I am SO behind on blogging! Also everything. But I really don’t want to quit the blog (though I DO want to quit the laundry) because it is such a fun family history to have! So I’m trying to do at least some justice to all the goings on of the past month.
First up, Oregon!
We took our family vacation to the Oregon coast this year and had a blast. It was a lot of driving; but lots of great memories too! We were privileged to have with us Josh’s sister Rosie and her husband Tyler. They were so much fun to hang out with, and helped us get far more family pictures than we otherwise would have gotten!
First real stop in Oregon at Multnomah Falls 
Portia turned into a mermaid at the beach 
Enjoying ice-cream at the Tillamook Cheese Factory 
All the cuties feeding a hungry calf at Tillamook 
Family photo-op outside the house we stayed in. It was such a lovely house, with a beautiful garden! 
Things started getting a little crazy later on in the trip… 
I mean REALLY crazy! 
We all got a bit carried away. 
Shoshone Falls!
A super brief summary of the trip: We drove to Manzanita, Oregon by way of Boise, Idaho. Manzanita is a super cute beach-town where we enjoyed the farmers’ market, beaching, all the organic things at the grocery store, and our beautiful little AirB&B house. I got a stomach bug one of the days and so missed the super cool excursion to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We went to another cute, larger, beach-town to see a really cool aquarium and try out a place called “The Inverted Experience.” That is where we took all our fancy, crazy pictures. We drove back via Twin Falls, Idaho and we stopped to see Shoshone Falls, which was absolutely majestic!
Such a wonderful experience!
Next Up, Everyday Life
Last Friday, Josh’s mom hosted “Camp Grandma” where she took the three big kids for 27 hours of epic Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Jayden partying! They did crafts, played games, watched movies, ate party food, and played in swimming pools. When we showed up for the ending party, Portia let out a giant wail and cried “I don’t want to go home!”
But we missed her about as much as she missed us. Josh and I felt like we were on a giant date having just one kid around. And yet Helen got more personal attention than she has ever gotten in her whole life. We had a lunch date with Josh, some real play-time for Helen and me, went to the nickel arcade, and even cleaned the house!
Josh and Helen, when we were back to a single kid for the day.
I try to do something fun with the kids at least SOME of the days each week. (They do NOT consider grocery shopping to be “a fun thing.”) I think we’ve done some pretty cool things this month.
Carter on a tractor at Wheeler Farm 
The kids in a tornado at the planetarium 
Butterfly craft for the big kids 
Helen in the pop-corn bath she made of her car seat on the way to the splash pad
I remember summer being such a fun, happy time growing up; and I know that was because my Mother worked very hard to take us to do fun things. I hope my kids can remember summer as a fun, active, family time, not as the boring, hot time when the only place they go is WinCo. 🙂
But I’ll admit, sometimes, as the parent, you just get a little worn out by all the fun, and you end up like this.
We are definitely filling up our summer, and loving it!