Portland - Day 5

WARNING: There are a bazillion pictures in this post!

So, Day 5...Thursday. We spent the morning packing and getting ready, then drove up to a campground on Lost Lake near Mt. Hood. Yes, there are tons of pictures, but I think looking at the pictures will show that it could not have been more perfect. The weather was perfect, the sights were amazing, the campground was nearly empty since it was a week night after Labor Day, and we all had a BLAST! We were wondering how the kids would do. They did awesome and had a wonderful time.

This is either Mt. Hood or the other one (can't remember the name). Either way, the drive up was beautiful.
Fortunately the kids weren't as impressed, so they got a good little nap in.

The campsite was right next to the trail that goes around the lake. John helped setup camp.

OH! You guys are doing it all wrong!

Still working

Seriously? Are they ever going to be done? (she's not actually asleep. She just really enjoyed climbing on the logs and rocks...came home with lots of bruises like a good little girl)

Success! Papa would've been so proud.

After setting up camp, Grandma and Grandpa Bucky showed up and we went to rent a few row boats for the lake. No motor boats allowed on the lake, and actually we had the lake to ourselves. The view was breathtaking. John loved the boat. Eve couldn't get past her frustration with the huge life jacket to enjoy the ride. These are out of order, so it may seem that a lot of "Musical Boats" was played. Not really.

Oh Captain, My Captain!

See what I mean by breathtaking?

Gotta get him ready for the Lightweight 4. Rowing is in his genes.

Thought we'd try for a Christmas card picture. This was the best we got. E for Effort.

Good shot of Aunt Michelle and Eve...

Let's try that again. She really did hate the life jacket...and the fact that she couldn't go swimming (WAY too cold)

Uncle Greg bought John a fishing rod. They tried several times, but for some reason the fish just weren't hungry. Fortunately John was thrilled with the idea of fishing and it didn't seem to bother him that he didn't catch anything.

Back at camp...

Yep, Tully was there too, and even went out on the boat. She had a tough job keeping Eve out of the water.


I LOVE CHEETOS!

John helped Daddy with the fire and the hotdogsThey cooked a special one for Grandma Bucky...just the way she likes it.

This "dock" was maybe 50 yards from our campsite, and there were others along the walkway that circled the lake.

The kids really enjoyed walking on the path, and it was a bit easier to keep up with them than when they were climbing on the rocks and logs.

Cool dragonfly

You really can't beat this campsite.

Another go at fishing. Still not hungry.

"This is how you do it, John"

Of course we ended the evening with a campfire and smores. John's first. He wasn't crazy about it, but somehow we ended up with Strawberry marshmallows (YUCK!) so I can't say I blame him. It was still a good experience.

After the kids were asleep in the tent and it got really dark, we headed in shifts down to the "dock". The stars were like pixiedust. It was absolutely amazingly beautiful. I only wish we could've taken a boat out to the middle of the lake and just laid there and looked up. Unbelievable. No question in my mind...there is a God...he is Big...he is beautiful...he is amazing...he must really love us.

Portland - Day 4

What day is it? I'm losing track. Wednesday, maybe? The morning was needed for relaxing since the day before was so busy and tiring. Eve got some sweet snuggle time with Grandma Bucky.Later in the afternoon, when I got back from Bellingham, a group of us headed to Sauvie Island. It's a small island just outside of Portland with lots of orchards and berry farms. Since we were there sort of between seasons and during the week, we were the only ones there and had the whole place to ourselves. Apparently it's usually extremely crowded. It's beautiful!

That's a big tractor...
With big wheels! Biggest hamster wheel I've ever seen.

They had a corn maze there, but it was close to closing time, and we weren't sure how the kids would do in it. We opted for the hay maze. The kids loved it, although neither one had any trouble finding their way through.

Buck found this on the ground. Gross!



I suppose Eve decided while on a farm, do as the farm animals do...if you don't want to go in that direction, don't budge...
until you're lured with food (hmmm, I think I'm noticing a trend with Eve and Uncle Greg - she actually ate almost all his food that afternoon. He had to keep buying more).

Off to the fields to pick remnants of blueberries - perfect for the kids, and some peaches

Old pros

She's somewhat of a professional, herself.

The blueberries were perfect for nibbling. I think we took a few home. As with all other produce picking adventures we've been on this year, we paid at least double because a lot more find their way to our bellies than the basket.

Yummy peaches. John got stung by a bee for the first time shortly after this. Poor guy. He cried a little, but really handled it well.


