Pictures of Camp and Misc.

Our campsite

Cleawox Lake (to my right)

Cleawox Lake (to my left)

After we got camp set up, I took the boys on a bike ride down to the lodge and Cleawox Lake. Mainly to keep them out of the way while the Pyryts set up their camp. ;)

The 3 pyros spent a lot of time putting sticks into the fire.

One side of Woahink Lake, the lake is large and odd shaped with many paths down to different areas. This was a great little spot to let the dogs swim.

Another view from the little swimming hole.

Sunshine, Woodrow and Sammy

A different spot on Woahink.

Up at the bathroom Oliver was whining about something so Joel told him that he needed to pick a spot, whine there and get it all out of his system. This is the spot that Oliver chose. This picture cracks me up because he was trying to whine without looking at Joel but couldn't resist a peek to make sure he was watching.

Lily on Lake Cleawox

The campfire was between me and the sleepy dogs. This picture was an accident but I chuckled when I later looked and saw that the dogs appeared to be on fire.

One of MANY game sessions.

Beautiful sight to wake up to.

Camping Vacation

So I sat down earlier today and decided to go through my 600+ photos that we took while on our vacation and narrowed it down to 60 pictures. That was with me being, in my opinion, very cut throat about which ones to share. So, I am going to try and narrow it down a bit more and break it up into a few different posts. One of these days I will find help for my photo taking condition but until then you will just have to put up with my shenanigans.

We left on Sunday the 12th for our camping vacation, it was a cloudy day but nothing too worrisome. Well, not until we hit Albany and then the rain started. Eh, a little rain never hurt anyone right? Flash, flash, BOOM, the thunder and lightning started and then it started to dump buckets of rain on us. The kind of rain that makes it difficult to even see out of the windshield no matter how fast the wipers are going. It was about this time that I turned to Joel and asked him if there was a Best Western in Florence. Luckily, the big storm was headed away from the coast and by the time we got to Honeyman, it was only sprinkling off and on. We managed to get most of our camp set up during one of the dry spells. The Pyryts showed up while we were setting up our camp, they too hit that fun rain storm on the way down. Unfortunately, all of their stuff was in the trailer and some of the rain got in. So shortly, after they arrived, John and Joel headed into town to dry sleeping bags and pick up pizza for dinner. While they were gone I took the boys on a bike ride down to the lodge and Cleawox Lake. We spent the rest of the night sitting around the fire, chatting and staying warm.

Monday the clouds were letting up and we only had to deal with a little bit of drizzle. Late in the day, we started to see breaks in the clouds. Most of the day was spent at Junior Rangers, walking around the campgrounds and over to Woahink Lake. A few bike rides here and there, lots of time around the campfire, card games, Whoonu, etc. is how we spent the day. Tamara also showed up on Monday, got her camp set up and joined in on the fun.

Tuesday, John and Joel decided to give us ladies a kid-free day by taking all the kids to the Aquarium in Newport. I can't tell you how nice that was. The aquarium was followed by lunch at the Rogue brewery then back to camp. Tamara, Steph and I spent the day down in old town going through all of the cute shops. When we all got back to camp, John and Joel took the kids swimming while I cooked dinner. Just like the previous nights, we spent more time around the campfire and playing games.

Swimming at Woahink Lake was on the agenda for Wednesday, well swimming for all those that can stand swimming in cold water. Cold water and a cool breeze means I stay on dry land. Tamara and I stayed dry and chatted while everyone else, including the three dogs, went swimming. That evening, we decided to head up to the bowl. The bowl is a huge bowl in the dunes right next to the campground. Lots of fun to play up there but we wanted to head up and watch the sunset and sit by a small bonfire that night. All of the kids and dogs had glow sticks so they were easy to find. Joel, John and Tori hiked up to the top of a tall and steep dune called Shooting Bullets. Supposedly called this because it's so high up there, it's windy and the sand that hits you feels like bullets. It didn't take them long to get up there but they all said it was STEEP.

Thursday was spent at Hobbit Beach just down the road from Honeyman. I love Hobbit Beach and looked forward to it all week. Even with the fog, it's always warm and pleasant down there. The fog burned off quickly and we had a great time. I loved walking on the beach, the kids and dogs loved playing in the water and we spent some time just relaxing in the sun on the hot sand. It's such a beautiful place. Thursday night, our last night there, was a blast! After all of the kids went to bed, the five of us adults spent the evening drinking, playing card games and laughing until it hurt.

