Day 3 and 4 at Grandma's

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and while we didn't stay home and watch football all day long, I only have photos on my phone from our hike, so those will have to be posted later. Right now you can see our family photos from yesterday and from our walk to the Gorge today.

Thanksgiving Day

The Rogue Gorge

And lastly....Robbie's inaugural ATV ride. Today was the first time he ever wanted to ride the ATV at Grandma's. Of course, he only wanted to stay on the "road" (aka the gravel driveway as opposed to the meadow and through the trees). We did lots of circles around the driveway.

Happy Friday! Tomorrow, back home. In the rain. And maybe snow.

Day 1 at Grandma's House

We are at Grandma and Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving again this year. We arrived yesterday evening and it poured rain all night. Poured. P.O.U.R.E.D. I'm not kidding. Solid solid rain. The upside? New little creeks running through the property for us to walk in, splash in, and collect rocks from. See?

Gretchen, the extra large puppy, was probably the most excited about the flowing water. She flew back and forth, up and down the little stream, narrowly missing us each time she flew past. I'm surprised we didn't end up muddier.

Jumping Boy (and Random Sisterly Background Noise)

We spent the last weekend at the lake, where it was SO COLD FOR THE END OF JUNE! That did not stop the kids from wanting to go swimming. Who wouldn't want to swim in 90 degree water? Even if it is only 55 degrees outside and windy. But it was a good thing we did decide to let them swim, because this was the day Robbie decided he could jump into the pool all by himself. No help from Mommy or Daddy or Sisters. All. By. Himself. You can see that he can also get himself back to the steps alone. Try to ignore the noise being made by the girls. I don't know what game they were playing, but it involved Mommy and Baby and Tango-ing. Yes. They were doing the Tango in the pool. I have no idea.

Back from Spring Break

We just sent our spring break down in the desert. It was so fabulously wonderful to get away from the rain and cold and into the heat and sunshine. The video depicts what we spent most of the week doing. Literally...jumping in the pool. Even when it was windy, overcast and 68 degrees, we spent much of our time jumping...




I don't know if you can hear it, but Robbie LOVED this game. It was his idea to jump in the pool all the time. Every time we pulled him up from the water he would say, "I wanna do that again!"

More Photos From Grandma's House

We spent a few days before Thanksgiving up at Grandma and Grandpa's House. We didn't have as much snow this year as last, but we did find this cool trail that we had never hiked before. There were waterfalls, red trees, a rushing river, and HUGE boulders. Something for everyone! I won't narrate each picture...you can just make up your own story.

Photo Friday-Trailblazers

Over the Labor Day weekend, we did our annual camping trip with several fabulous friends and our hordes of children. This year, we trekked up to Lassen Volcanic National Park in the Shasta area of northern California. This was the first time our family had been to this majestic park. We felt relatively safe, as this volcano has not erupted for almost 100 years...

On Saturday morning, the 6 adults that had made it to camp by that time took our 9 children on a 3 mile round trip hike to Bumpass Hell, where many mud pots and boiling ponds smelling strongly of sulfur fascinate the visitor. Strange name, I know. Apparently it was named after a hiker who severely burned his leg after falling into one of the boiling pools. You can Google it. But the important part is, my children did it! Yes...there was lots and lots of whining. And Robbie fell asleep in the backpack on the return trip. But the number of times they got to slide down snow covered hills made up for it. Here are some photos from our hike...

This sign was posted in not just one, but two places at the beginning of the 1.5 mile trail. Why would this encourage you to hike? Of course, I only took a picture of it and we still did the hike...

This is the opposite direction from that sign...and yes. That is snow. But what do you expect at 8000 ft?

I was most proud of Kate on this day. I really wasn't sure she would make it all the way to the mud pots, let alone back to the car. It was slow going in a few spots, and I had to bribe her with the hope of snacks, but she was a willing participant early on.

We heard almost zero complaining from Padyn. I'm not sure if it was peer pressure or if she just enjoys hiking as much as I do. Either way, she helped make it an enjoyable morning.

There were several places that we were distracted from our destination....

When we arrived at the boiling ponds and mud pots, the children were a bit disgusted by the smell. Can you see them all holding their noses? But after about 10 minutes, we were all used to it and eagerly ate our snack right next to a very stinky pond.Trailblazers...

On the hike back, the kids decided to take a slight detour and do some butt sledding down the snow covered hill. I think this was Kate's favorite part of the weekend.
Bye bye Bumpass Hell....

This coming weekend might not be as adventurous as our last one, but we will try to enjoy it anyway.

Happy Friday.

Photo Friday-Random Couple Weeks

We were only gone one week, but it feels like 7. I haven't had time to sort through all my pictures and come up with clever stories to share about them. These photos will have to do for now, then another post will share our trip to Oregon...

These last two were taken before our trip, but I just had to share them because they crack me up. Not that Robbie needed Kate's help in putting more than one paci in his mouth...

Happy Friday!