Vacation days 5 & 6

It's kind of been nice traveling alone like this as we see things of interest we can just stop and check them out, and we did often.

On the way back into Oregon we stopped to check out these Darlingtonia californica plants. Also knows as the Cobra plant which is insect eating. We even saw a bee fly in and not come out!

They live in marsh type land and were everywhere in this area! Kind of creepy in a neat way.

Oregon Caves!

Yes, we took the long and winding road into the caves and like always it's worth the drive.

Young man, Mark gave us the tour and he thought he was quite funny, but so did Jo and Cole which helped Mark go on and on with his humor.

Cole and Jo then were sworn in as Junior Rangers!

Taking the Oath to Protect All Living Things.

The kids were very proud earning their badge and Jo has taken it so seriously that she wore the badge the next day stating that when she turns 11 she wants to earn the “real” Ranger badge.

Bet you didn't know that NAPA has a dinner menu?

Yes we ate out of our cooler again and the kids are getting a little tired of it. Should make good memories for them. Maybe not good but memories none the less.

“Today you are You,

that is truer than true.

There is no one alive

who is Youer than You” ~ Dr Suess

Gotta Love Our Girl!

After Cole and Jo had a pillow fight in the car (yes as we were driving) she put the case on her head and wore it for quite some time like it was normal for her to wear a babushka.

Oregon Vortex

Made the kids and I a little dizzy while in this area, or as the kids put it. “Made me feel drunk, though I don't know what that really feels like but it made me feel that way.” Oma said her chest sort of tighten up and we could hear her voice go up many octaves the longer we were in the area.  Interesting.

Cole is actually standing on the only “flat” surface in the house and is standing straight. Jo is trying her hand at standing the broom on it's own, which she did accomplish.

Oma standing in the door trying to make the door look square.

She made it look easy to do and so I tried and and about fell over trying to get the angle correct, steep slope.

We decided to hang in Grants Pass for two nights as the kids are really tired of driving, there is a pool at the hotel, and by golly this hotel is actually clean and feels a little relaxing compared to where we have been staying.

A little Geocache walk about around town and we posed with the Caveman.

We call him Chuck.

We also looked for a cache in a blackberry patch, sampling them as we looked for the cache.

Oma found the good berries up high and the kids noticed!

And then as much pool time as possible!

Slow drive home the next day or so.

Good vacation!

Vacation day 3 & 4

Trees of Mystery

Everyone should see Paul and Babe when they are kids. It's just a lot of fun watching them talk to Paul and just be in a little awe.

What is it about boys and poor Babes balls?

Cole of course ran right under Babe and held them. The next few young men who came through while we were standing there did too! We even heard one mother say “I will NOT take your picture with your tongue on his balls, holding is fine but not your tongue!”

Waiting for the tram to go to the top.

And our view when we got there?

We didn't care, it was a fun ride up and the hike back down was even more adventurous.

Falls = Oma:2, Cole:7, Mom:1 and Jo who almost made it to the bottom before falling:1. Not too bad right? We followed our hike down with another Tram ride up and then rode it back down again. That was a nice break.

Oh, we took pictures of everything but I wont post them all here.

But the kids played and touched everything they could possibly touch and play on. (Me too)

And our van fit through the tree!

Thanks to Oma for taking the photo for us.

Tetrapods and Dolos?

We had to walk out on the Jetty to see what was sticking up as we could clearly see they were not boulders. They are Dolos?! Giant, 25 ton jacks invented by the French to protect harbors and other areas subject to damage from currents. There are 15 Red colored ones on this jetty which have radio transmitters in them to track movement.

Our meals this trip look quite a bit like this.

Not to bad.

To the BIG Red Woods!

Managed to spot the Elk and some were HUGE!

Kids thought this was GREAT and Jo wanted a gun.

Oma has been Geocaching a little here and there. In the Redwoods we hiked in to see an albino tree, a cache was placed near hear just to get people to see this tree.

It sure is interesting, looks a little dead but it isn't.

Trees are TALL!

And lots of places to hide and play.

And the kids played and played and played together!

Notice the look on Oma's face here? Cole is helping Jo up on this log, and the shock is that Jo is “letting Cole help her”. This is happening quite a bit on this trip. Maybe it's a turning point in their relationship? LOL We can hope can't we?

On this hike Cole wore all camo cloths and we thought this was funny and probably not the smartest thing to wear while out hiking as we might not be able to find him if we got separated.

Can You Find Cole?

And the GIANT Tree!

Not as big as I remember it but then again I, too, was a kid when I was here last. Still quite GIANT however!

