictures can capture more than words. Here are a ton of pics from our vacay. I'll explain some of them along the way.

After spending the night with our friends, the Roths, we all packed up and headed to the Oregon coast. Our first stop was in Tillamook, where the cheese factory is. This is a prerequisite stop for ANY trip to the Oregon coast. Tillamook puts out the best cheese and ice cream around. The factory was packed!!! The kids were fascinated with the cheese packaging process that was visible through the observatory windows. Aiden loved the cheese samples, and Paige and Finn (and me) were all over the ice cream. I took a picture of this picture because I thought it was hilarious. I am easily amused, after all....


Here are Aiden and Paige at the cheese factory. They are posing with the fake cows up on the observatory deck- though you really can't see the cows.

After Tillamook, we traveled down Hwy 101 to Lincoln City, our ultimate destination. Jamie booked us a beautiful room at a beautiful hotel (both of which I neglected to get pics of...). This is a picture of the kids on the beach that evening. Yes, in July. The Oregon coast is not your typical summertime beach. Even in August, you're lucky if you can make it to the beach in shorts, without a sweatshirt. As you can see, it was VERY windy that evening. So much so that Finn could barely stand up. Funny enough, after we left the beach and had dinner, we took the kids swimming in the hotel pool....

The next day, we decided to take a drive. Finn needed to nap, and he was NOT having any part of napping in the hotel room. Before we knew it, we were driving into Newport. Newport is the home of a fantastic aquarium that we love. In fact, the kids prefer the aquarium over the zoo. So, we made a snap decision to visit the aquarium while we were there. Especially since the beach was foggy and cold. Go figure. Paige loved the giant crabs, Aiden loved learning about the octopus from the college kid that was there teaching, and I loved the otters. I think Finn liked the jellyfish the best, and Chris just enjoyed the kids' excitement.

This is a picture of the coast from our car. I was trying to capture the low, dark, ominous cloud bank that was hanging out over the ocean. You can see the ocean, the cloud bank, then the sky above it. By afternoon, those clouds had moved in to cover the beach and the road.

Since I couldn't wrangle the kids for a pic together, I tried to get one of me with all the kids.

We love taking pics of the kids in the sand with their names. Aiden and Paige thought is was cool. Finn did not.

Me and Chris

After we left the beach behind, we headed up to the Vancouver (WA, not BC) area to spend a little time with Chris' family. An afternoon barbecue was on the agenda. Did you know that when we get together with Chris' immediate family, there are 29 people??? And 17 of those people are all our kids!!! It's a ton of fun. I really love the chance to see everyone in one place. It makes me and Chris both wish we lived closer to everyone. The pic above is all the grandkids and Mom and Pop.

Paige had a blast playing with her cousins. So did Aiden. But the boys were so busy, they wouldn't hold still to pose for a pic.

Our family

Next, we made the drive over Mt. Hood to spend some time with my family. The kids got a kick out of the drive over Hood, especially after Chris told them it is a live volcano. Paige swore she saw penguins in the snow on the top. I didn't get any pictures at my parents' .... I always forget to!!! We visited with a family I babysat for when I was a teenager, spent some time with Gigi and Grasshopper, made it through a storm with hail the size of marbles, and spent some time in the pool.

After 6 days on the road, it was time to pack up and head home again. We had a fantastic time on our whirlwind vacation, but it IS always nice to be home again.

A long overdue visit

When we moved to our "new" town 9 years ago so I could start my new career, Chris and I met Autumn and Doug. They had moved to town recently; Autumn was a new nurse, too and we would be starting at the same hospital, on the same unit.

Over the next 6 1/2 years, we worked together, lived together briefly, then lived in the same neighborhood for awhile before they landed a spot with 5 acres. We spent holidays together, had our babies together, then watched our babies grow into kids. 2 1/2 years ago, they moved back to Oregon. Very sad for us all, but lucky for us within driving distance.

Well, it took us those 2 1/2 years, but we finally made it out to them to spend a couple days. The 4th of July holiday and a long "weekend" for me was a great excuse. However, I hope it doesn't take me another 2 1/2 years to get back out there.... We had a fantastic time!!!

It was a busy, fun-packed, exhausting weekend- especially for the kids. We took them to the park, then swimming, they got to stay up late watching movies. Autumn and I had some girl time at a movie of our own. Then we packed everyone into the cars at dusk and hit a double-feature drive in. The kids watched about half of Marmaduke before crashing in sleeping bags outside (well, except for Brenna- Autumn's oldest. She made it all the way to the 2nd movie!). We had a 4th of July barbecue lunch complete with oreo milkshakes courtesy of Uncle Doug. The kids "swam" in the kiddie pool, ran away from the puppy, and were crazy for two days straight. (Lucky for us parents, they all got along the entire time....)

Before we knew it, it was time to pack up and head home again. The kids started swimming lessons this morning, but I'm sure before too much longer I'll hear, "Mom, I'm boooo-ooored..... What are we going to do today????"

Thanks for a great weekend, Autumn, Doug, Brenna, and Carlee!!!

Watching Avatar long past normal bedtime.
Finn climbing up at the playground. Aiden took down the slide, and he had a blast.

Wow, she's smiling for the camera!!!

Aiden is smiling, too. How'd I get so lucky??? I was pushing my luck for a pic of all my kids, though. When I tried, Finn ran, and the big kids had pained looks on their faces.

All bundled up at the drive-in.

Milkshake mustaches!!! Carlee, Paige, and Brenna loved the oreo shakes.

Dog-piling Chris!!!



More summer memories to come!