Friday was spent breaking camp and driving back home. We did make a quick stop in Eugene to see if the guys could tour the Ninkasi Brewery but they missed the tour by a mere 15 minutes.

All in all we had a great trip and we are looking forward to our summer camping trip in 2010 already. We had so much fun with the Pyryt family and Tamara. Hopefully we didn't scare Tamara too bad because we'd love to have her join us again next year. I will post pictures in the morning. For now, I'm off to bed...

Happy Birthday Joel!

Today is Joel's birthday. Sadly, for him, I am busy getting ready for camping so we really didn't do or plan much for him. Now, now, don't worry, he is out playing with the boys as I type this and I am sure he is having fun. Dinner and drinks at a great little bar downtown is the plan. One of Joel's favorite cakes is the pineapple upside cake so I made him these yummy upside down cupcakes for his birthday.

Happy Birthday!

Aidan's Eyes

At my Uncle Tom's 60th birthday party my cousin Jean (one of Tom's daughters) and her boys were there. Aidan is Jean's third boy and he is a sweet boy that was infatuated with cameras that day. His mom gave him hers for a while then I let him borrow mine. Aidan is autistic and it was kind of fun,while looking through the pictures later on, to see the world through Aidan's eyes...

Our Fourth of July

We didn't plan much for the 4th because the Pyryt's and us had 32 chickens to butcher in the morning. We also had a few people stopping by to learn about the process and a couple others bringing their own chickens to be processed. I was down at their house at 730 and Joel & the boys followed a bit later.

After the chickens, the Pyryts came up and we swam in the pool, had a few drinks and ate some pizza. Surprisingly enough, after you butcher a few chickens, you really don't want chicken for dinner. It's crazy, I know!! It was nice to just spend some fun time winding down with them afterwards.

Noah had a decision to make and he decided to go ahead and go with his friends from down the street to their big family gathering. I guess they had a big potluck, fireworks and then they all camped in tents in the field. Noah had a great time but I think he missed the neighborhood events too. Oliver, the poor kid, is not too keen on the loud booming noises. So we set off a few mild things for him. While we were setting off our small stuff, our neighbors came out to light a few of theirs too. We walked down and chatted with them for a while then Oliver asked if he could go home and go to sleep, so that's what we did. After Oliver went to bed, Joel and I joined by Marty, Cherie and Noah, sat on the corner and watched our neighborhood turn into a massive display of pyrotechnics!

Oliver's favorites were the smoke bombs, lots of color and NO noise.

The other fireworks, even though quiet for fireworks, were watched like this. I have quite a few pictures of Oliver in this pose.

Marty, Noah and Oliver checking out their pack of fireworks.
These guys are great neighbors and I'm glad we got to spend some time with them last night.

How to Ruin an 8 Year Old's Day

First, you have to tell him that he can't swim until a bit later, no need to be out in the water during the most intense sun. Second, tell him to go ride his bike and burn off the energy that he is using to bug you about swimming. Third, fail to sympathize with him when this happens...Yes, that is one nice sized hole in his tire and tube! The boy found out just how much sliding and skidding his bike could take and he is NOT happy about it - not one little bit. Don't worry though, dad is coming to the rescue and picking up new tires and tubes on the way home. The bike will be fixed in no time.

Pool

We finally, after what our children claim to be eons, got the pool set up last weekend. They, of course, could not wait for the sun to warm the water and went in less than 24 hours after filling. Their blue lips told the real story but when asked if they were cold, "N-n-n-n-no, it f-f-f-f-f-eels g-g-g-g-g-ood," was the chattering response. The water is warming nicely with these super hot days and the boys are loving it!

First one in the pool and very happy about that.

Oliver wore the life jacket the first 30 minutes or so then realized he could touch the bottom and his little head was still above the water. He doesn't wear it now unless Noah and his friend(s) are acting like a bunch of water monkeys.

Oliver has his eye on the toy-pedo!

Happy 60th Uncle Tom!

On Saturday we drove up to Olympia to celebrate my Uncle Tom's 60th birthday. It was nice to see everyone. We were fed well, the kids were entertained with the two pools & each other and we all got to sit around, chat and catch up. My Uncle Tom is a great guy - Happy Birthday!

