Parks and Rec

The kiddos and I are down in southern Oregon for the week visiting my parents. Which means lots of garden fresh organic produce, swimming time, hotter weather, and fun with family.

On Sunday we headed to one of the county parks for our former church's annual picnic and baptisms in the river.

Gabriella attempting the monkey bars. She never made it pass the first bar but it was the first time she has ever tried them by herself. 

Ariella getting pushed on the swings by Gramma. 

Throwing rocks in the river when we headed down for the baptisms. The grown ups were skipping the rocks and the kids were trying to make big splashes. 

I love this crazy cat!!

Me and my mom! Who doesn't love a good "us-ie" photo op?! 

During the baptisms I told Xander it wasn't okay to throw rocks in the river any longer. So he stood right on the bank and dropped handfuls of them in and said, "otay, me just drop them rocks in." Gotta love a creative thinker! 

Fort Stevens

Our last day of camping we headed to Fort Stevens after breakfast. The day before had been the 72nd anniversary of the Japanese attack on the fort during WWII. There were some reserves there who had set it up to look like they were stationed there during the time it was in use. It was really fun to see.

Sunrise at 5 am.

Looking out of the lookout at Battery Russel

Hiding inside a tent! 

Just hanging out with Gramma

From the top of the Steam Room at Fort Stevens

I just love this picture. Xander wanted to stop and pick every dandelion he saw! 

Matt and dad stayed at the fort and went on the underground tour while mom and I took the kids back to camp. After lunch we played some ladderball. Xander apparently thought this was the way to play! 

We had a great time on our 4 day trip. Astoria, Seaside and Warrenton were all great little towns full of free/cheap things to do for all ages. We are already looking forward to going next summer!!

Camping Trip ~ Day 1

We went camping with my parents in the Astoria/Warrenton/Seaside area of northwest Oregon last week. It was nice to spend some time with them and get to get away from our lives for a bit.

On Friday morning we headed to Astoria to spend the day. The first thing we did was visit the Astoria Column.  It was 164 steps straight up a spiral staircase. Gabriella walked up them all but I carried Xander up them all!

The view from the top was amazing! You could see for miles in all directions! This is definitely a must see place if you are in Astoria! It was a $2 parking fee per car but otherwise was free to go up the column. At the gift shop we bought $1 wooden glider planes to sail off the tower. It was so much fun watching them glide down!

Proof we made it to the top! 

Next we stopped at the Goondocks, the house from the movie The Goonies.

We snacked on some grapes and then rode the Old 300 trolley car. It was $1 per person and was very fun and informative to ride on.

 We hopped off at the Buoy Brewery and grabbed some fries and tried a couple beers (well, not all of us had a beer. But I did find a GF one to try, score!).

We cruised back to camp. We camped at the KOA campground right across from Fort Stevens. It was great! They had a great playground, mini golf, bouncy pillow, tether ball,  giant chess set, pool, etc. We will definitely be back next summer!

Gabriella loved the bouncy pillow! 

While mom enjoyed mini golf

Hmmmm, A2 to A4.

Me, Gabriella and my mom.

Vacation

We headed down to my parents' house on Saturday. They met us in Salem and took us the rest of the way so Matt could head back home and work this week.

I started antibiotics on Friday morning for a nasty case of strep. By Sunday afternoon I was so sick and couldn't stop shaking or crying. Dad drove me to Urgent Care and they switched me to a different type of antibiotics.  Those started working and now on Wednesday night I am finally starting to feel somewhat normal.

Needless to say, we have spent most of our time at Gramma and Grampa's house.  Here are a few pictures from the first few days.

Vacation Day 1

We had a nice "normal" day today.

The kids woke up and went running out to the livingroom.  By the time I got out there they were both snuggled up in the big chair with grampa and a blanket watching cartoons.

The girls ran grocery shopping while Matt and Xander ran around town and dad went to Wolf Creek for their Christmas dinner outreach.

I made a gigantic batch of gingerbread cookies (for Xander's early birthday party tomorrow) and we had some delicious stew/soup for dinner. The kids got to help gramma make cornbread! Then we watched Despicable Me 2 and I wrapped some presents before heading to bed.