Family Vacation!

Oma and I believe this is the first time ever that we (BS Family) have taken a vacation without going with other people. Plans are in place with lots of free time to find and do other things along the way.

Cheep hotels, eating out of our ice chest to keep our costs down and our playing time up!

West Coast Game Park

To get up close and personal with some animals.

Oma might have gotten in trouble if this lama wanted to spit!

The tiger was neat though not soft fur like we thought.

And then some babies to hold.

The oppossum just curled up and fell asleep in Jo's arms.

Stop at the beach.
Cole stretching his legs and doing what he loves to do.

Even though Jo was eating some ice cream she managed to pick up all kids of random things like she loves to do.

A quick family portrait.

Jet Boat!

This was a very fun ride.

Stopped and watched the Fish n Wild Life net Salmon for measuring and counting.

They netted almost a dozen on this pull!

Spotted a bear and an eagle amongst tons of other wild life.

The BEST in the kid's mind however were the 360's the boat did and getting soaked on from those on the way back down the river.

Good first couple days we'd say!

Derian, Sheep Herder & Fair

We went to the Benton Co. Fair to watch Cousin Derian show off Mocha & Fudge, her first sheep and 4-H experience.

Well it wasn't all Sheep barn time.

Jo, Cousin Hannah & Cole jumping!

Swings!

Hannah & Jo.

Bumper Cars for Cole.

And me too!

I pressured Cole to go on the Starship ride which spins you in a circle so fast you slide up the wall (if your light weight or a child, I however am either) and you also get dizzy.  Cole didn't want to go because he didn't want to get sick but went any way and then was darn ticked at me for the ill state following, that lasted  about a half hour.

I, on the other hand, felt all the extra (getting older) skin pinned to the wall as it felt like it was trying to rip off my body and my spine was being stretched and aligned at the same time.  It was a BLAST!

I, of course, then pressured Hannah and Jo to go on the Super Loop as Jo always likes to be scared.  The poor young teenager in front of them plugged his ears the whole time as their high pitched screaming didn't stop until the ride stopped.  At one point Jo turned to me (I was sitting directly behind them) and I heard her yell with sheer terror on her face "GET ME OFF OF THIS NOW!!!!"

Mom of the Year I think! Make one child sick and scare the crap out of the other child.  Fun times for sure!

And this silly cut out.

Funny thing is the pictures were taken at different times by different cameras where Cole and Jo didn't know each other had been the bunny.  Maybe there is a "twin" thing going on that we don't know about?  Nah, not even.

The REASON we went to the FAIR!

Derian with Mocha & Fudge.

Derian and Fudge did an awesome job for their first time.

In the Showmanship part (which is the day we watched) they took: Top 4 in the first round, Top 4 second round and ended in the top 8 over all.

This was really fun to watch and educational for all of us.  Will look forward to seeing her next year if she chooses too participate again.

(Judging of a showmanship contest is based on preparation of animals for show, their apparent training, and the appearance and behavior of the participating showmen.)

July Wrap Up

Another room finally got painted inside with simple, durable & easy to
clean white paint as it works for us as the kids are still climbing the walls.  (literally at times)

Sure feels good to get the painting done and out of the way.  Maybe by next summer we will have yet one more room painted.

WELL WINS!

Rachelle came up to help me work on our water well as I know nothing at all about plumbing or wells.  And though she also knows nothing about wells she is a plumber so that part of this project was covered.

I say "Well Wins" due to the fact that it's been a couple weeks now and I still don't have it pumping water like it should.  Rachelle taught me a lot about the piping which is great but the well part is beating me.  Will tackle it again on another day I'm sure.

Well Bonus!

While Rachelle and I worked tirelessly on the well Jill cleaned the garage, more specifically my work bench area!

OH I LOVE THIS!  We can actually use this section of the garage now and it feels really good.  (though I struggle finding a few items now because she moved them / put them away I will not complain!)

A random picture of Ian and Cole playing with some dry ice.

Science is just way fun don'tcha think?

Happy Birthday Dad / Gpa Norman

Spent the day at the Young Belmont's again this year to celebrate Gpa Normans birthday.

(This year we didn't have to spend it at the ER - see Aug 1, 10 blog post)

The whole family made out and we spent the time playing Golf (tossing game like yard darts), swimming, tetherball, trampoline and badminton.

It turned out to be a gorgeous day and all had a wonderful time.

Just like any birthday party the kids swarmed around the gift/card opening helping out where they could.

Happy New Year Dad!