Ready? Set? GOOOO!!!
First, we must mention Guyan's spectacular bicycle crash. No broken bones or anything, but would you have a look at that lip! Holy Moses! That happened just before going to Portland to visit Deke, Debby and Dory...from which, alas, I do not have any pictures. Go figure.
After the trip to Portland, Sean came down on the train to pick up the boys and mosy on down to Medford. The boys all spent time with Uncle Jeff and their cousin Cale, while I flew down to Southern California to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. All of my grandma's daughters and grandaughters were there, and it was a BLAST! Here's me with my cousins (Julie, left, and Lindsey, right) and sister, Liz.
While down in Southern California, we had a shower for Liz, again...seriously, I think she'll have five or so before little Nolan is born (Nolan Jaxon, please excuse previous spelling errors).
After the California jaunt, I flew up to Medford to join up with the rest of the family. Soon after, we left for a few days of camping at the Redwoods. First, we stopped by the Oregon Caves and did the tour--the tour was so much fun, but the ride up and down the mountain, not so much. Lots of curves, lots of focusing on not throwing up. At least for me--Guyan read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire the whole way. Apparently he does not get carsick, which is funny, considering that I had morning sickness for almost my entire pregnancy with him. Some things are just not fair.I digress...this is the Paradise Lost room in the Caves. Difficult to tell from the pictures, but lots of cool formations in these caves!
Owen liked these caves much more than the lava tubes by Bend last year. There was lighting in these caves...
After the caves, we went to the California Redwoods. Owen joined me for a walk through the forest...literally. These logs covered the trail, but trailworkers just cut out "doors" in them so you could walk through. You can just barely see Owen at the far log.
There he is! (Guyan refused to go on this walk--he was reading again. Kind of funny to get mad at your child for reading..."Guyan, put down that d*mn book and look at nature!!! Geesh!")
Apparently an ocean (and maybe threats, I can't remember) will get Guyan out of the car, however.
Of course we spent some time at the Smith River by our campsite. Me and Momtos, laying on the banks, Sean in the river, and the boys throwing rocks into it. Typical.
Momtos had all the camping gear we could want. Including the tent from Sean's childhood (this woman takes care of her stuff well! I would hate to think of the condition of our tent in 30 years), and materials to build a chipmunk trap. Unfortunately, the chipmunks had seen this trick before (a month previous, when Uncle Jeff and Cale visited this campsite), and were wise to it.
When we finished camping, we came back to Momtos' house in Medford. Jeff had just bought a red 1978 Vespa Ciao, and I ended up buying its orange sister moped. I like to think that Jeff's will be the evil twin, and mine will be the nice one, for trips to the library and gym. I certainly don't plan on breaking my collarbone and three ribs (then again, I don't think Jeff planned on that either).
And our final August adventure--a trip to a family wedding near Salem, Oregon. It was at the Becken Ridge vineyards. I took more pictures of the grapes than the bride, I think...the grapes were gorgeous!
Of course, the bride was beautiful, too. She (Nicole) is Sean's cousin (on his dad's side) Rod's daughter. That's Rod in the picture (duh).
Owen liked these caves much more than the lava tubes by Bend last year. There was lighting in these caves...
After the caves, we went to the California Redwoods. Owen joined me for a walk through the forest...literally. These logs covered the trail, but trailworkers just cut out "doors" in them so you could walk through. You can just barely see Owen at the far log.
There he is! (Guyan refused to go on this walk--he was reading again. Kind of funny to get mad at your child for reading..."Guyan, put down that d*mn book and look at nature!!! Geesh!")
Apparently an ocean (and maybe threats, I can't remember) will get Guyan out of the car, however.
Of course we spent some time at the Smith River by our campsite. Me and Momtos, laying on the banks, Sean in the river, and the boys throwing rocks into it. Typical.
Momtos had all the camping gear we could want. Including the tent from Sean's childhood (this woman takes care of her stuff well! I would hate to think of the condition of our tent in 30 years), and materials to build a chipmunk trap. Unfortunately, the chipmunks had seen this trick before (a month previous, when Uncle Jeff and Cale visited this campsite), and were wise to it.
When we finished camping, we came back to Momtos' house in Medford. Jeff had just bought a red 1978 Vespa Ciao, and I ended up buying its orange sister moped. I like to think that Jeff's will be the evil twin, and mine will be the nice one, for trips to the library and gym. I certainly don't plan on breaking my collarbone and three ribs (then again, I don't think Jeff planned on that either).
And our final August adventure--a trip to a family wedding near Salem, Oregon. It was at the Becken Ridge vineyards. I took more pictures of the grapes than the bride, I think...the grapes were gorgeous!
Of course, the bride was beautiful, too. She (Nicole) is Sean's cousin (on his dad's side) Rod's daughter. That's Rod in the picture (duh).
And that's it! Sorta...the next post has just a couple important things that I missed...
