Trip to Rockaway

Several months ago, my mom asked if we would be interested in taking their week at the beach. She had bazaars and Dad had meetings so they couldn't go this September. I jumped on it! So, ight near the end of the month, we packed up and headed to Rockaway Beach, Oregon for a week of family vacation time.
The thing I love about Rockaway, well 2 things really, is how peaceful it is. Quite a few towns on the coast are so touristy and busy. Rockaway really isn't. The other thing is how much beach there is. Not a rock for miles. At low tide it feels like you are in an entire county of smooth sandy beach.
The unit we stay in has a bed, kitchen, dining in one studio-type room, plus a bedroom with two queens. It was far from E proof--but nothing really is. So that kept us hopping. It also made sue we got out and about everyday! Lots of walks on the beach and trips to the swimming pool.
I never did get a picture of the kids in the pool. They were so cute. Baby M decided the pool was just grand. She splashed her little heart out. :)
Here's a few of the pictures from the adventure.

C helping E fly a kite

M on the same day. For some reason, when everyone else was in shorts, M was bundled. *shrug*


We took a morning trip to Oswald State Park. C took the older 2 over to see some tide pools. They naturally walked in the surf on the way back. Something happened (dunno what still) and G totally went down. Face first. Into a wave. That frosted look to his hair is all sand. His mouth is fine btw, he just needed, like, 5 crackers at once to feel revitalized. He was completely fine. We were just glad it was G and not M that ate it. Or the rest of the day would have been miserable. G is such an adventurer.

The evening walks were more apt to get chilly. Especially for wet little toes. Here's my little E and me, finishing up a walk.

G displying his kelp find. He was too chicken to touch it for awhile, but warmed to the idea eventually. Not long after that, we found a dead squid that had washed up. It hadn't been dead for long, but we don't have a clue as to cause of death. I didn't have my camera and C is a bit squeamish about that kind of thing. So we don't have pictures, but I wish we did. It was huge! And in perfect shape. M had a great time poking at it as we did a semi-science lesson. I would guess the body was a little over 2 feet and the tentacles a bit longer still.

Walking back from town. The boys are racing. You can see just how vast the beach is here. Baby M took all her walks in the wrap, of course. :)

We're Baaack!

What a fun trip! We went to Idaho to meet up with Lanna and family at C's parents house. It was such a treat to see them. My boys enjoyed having full-time playmates, E enjoyed being held all the time. The adults enjoyed catching up. GramRe and Papa enjoyed having the whole family together.
No problems keeping busy. I can't even remember what all we did. The bad thing is that I hit a camera snag and didn't get pictures of everything. Hopefully I can harvest from everyone else. Please say yes?
Here's some of what I remember:
Birds of Prey, where we saw lots of cool birds and learned about the awesome birds of prey in Idaho and around the world.
Boondocks, where we completely wore out the kids (and big kids!) riding on go karts, playing putt-putt golf, riding on bumper boats, playing arcade games, riding the kid-size go karts, riding on the slicks. Whew, it was exhausting, but we had perfect weather that day for being outside all day.
Funny enough, the day after Boondocks, where we all got just enough sun to give us a "rosy" glow, was family picture day. Tyler from CPX photography did a great job. We can't wait to get our photos to hang on our walls. We had some great outdoor shots in grandma and grandpa's backyard and some indoor shots in the living room.
I think--and I'm a little fuzzy on this, but I think that the next day was the day the girls went shopping. We found oodles of delish yarn at Handmade in Eagle, ate food at Quiznos and Cold Stone, and found toys for Nyssa at the Children's Store. It was hard to decide what to get, but she made some decisions. I think Lanna headed out the next day or later that day for a new suitcase.
Oh, and we had dinner at Red Robin and headed over to Krispy Kreme for dessert. Then the boys headed to Cabella's for a true American Experience and a selection of the women went to Craft Warehouse for beads.
It seems we just ran and ran, but it was so much fun. It was hard to say goodbye. I really hope we can find a way to all get together again soon!

