Oregon Trip - Part 3

We made it to Ben and Lindsy's house around dinner time.  They had made pulled pork sandwiches (yum!) so we ate outside.  We checked out their new house.  The kids loved the yard.  It is so big and has lots of different places to explore. 

Eating dinner with cousins.  It was so great for the kids to be with their cousins.  I so wish we lived closer!  My kids still tell me they miss their Oregon cousins!

Emery loved this little "tree house".  It was really just a little platform, but she went to town sweeping it up and taking care of it.  

The next day we went for a little hike where there was a water hole to search for and try to catch salamanders.  The kids had nets and were ready to catch things. 

At the start with the whole group.

I had a hard time keeping up with the group, so Rob and I brought up the rear.  :)

Riley took a pretty big spill and had to be carried for a little while...in fact, that fall kind of put a damper on her whole hike.  She was pretty grumpy after that.  Poor girl.

Emery and Hallie were such cute little buddies.  They were always walking together and chatting on the trail. 

We made it!  I loved that it was so shady.

The kids got to work right away...wading into the water and trying to catch the little goldfish and salamanders.  We weren't finding a ton close to the edge of the water, so they ventured in deeper.  They were all pretty much wet all the way up to their waist by the time we left. 

The salamanders were so gross looking (to me).  They look slimy, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

All of the kids except Riley caught one.  Riley stuck with this weed that she found. 

Yeah...we should have just had the kids wear their swimming suits.  ha ha.

After we finished at the water hole, we walked back to the cars and got the kids a free lunch at the park.  We stayed and played for a while and then went home to rest for a bit. 

Running in the sprinklers. 

I don't know how these kids have so much energy.  I was always ready to just sit down and relax for a minute and they were always wanting to go go go!  

The played some video games for a bit.  Apparently Emery loved the game they played...I don't even know what it was called, but she wants us to buy it so she can play it again.

These three cousins have birthdays each one week apart.  Brent is 4 and the other two are 3.  So we had some cupcakes that Taylor made in celebration.  

Then Lindsy put together their new fire pit and we made s'mores.  I love how Emery is trying to guard her face from the smoke.

The next day we headed to the coast!  We were so looking forward to this day!  So we packed up some snacks and water and headed to the coast.  

To be continued...