The birthday boy.

Margene and my mom, Mauricia.

Gammy and Trevor

Ron taking a picture of me taking a picture of him - must be at least one of those pictures at every party!

This is Aidan, he loved taking pictures, even borrowed my camera for a few minutes, but that is for another post.

Tom's brother, Mike and Tom.

Mike, Margene, Carroll, Mauricia and Tom

Shana, Carroll, Michelle and Karly

Falls Creek Falls Trail No 152A

Steph sent me a message and wanted to know if the boys and I wanted to join her and the kids on a hike up by Carson WA while the men were at the Organic Brew Fest. I had been cleaning the house all morning so I said yes and off we went. We got a little bit of late start but finally made it up there and it was gorgeous! We were in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, pretty high up actually and the hike in was a steady uphill climb too. Not horrible by any means but you could tell you were constantly headed in the upwards direction. You could see water almost the entire way up and could hear it at all times. The trees were huge and beautiful providing shade on this sunny hot day. It's places like this that make me love living in the Pacific Northwest even more than I already do. I have to say the kids did GREAT! It was a decent 3.4 mile round trip hike and it wasn't until the way back down that you could tell the kids were getting tired and hungry (shhh, don't tell them but so were the adults). On the way back down, however, Oliver was getting a bit too tired and he kept tripping and falling. On the third fall he just couldn't take it anymore and I ended up carrying him for at least a half a mile. At one point, while carrying the boy, Ty and Noah turned to me and said, "Have you fallen yet?" Can you guess what happened next? Yup, I went down, with Oliver on my back. My instinct was to protect him though so my right knee and then left side of my body took a nasty hit. I am not looking forward to tomorrow morning because I know it's going to hurt. Despite my fall, we all had a great time! I plan to go back sometime though, without kids, to take a ton of pictures. Speaking of pictures...

Entrance to the trail.

So many beautiful spots along the way...

Oliver, Ty and Noah on the trail.

Neat suspension bridge that wobbled as you crossed it.

Couldn't stop taking pictures.

The trail follows the creek up to the lower falls.

Quick pit stop on the way up.

I just liked the trees all down and across the creek.

Upper part of the Lower Falls, it's a three tier waterfall that, from where I was, could not get all of it in my picture.

Lower part of the falls and the punch bowl. Oliver LOVED the rainbow and yelled at me to look at it many times. He had to yell because the roar from the falls was awesome. Can you see Noah and Ty?

Ty relaxing in the shade against the rock.

My sweet boy.

Hey look, it's a mountain goat!

I know you can't see her face but I love this picture of Tori.

Hi Jack!

There was another little footbridge that we had to cross and this is what it went over.

Wildwood

We went to the Wildwood Recreation Site in Welches OR yesterday. I can't believe that I've lived here all my life and never been here. It is a GREAT place to spend the day with your family. Lots of walking trails, biking trails, picnic areas, play areas, etc. My main focus for the day was the Cascade Streamwatch trail that runs alongside the Salmon River. Lots of educational stuff along the way and a nice easy hike/walk for the kids.

Jackson, Noah and Oliver standing at trail head.

The path zig zagged through the beautiful forest. This forest was logged long ago and you can see LARGE cedar tree stumps all over the forest floor.

Lots of little paths jut off of the main path and lead to little places like this. Did I mention that it was a beautiful day to be up in the mountain exploring?

This old stump intrigued me with the roots of the other tree wrapped up and around it.

They built this fish viewing area right into a smaller stream that jutted off to the side of the Salmon River. It was great! Lots for the kids to see and lots of information for them to read. They saw all sorts of little fish, snails, debris, etc. Of course, their favorite part was the squeegee that the park provides for them to clean the foggy dew off of the windows.

View from another area that we spent a lot of time at. There was a pretty big beach area for the boys to explore, throw rocks and, despite my pleas, get a little bit wet.

Noah "not" getting wet.

Oliver "not" getting wet.

and Jackson "not" getting wet.

The three amigos.

After the walk we went over to the large picnic area and had lunch. I am sure that the park is much busier on the weekends but we were just one of three families in this area. It was very peaceful.

They played for a while after lunch.