Trip to Oregon- part 3

 We can't go to Corvallis and not go to the coast.  We went to "Devil's Punch Bowl" and wandered on the beach for a couple hours.  When we got there it was pretty cloudy so we just got to playing and didn't put any sunscreen on. Later the sun came out and...well...oops.  We all got a little bit sunburned.  Not too bad though.  It was definitely the best weather at the coast we have ever experienced.  The kids waded into the water, found rocks and crabs and shells, and just enjoyed being in the sand.  The beach was covered in these pretty little colorful smooth rocks.

We all chose a few to bring home.  

 Zac and Emery stayed in the water the longest I think.  

 Sadie and Thea took off and explored together the whole time.  

 Emery was so brave and held all the little creatures they found.  This was a tiny crab. 

 Finley only ingested a little bit of sand...

 Riley is holding their pile of shells they collected and Emery is holding some kind of creature in her hand.

 Halle was collecting all the dead crabs we found.  This was the biggest one we saw.

 A pretty little tide pool.  I was watching it and saw a bunch of little black moving things and realized they were little tiny crabs walking around.

Lots of little crabs!

 Sadie wrote her name in the sand and I had to quickly take a picture before Finley erased it all.

 When you ask Uncle Luke to take a picture of your family...ha ha!

 There we go!  This was right before we all left to find bathrooms and lunch.  A rare moment that we were all together.  

 Someone told us there were a bunch of seals laying on the rocks over here so we went to see.  

 Here is a closeup of the crab that Emery was holding.

 We went to a buffet for lunch.  Everyone found something they liked...especially at the dessert table.  Yum.

Finley really enjoyed her macaroni and cheese. 

After lunch we were all pretty tired so we decided we were just going to head home instead of heading to another beach.  We took a vote and only Emery and I were wanting to stop at another beach.  At the last minute I told Rob to drop us off at Agate beach so we could run to the water and at least touch it before we headed back to Ben's house. This is the same beach we went to the last time we came to the coast, but last time it was so windy that the sand was blasting our legs and arms so hard.  You can read about it here. So he dropped us off and stayed in the car with Riley, Zac and a sleeping Finley while Emery, Sadie and I ran to the water.  

 The sand was almost a little too hot for our bare feet, but if you let them burrow down a little bit it was cooler.  

We pretty much ran the whole way to the water and it was deceivingly far away.  We were running for a good 7 or 8 minutes in the sand before we got to the water.  I was really out of breath!

 But we made it to the water, waded in a bit and even saw what we think was a jellyfish (a clear blob looking thing) and then we turned around and had to run all the way back.  It took longer to get back because we were so tired.  But I think it was totally worth it.  A totally different experience on this beach than we had the last time!  It wasn't windy at all!

 Then we stopped at 7-11 for a free slurpee because it was July 11th.  :)  We tried to stop on our way to the beach, but it was about 9:30 in the morning, and the sign said it didn't start until 11 am.  

The rest of the day we just hung out and recovered from a long day.  The kids took turns on the hammock.

 Zac and Wyatt

 Riley and Finley

 Emery, Riley and Halle

 Sadie and Thea.  They spent a long time out there reading books.

The next morning the kids were able to go to Uncle Ben's cast clinic where he teaches med students how to put casts on people's arms.  Sadie was especially excited about this because she has wanted a cast ever since Emery and Zac both broke their arms last year, but she didn't want to have to break her arm.

 Ben was a little late getting there (I think he got stuck in surgery or something) so we hung out in the waiting room and looked at the fish tank.

 Riley didn't want a cast so she got gloves instead.

 There were a lot of people in the room.  Lots of medical students.

 Zac getting his cast on.

 Across the hall, Ben had found a marker for the kids who didn't want a cast to color on this paper with.  After they had colored all over it, we realized that it totally soaked through onto the chair.  OOPS!  Lindsy and I tried to scrub it off, but it didn't really come of too well.  

 After that, we took the kids out to a little garden area where Finley found this dog.  

 More cast pictures.  After they cut them off Sadie kept hers and has put it back on with rubberbands for a little while at a time.  Ha ha.  