Road trip

The great thing about going all the way to Utah to get a brother is that you get to stop at Grandma and Grandpa's house on the way. Plus there are other things to do on that 400 mile trip across Oregon.

Grandpa (Papa Coyote) is great a playing cars. And I'm glad I have this picture of G with his "lovey". He is always draping it over his head, around his neck, across his face...

Arlington is a smart little town. They built a playground, big park and walkway over the water. It's the perfect spot to stop and let the kids run around for awhile. Here, my guys are looking for fish. They were jumping occasionally. M was wishing he had his fishing gear. Later we saw a train go by. It was so close. G was mesmerized.

We brought along an mp3 player for M to listen to audio books. We figured if he had some, G would want some. Sure enough. He didn't want them plugged into anything, just wanted to wear them and look super cool.

Can you believe that this was my tiny baby? He still is so stinkin cute.

Sometimes you get to see your cousin at Grandma and Grandpa's. Playing with a little girl is kind of a new one for my boys. Good thing they have her for a cousin. Doesn't look like we're getting any girls around here any time soon! Sorry, Mom. Maybe you can talk someone else into having girls you can sew for.

Here's another picture of E. He loves Daddy. Doesn't he look so tiny on Dad's chest?

More of our North Idaho Trip

More! I promised! I delivered!

My parents and my brother and sister-in-law at a bbq outside. The resort had lots of grills for use by their guests. It was nice to eat outside. Fortunately, we also had very nice kitchens in our units--and A/C!

The highlight for M was the day we spent at Silverwood theme park in Hayden, Idaho. We began the day by taking a ride on the steam engine. It took us on a loop around the park where we saw the land around the park and even some bison with 2 babies. The first part of our day was spent in the main part of the day riding rides and seeing the sights. C and my brother and his wife all rode the roller coasters. G just could not figure out why anyone would willing subject themselves to something like that. We watched Dad on the corkscrew (right over our heads!). When C came back, G looked at him, looked at the ride and turned back to dad. "You want do that, Daddy?!" he asked in wonderment.

Then we moved over to the water park.

At this point, it was just the 3 of us while M played with Uncle D. G wasn't sure what to make of this toddler area at first. He didn't want to get in. So he headed straight into the wave pool instead. Wish I had a picture of that one! But he came back here and had a blast.

Of course, all that playing was quite exhausting!

Fourth of July found us in Clark Forks, Idaho. We had a thoroughly small town 4th.
We began with the CF parade, where M got lots of candy and even taught my niece, L, how to run out and gather the colorful stuff up. There were lots of great cars, including of course fire trucks and motorcycles, so G was happy.
After the parade, we went over to my Aunt's house. She looks great and it was so awesome to see her again. I think she is wonderful. Then we wandered over to the high school lawn where they were having races. D took little L on the father-daughter race. She had a great start, then realized she had no clue what her crazy dad was up to. M and I ran in the mother-son race and he got a quarter at the finish! The picture above is D and me in the brother-sister race. He ran, I tried to hold on and not fall over. It was a pretty hilarious sight I'm sure!
Afterwards, we headed out to see the old homestead and then over to Montana to see my cousins. It was very relaxing to be at their place at the lake. The boys had a great time and I had fun too, catching up with my aunt and cousins. My family is so great. I miss being with them and the way they interact. My husband thinks they are crazy and wonders how on earth we keep up with each others conversations. I gently point out I'm just like them. He also points that out to me sometimes. What a doll. :-P

Car Trip!

We went to Blanchard Idaho with my family for a little family time and to celebrate (a year late) my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. We had a great time and stayed so busy we are still recovering I think. I might have to make this multiple posts...

G with his way cool WikkiStix sunglasses. It was a bit of a challenge to keep him happy in the car all by himself. But he really did remarkably well.

My sweet niece and her awesome mommy. Didn't I tell you she was precious?!

We took a cruise on Lake Pend Oreille. M had a great time being a captain for a few minutes. Here's a link to another picture.

Policy on this cruise is that the first passenger to spot an osprey or an eagle gets a mug. M of course was the first, and he spotted a Bald Eagle. Icing on the cake for this cruise for sure!