Road Trip 2015: Oregon

This year, it was our turn to have a reunion with my side of the family. Paul had open heart surgery this spring and could not take any more time off work, so we decided to head to Oregon to see him. It seemed like a good idea when we planned it. But I hadn't thought about the stress of hosting all of us. I'm so happy we had time to spend together, though. We only missed Celeste who was having her tiny house delivered that same week and couldn't make it down.

We drove through the Middle of Nowhere.

They have a gas station.

With one toilet that may or may not work.

And an interestingly sheared alpaca.

We also drove through Idaho and stopped to see Jared and Angie,

good friends of ours when we first moved to NC.

We met at Angie's mom's house and the kids got to swim.

Fun!

Chicken fights  

Circus stunts

Jumping pictures

(Nathan likes to push!)

We made it Oregon just in time to catch a beautiful sunset.

Love it!

Sydney made an official reunion sign for us.

While there, we took family portraits.
So sad Celeste isn't in them!
But otherwise, they turned out great.

The whole fam
(minus Celeste and Andrew)

Sillies

Grandma Cuca with her great-grandkids

Taylor, Ami, Mark,
Marcos, Gabriel

Daneen, Carson, Paul,
Sydney, Colt

 Robby, Quinn, Destiny,
Olivia

Wish Andrew could have been here!

 

These two became fast friends.
They cried when they had to say good-bye. :(

Other things we did in Oregon:

Swam at the hotel pool

Practiced tricks

Maybe I should have stopped this???

No one was injured...too badly.

Also went swimming with everyone at the city pool.

They have a GREAT pool, especially for a small town.

Great minds think alike?

All three in black and white swimsuits.

Played at a bounce house.

 Enjoyed lots of yummy meals together.

Caroline, the carnivore, was introduced to elk meat.
She's a superfan.
Time for Andrew to start hunting?

Lots of time for the cousins to just play together

And for games.

Chickenfoot, rummy, 7 wonders.
B and Carson had fun playing Destiny on the Playstation.

And for me to snuggle with my nephews

Love these boys!

 Daneen is a Jazzercise instructor.

Taylor and I went to one of her classes.
What a fun workout!

Fun on the backyard trampoline

Mark and Taylor had to head home a day before us
for the boys' kindergarten open house.
We drove up to Washington that day.
A first for me--add another state to the list!

Went for a walk along the Columbia River.

I LOVE walking beside water.
There's something about it that relaxes my soul.

After several fun days, it was time to head back to Utah.
The kids and I stopped at an Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.

I picked this fun stop.
The kids weren't super impressed.
But I loved it.

We walked through their little museum.

There was an interactive exhibit where you could
decide to stay or leave.

And what you wanted to pack.

Then we went on a little hike.

 Down to a mine shaft.


And then back up to some covered wagons.

I'm glad we stopped. And I think the kids learned a bit.
Grateful that even though we are spread among four states,
we could spend some quality time together this summer.

And we talked about possibly coming to NC next reunion!
Awesome!