 After the cast clinic we had to rush home because Dan and Heidi and their kids drove up from their house to visit everyone.  We hung out with them and visited for a couple hours and then we took off for La Grande.

All the cousins together. Just missing William. Wish we could have all gotten together at the same time, but it didn't work out this time.

 We stayed overnight in La Grande and stopped by grandma and grandpa's house on our way back home.  Riley took Grandpa for a spin outside.  She loves driving his wheelchair.

 Bye Grandma and Grandpa!

We stopped here to eat dinner.  I'm pretty sure this is where Sadie left her retainer.  Oops.  Oh well.  The orthodontist said that she could stop wearing it when we went to get a new one.  Wahoo!

We really enjoyed our trip to Oregon.  It was so much driving, but it was so great to see family that we don't get to see often.  

This is how we all felt at the end of the trip.

Trip to Oregon- part 2

 Thank you so much to Taylor who put together a schedule of things to do while we were there.  Her mom and siblings were in town as well, so it was so nice of her to let us all tag along on their adventures.  First up was a hike that takes you around to lots of different waterfalls.  The hike is a loop that is about 7 miles total (we ended up taking a shorter loop because some of the kids were done.  ha ha)  It was such nice weather and the kids all did great.  Then we had a picnic lunch and headed back to Ben and Lindsy's house. 

I started off carrying Finley on my back.  I lasted maybe a mile or 2.  Then Rob took over for a while, and then Uncle Ben carried her for the rest of the time while she was sleeping.  My calves were very sore the next day from carrying her.

 The whole group at the first waterfall.  

 I'm only including this picture because I like Finley's expression.  My face is so goofy.  

 We got to walk behind a couple of the waterfalls.  Pretty cool.

 Rob spotted this snake on a rock.  I would have totally missed it if he didn't point it out.

 The kids were collecting berries as we were walking the trail and when they threw them over the bridge into the water, the fish were eating them!

 These two were at the very front of the group the whole time.  I hardly saw them at all.  I was in the back of the pack with Finley and Riley.  :)

 Zac walked right up to this waterfall.  This was after Emery did the same thing and totally fell into the water and got some cuts on her legs.  She was pretty tough and finished the hike like a champ.  

 Thank goodness we have strong kids!  They held up this tree log so we could all walk under it.  

 At the end of the hike.  Ben was able to take the pack off without waking Finley up.  She woke up just as we were all finishing eating.  Perfect timing.

 Riley really enjoyed the puffy cheetos.

 I just thought this was funny.  When it was time to go somewhere, there were so many kids at the front door putting their shoes on.  It was so fun having so many kids around.  They loved just playing and playing.  

 Wednesday morning it was raining a bit but the rain stopped so we went out an picked blueberries.  The kids all did a great job.  We were pretty much the only people there.

 Finley ate lots of blueberries.

 Mouth full of blueberries.  They are so so good!

 I'm not sure how many pounds we picked, but I think it was around more than 30.  It helps when you have lots of kids helping!

 Riley was DONE.  Ha ha

 I wish they had U-Pick farms close by here in Utah.  

 Finley spent some time feeding the goats some dandylions.  

Halle drew Riley.  I think it is spot on!

Then that afternoon Lindsy and I went over to Portland and ate at PDX Sliders and then went to see Wicked.  It was so amazing.  As we were walking out of the show, I was already thinking about when I will see it again.  SO GOOD.  

I have been dreaming about this food for 2 years since the last time we ate here.  The was delicious and so were the fries, but they were so spicy this time.  I don't remember them being that spicy last time.  But it was so yummy.  

 Then we went to the show!  We braved standing in front of a whole crowd of people to get a picture.  Thanks for standing with me Lindsy so I didn't have to stand by myself in front of all those people!

A cool little water feature across the street from where the show was.  

We need to do this again!  It is so great hanging out with amazing women! And a couple of cool guys too!

