It's been awhile since (years?) since we got together for our girls camping trip - and this was our year! My girls love Suzann's farm!! Riding on the Kubota, climbing apple trees, playing in the river... the list goes on and on. There's always something FUN to do there.

The girls and I got out the tent from the dusty depths of our garage... it hasn't been used at all in SO long! I swore then that it would be the very last time in a tent. (And, that began our adventure in trailers.)

We had so much fun on our little camping trip. (I didn't even mind sleeping in the tent!) We spent quite a bit of time at the Molalla River. Yikes! It was cold!! The kids didn't seem to mind, though... we had to drag them out! :)

And, of course we had some crafty time. :) We all brought back river rocks to paint and make pet rocks.

Thanks, Suzann, for another memorable weekend. :)

 The kids with the flag we made at one of our camping trips in 2009.

Oceanside 2014

It was time for the annual family get-together at the coast. It's always nice to see everyone and chat about what has been going on since the last time we were together. It was a beautiful day at the beach! It was pretty windy down on the sand... the walk back was a little painful with all of the sand being blown in our faces!

 Merilyn and Malia. (Trav's cousin's daughter.)

Three Arch Rocks. It was an amazing day!

Champoeg Camping

Our second trip of the summer was at Champoeg Park. We hadn't been here before, and Trav loves the fact that there was so much history in and around the park. It was so hot, but we built a fire anyway... gotta have the s'mores! While we waited for the fire to get going, the girls sat in the camp chairs reading. Love this! :)

Ali is roasting her marshmallow. :)

After the s'mores, Daddy and Ali got out the *bean bag game* (I'm not sure what it's really called...) and played for awhile. Trav is a master... none of us can get the points needed to beat him!

The next day we took off on a little hiking adventure to see if we could find the old town. Meri & the dog pooped out quickly, so I took them back to the trailer while Trav and Ali continued on. Unfortunately, the building was closed... so we drove to the Butteville General Store for lunch and ice cream.

It was such a beautiful place! 

After lunch we stopped at the visitor's center to check out what was in there. Trav was completely fascinated by all of the history... and the fact the pioneers had settled in Champoeg rather than Oregon City. He and the volunteer had quite the conversation about all of it!

Wordless Wednesday.

Okay, a couple of words: McIver Park, July 2014

Summer Swimming

It has been so warm this summer... in fact, today it's supposed to be over 100 degrees today! While I don't love the heat, the girls love the pool. We've spent a lot of time there this summer. The game here is jump from the stairs into the floatie. :)

July 4th 2014

Happy Fourth of July!

This year my mom outdid herself for the HV Parade... she arranged a horse and carriage for the kids to ride on!! They LOVED it! Casey and I snagged a spot on the street and waited for them to drive by. Ali and Natalie were in the front seat and they didn’t stop smiling!

 This was a selfie that Mer Mer took on the carriage.

After the parade we went back up to my mom’s house for lunch, a rest, and to wait for Daddy to get off of work. When he got there, we went back down to the park to check out some of the events that were set up.

And of course, there was the traditional slip-n-slide, lighting our fireworks & sparklers, and amazing food! (As usual...) It is always a good time! :) We stayed for the Happy Valley fireworks display, then hit the road because Trav had to be at work by 6am the next morning!

Colorado Road Trip - June 2014

Sunday, June 22nd

After driving all day, we finally arrived at Ken & Karen’s. They made us a wonderful spaghetti dinner! (So much better than our drive-thru meals...)

Monday, June 23rd

After getting everyone rounded up, we headed to an ice skating rink in Colorado Springs. Neither Ali nor Mer had ever done this before, and it had been years since I’ve gone... but we all laced up our skates and hit the ice. They had stacks of buckets for the girls (and I) to use as a walker. They were so handy!! From there, we went to a Hu Hot restaurant for lunch. (Trav was in heaven!)

Tuesday, June 24th

Trav & his dad went fishing, so the girls went in to town for some shopping. Of course, there was a Starbucks and Barnes & Noble in the day’s line-up. One of the last stops was at an awesome scrapbook store where I spent too much money. We had lunch out again, this time at Olive Garden. After we got home the girls jumped on the trampoline, and jumped, and jumped... and then made videos of themselves jumping... I’m beginning to think this would be a pretty great thing to have in our own backyard.

Wednesday, June 25th

Ken & Karen took us to the YMCA to swim. The wave pool wasn’t working, but the lazy river was fun. And, the kids (including Trav) loved the slides. Lunch out again... Red Robin today. We were going to make a fire in the fire pit, but it was SO windy we couldn’t. Karen was very creative, however, and we made s’mores in the house! Mmm. :)

Thursday, June 26th

We went fishing! We drove up to Pike’s Peak and had a picnic before we set up the poles. Mer ended up catching 3 fish!! Wow! Not bad for a first-timer! Ali caught one and Marisa caught two. Trav caught a couple as well. (Ken cleaned up the fish when we got home, and put them in the freezer for later.)

On the way home we stopped at the North Pole! It was a huge amusement park with rides, gift shops, and Santa. Although it was a bit strange chatting with Santa in June, the girls got on his lap and told him what they wanted for Christmas.

Friday, June 27th

Trav and his dad went off to hit balls at the range, and so the girls went shopping again. :) We all met later at Uncle Buck’s Fish Bowl & Grill for dinner and bowling. It was the coolest place! All of the bowling balls looked like something unusual; like alligator eyes, and the ball returns were shaped like alligators and sharks. The walls looked like we were under water and the bottom of a big ship hung just above our heads. It was so cool!! When we were done bowling (Travis won...) we went over to the restaurant for dinner. Trav tried the Mahi-Mahi, and said it was some of the best he’s ever tried!

Saturday, June 28th

Lots of nothing went on today! Karen and Marisa had to drive to Denver for a Girl Scouts awards ceremony, and so the rest of us stayed at home relaxing. :)

Sunday, June 29th

More trampoline time! This time it was necessary to have a little water sprayed on the jumpers since it was so hot outside. Later that night, after dinner, we packed up the car and began the long journey home. We had to make one stop at Sonic for smoothies and a coffee shake. I had been hearing about how yummy Sonic drinks were, so I had to check it out for myself. It was pretty tasty! Ali thought the blue-raspberry slushie with Nerds was yummy... she said it was “so good!”

It was such a packed week! Whew! It’s always so fun to spend time with the Colorado Slyters...we wished they lived closer!