Family Fun at its Finest!

Silver Falls was awesome! The kids did amazing camping. We had planned on staying 4 nights, but we lasted 3. It was FREEZING cold at night and the only people getting any sleep were Reagan and Jefferson, not surprising. I'm having a hard time posting because I took close to a million pictures and can't decide which ones to share. You probably think I'm posting too many... I don't think I put up enough. So, let me share in the fun...

Grant and Shawn setting up camp

I asked the kids to rate in order their favorite things about camping.

Starting with #1

The best part about camping.... playing in the dirt. Snow White would be so disappointed, I didn't wash them once Playing in the water was a close second. Jefferson is half fish, so he spent most of the trip sopping wet.
The next best thing about camping... SMORES, yeah! I bought 3 packs of marshmallows and 2 huge chocolate bars - GONE, all gone! We were eating smores at night and at breakfast.

Don't look too enthusiastic, Jefferson

Reagan kept begging for more and more, she was scarfing everything down. Until we noticed she wasn't eating them, she was just hording them from her brothers.

A problem arose with smores... Grant can't have graham crackers (wheat) or chocolate (milk). So, I credit Shawn with coming up with possibly the best idea ever.... SMONES. Shawn melted Grant's dairy, soy, and gluten-free chocolate chips and then dipped his gluten-free ice cream cones into them. He toasted his marshmallow, plopped it in the cone and enjoyed every bite.
Genius Shawn, pure genius!

Loves 'em

We had so much fun just sitting around the campfire!

Bacon, did someone say more bacon?

Fishing! The boys have been asking to go fishing since May. Of course, there were no fish in the area, we asked. But the boys were so excited about it, we let them fish anyways. They were naturals at casting their poles. I thought it would last about 10 minutes, but they surprised me by sitting still with their poles for about 45 minutes, wow!

They have their own styles of holding the poles. Grant used the 'feet prop' hold and Jefferson thought he would catch more fish lying down. Both proved ineffective. Their next favorite thing to do was to go on bike rides. We couldn't get Reagan out of her seat. There were some nice bike trails. Too bad they were mislabeled... they forgot to post the sign that says "for single riders only, do not attempt if you are carrying or pulling other people!" We're talking steep steep hills! Shawn and I got enough exercise for a week. But it was fun, and the area was BEAUTIFUL!

The highlight of Silver Falls has to be the hikes and the waterfalls, or as Jefferson puts it "going on an adventure". The hike totals 8.7 miles and takes you through the park and 10 different waterfalls. We tackled half of the hike one day and the other half the next. It was AMAZING!

Jefferson talked the entire time. I don't think we heard a moment of silence! This and That and phew, I think listening to him was more exhausting than the hike.Exploring the caves behind one of the fallsThe walk was too long for Reagan, so Shawn carried her. She LOVED being on Daddy's back. It wasn't all that easy for the boys either, but they did GREAT. Here is Grant at the bottom of the 186 steps he has to walk up.

Here are 9 of the 10 waterfalls. We just couldn't walk a step further to see the last one. Obviously smashing all these pictures together into one really doesn't do justice to the beauty. You'll just have to take my word for it. We were able to walk behind 3 of them. Winter Falls was dried up, and Double Falls was just dribbling.Jefferson showing off Lower South Falls.

Looking at South Falls before we walked behind it

Behind the falls

So there you have it, the kids favorite things from our camping trip.

What I’ve decided…. Camping is the easiest vacation you could possible take children on. We have waited so long because we thought it would be H-E-double hockey sticks. We were crazy not to do this sooner. The kids were in heaven and Shawn and I could actually relax. We can't wait to go again!

We're moving...

to Silver Falls State Park campground.

It's only for 5 days

but for some reason we felt the need to pack our entire house.

seriously, I don't think we could pack a toothpick more into our car.

we're off for some stinkin' fun!

we'll see how long we last

A week with Nana

My mom came up and visited last week to get her dose of grandkids. We had fun, as usual. A lot of the time was spent dealing with my crazy life, making phone calls and going to appointments. A lot is going on in our lives right now, and my mom was a great help (at the expense of her "vacation"). Well, we did fun things too.

We visited the Columbia Gorge. Yes, we are a little obsessed with it's beauty. But my mom has never seen it, so we had to take a trip. The highlight.... seeing Grant's favorite thing in the entire world, a train. Not 1, but 3 trains. He was one happy boy! A good ol' head lock by NanaNana bought the kids an ice cream cone

Reagan, lunging out of her carrier to get another lick

Yummy!


On another day we went to the beach. Hillsboro was sunny and beautiful. We checked the weather at Cannon Beach... cloudy with light showers.
We went for it!
A little rain won't intimidate us.
Well, to be honest, I never would have gone except my mom has never been to the Oregon coast.
It was a blast. There was none of the whining or crying I had anticipated. Just pure, joyful, wet, sandy fun! Making roads in the sand.

Reagan kept scooping up the sandy water and drinking it, delicious!

Jefferson found these jelly fish remains... his face says it all.

We love our Nana

Quilt, quilt, and another quilt

What's better than making one quilt? making 3 quilts, at the same time. I don't think I'll ever do this again, it was a little overwhelming. But I just couldn't help myself. It's like reading a book. I start one, then find another one I like and start that, and soon I find myself with several half-read books.
I thought it would be really cool to make a "twister" quilt for the kids, so I did it. I didn't have any pattern, so I had to sort of create my own. Luckily a twister board is not too complicated. I stippled this one really close together. The kids love it. and after a good game, they can all cuddle up on the couch with it... Then I made a 4th of July quilt. July is usually when we're putting blankets away. But we love to celebrate America all year round. I didn't have a pattern for this one either, but Shawn (my mathematician) helped me figure out a layout with the fabric I had on hand. I used Moda's Zippity Doo Dah. It turned out to be pretty big. I got excited (maybe a little too excited) when I found a jar of these buttons at a thrift store in California for $1.50. They say "United States 1776" How cool is that? Okay, my star isn't perfect and the button isn't exactly in the middle, oh well. Last week I finally finished this quilt for my Mom's birthday. I made it with a Cotton Blossom layer cake by Moda. It's not stippled in these pictures, I did that later.
I think from now on I'll try to stick to one project at a time.
I recently came home from Fabric Depot (the best fabric store in Oregon, maybe the world!) with these Amy Butler fabrics. I can't stop looking at them. You know you have a problem when you sit and drool over fabric and subject your husband to hours of talking about all the things you could make with it. He loves me though, at just acts interested!