Trip to Oregon 2019-Part 1

 Well, we were supposed to leave for Oregon on a Friday, but Rob threw out his back again the day before.  I'm not sure what even happened, but he could feel it coming on.  I'll admit I was a little grumpy when we woke up Friday morning and he told me he didn't think we could leave that day.  The kids were pretty bummed when we told them the news (There were tears) but after having a little pity party, I decided we needed to get out of the house and do something fun to pass the time.  We had been wanting to try a new ice cream shop near us call "Scoop" or "Scoops" so we invited some friends to meet us there for ice cream.  It was about lunch time so we pretty much had ice cream for lunch.  Yum.  The best part about this place is that it has BYU Creamery ice cream there!  Also, they have a retro lounge upstairs that has fun decorations and arcade games you can play for free!  The kids loved it. 

The Ghostbuster wall was a favorite.

Then that evening right before dinner time, someone called and invited us to the huge splash pad.  Normally being that close to dinner, I would decline, but I figured we could go since we should have been in Oregon by then, but we were still at home.  So we packed up and drove down there.  I didn't lose any of the kids and they all had fun.  So win-win.  

 This was the only picture I got at the splash pad because it is seriously so big that I worry I will lose my kids.  

Rob's back was still not feeling great on Saturday morning, but he was determined to get to Oregon.  So he brought a pillow and reclined the passenger seat all the way back so he could lay down while I drove.  He usually drives all or most of the way when we go on trips, so this was a first for me.  I surprisingly did it, without feeling tired at all!  

 My friend Laurel mentioned Shoshone falls to me on the 4th of July so I thought it might be a fun place to stop.  It was a hit, just a little bit off the road.  Nice shade to relax in and beautiful waterfalls to look at!

The kids were troopers and I think we only had to stop 2 times on the way to La Grande.  Maybe 3.  I can't remember.  But we like stopping at this rest stop that welcomes us to Oregon.  :)

 First order of business when we get to grandma and grandpa's house is always checking out all the toys.  They got right to work building this little house.  They all fit!  As long as the didn't move.  ha ha.  

 We love hanging out on the back deck and just enjoying the shade and visiting with grandma and grandpa.

We stayed there Saturday night and then went to church with them on Sunday morning.  It was also fun to see Luke, Taylor, William and Duncan who drove over from Portland.  We walked over to Riverside park together and the kids played on the playground with the uncles.  They got nice and hot and sweaty.  

Then we walked home and had dinner and made smores. 

 We found a few beautiful cherries on their tree and Finley loved eating them all up.

 She also became quick friends with grandma. 

 I think the kids all ate a ton of marshmallows.  Anything goes on vacation.

Finley was being so funny with the cherries.  I think she only swallowed one pit.  

THis was a common sight in the car when we were driving places.  Here we were driving from La Grande to Corvallis.  Fortunately, Rob's back was feeling better so he did the driving.  

 The plan was to stop at Multnomah falls to go to the bathroom, but Emery had a potty emergency about 10 minutes before we got there.  Hah!  So we stopped at some random tiny gas station and got gas so we could use the bathroom.  We still stopped at the falls, but just to walk around and see the pretty waterfall.  

*Sidenote- Oregon has always been full service when it comes to getting gas. Meaning that you don't even have to get out of your car to get gas.  They come out and pump it for you.  In La Grande, they changed it to self serve, which is fine, just unexpected.  Same with this tiny gas station we stopped at.  So the gas station people have to walk outside and tell everyone to pump their own gas.  The only reason I write about this at all is because when we were leaving Corvallis at the end of the week, we pulled up to the gas station near Rob's brother's house and Rob got out and started to swipe his car to pay for the gas and get it pumping.  Then the lady who worked there was like "THIS IS OREGON! WHAT YOU ARE DOING IS ACTUALLY ILLEGAL!"  So Rob apologized and just laughed it off and got her to laugh too.  She wasn't trying to be mean I don't think, it just came off as harsh.  So I was confused when we left that gas station because it was the only one we came across the whole time we were in Oregon that actually pumped our gas for us. 

Anyway, we finally made it to Corvallis and greeted all the cousins.  They were all awake and waiting for us.  Wyatt had bought some cool fireworks and put on a good show for us.  It was a fun way to be welcomed to their home.  

The kids all loved being with their cousins.  They would get up early in the mornings and get ready for the day and just start playing.  It was amazing.  Sadie would go with Thea to feed their neighbors horses and take care of their chickens.  

Cute girls.

They all picked raspberries.  I guess Riley told them that she was just going to hold hers in her stomach.  Ha ha.