Yep, I'd say he recovered.

Silly monkeys in a tree!

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And now I'm going to take a short break from vacation pictures to share a few small updates.

Eve is obsessed with shoes. It's rather amusing. She even says "shoes". She loves to put on my flip flops (with or without her shoes on), BUT she finds them extremely frustrating and screams and stomps her feet when she can't quite get them on right for walking. Wonderful mother I am, I spent quite a while video taping her rather than helping her. It really is funny. She's still obsessed with her belly, loves showing it off, and also says "belly". I keep saying she's about to have a vocabulary explosion. She's also really good at coloring. It holds her interest longer than John, even now, and she does a good job of filling up the page...as long as we can keep the crayons out of her mouth.

John hasn't worn a diaper, even at night, since we got back from Portland. I'm so proud of him! He has even gotten up in the middle of the night, gone to the bathroom, and gone back to bed on his own. He may do this more than we realize, but he typically announces it...rather loudly. Again, I'm so proud of him. As far as his coloring, he's getting better and better at coloring objects rather than scribbling on the entire page. Actually last week he came home with a color sheet from Spanish and had all the colors in the right place. I'm sure he had lots of help, but still I think he's showing lots of improvement. He now knows red and yellow in Spanish. He's been helping me a lot lately, which I think is really nice (although sometimes it makes things a little more difficult), and he's been clearing his dishes and trash from the table. Really starting to get some nice manners. What a sweet boy. One sort of bad thing, though, is he's recently picked up an accusatory tone...not sure from where. He walked in the other day and I had a few groceries still on the floor and he said rather sternly "Who did this!?" It was funny, though, the other day when I had cleaned the car during nap time. We were getting in later in the evening and in the same stern tone he asked "Who cleaned this mess!?" To which I proudly (and pleasantly) responded..."I did!"

We got "Booed" the other night. Something that's done in our neighborhood. People will gather some goodies, drop them on the doorstep, and ding dong ditch. We were about to go to bed when it happened the other night, so the kids and I went to the door and found our special treat. John was THRILLED! He alse kept asking why they ran away. I explained that sometimes it's fun to leave someone a surprise and not let them know who it's from. We Booed Grandma the next day and thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course she could see and hear us "hiding", but she put on a good show and John had fun. Later he was sure to tell her that we were the ones that brought the treat. We'll have to work on it some more before next year.

One last super sweet thing. The other day Eve and I were in the car going to pick John up from school. In the parking lot I asked "Are you ready to go get John?" She squealed and got so excited. When we got inside, she was sitting nicely on my hip, but as soon as John walked out the door she started wiggling around like crazy. I put her down and they gave each other the biggest hug. I'll keep that mental picture for a long long time.

Portland - Day 3

Portland Day 3 - I shouldn't be the one writing about this one. I left early in the morning to go visit my dear friend Laura in Bellingham, Washington. I'll give it a shot, though. I'm sure they're out of order. From what I understand, they covered many miles, rode the trolley a bazillion times (John LOVED it), and I have no idea when they did what.

So, I leave my kids with Dad and the In-Laws. You never know what could happen, right?
Here are my naked children roaming the streets of Portland alone. A picture is worth 1000 words.

Only kidding. They went to a fountain downtown where kids can play, and they played...a lot!

Uncle Greg was volunteered to get his feet wet.

This is the air tram. Gotta get a good view by whatever means possible, right Dad?
Here's Portland...one of the views from the air tram

Doesn't the Trolley look like a blast? I'm sure this picture was a fluke, or maybe at the end of their long LONG day.

See, he liked it.

At some point they stopped for ice cream. Not only did Eve get Grandma Bucky's ice cream, she also got to be the center of attention while eating it. Not bad! Except, I suppose Dad's seen it before.


They went to a bookstore, I assume Powell's, and read with Aunt Michelle. Wait, is Eve reading about Puppy Love???? What can I say, when Mom's away...

At the end of the day they went to a school that has a large chimney. During this time of year thousands of swifts (black birds) swarm into the chimney at dusk. They said it looked like a tornado, at least I think I remember them saying that. Either way, they definitely said it was cool.

John and Eve shared a treat.

Eve, John, Aunt Michelle, Soon-To-Be-Aunt Kendra, Uncle Christopher, and Uncle Greg

Chim chiminy chim chiminy...

Sleepy after a long LONG day. Everyone said the kids did great. Wear them out and give them ice cream...that's the ticket.