detroit lake 2011

A little over a week ago our family went on our annual camping trip to Detroit Lake, southeast of Salem, Oregon. We had such a wonderful time together as a family of four for 4 days, 3 nights. It was just nice to relax, rest (we went to bed early every night!), and not have anything we had to do! We spent our mornings warming up around the campfire, our afternoons at the lake, and our evenings enjoying the campground, S'mores, and games!

{Click on any of the pictures below to see them larger.}

LIFE AT CAMP!

FUN AT THE LAKE!

S'MORES!

ZINGO!

Sister & Brother...love these two!

Our family...I'm so lucky!

there and back

I can't believe that at this time last week we were camping in a tent at Detroit Lake! It's amazing to me how quickly a week can go by! We had such a great time and there are a TON of pictures to sift through, but I wanted to start with our traditional pictures that I take each summer...on the way to camping and on the way home.

On the way to camping...

And on the way home...

In years past usually the second picture shows the kids sacked out from exhaustion, but we had promised them a movie for on the way home, so they were wide awake in hopes not to miss it!

And, here are the kids being a little bit goofy as we were pulling out of the driveway. I think they were ready to get on the road!


Lots more to come!

the Newport Aquarium

On our trip home from the southern Oregon Coast a couple of weekends ago we stopped by the Newport Aquarium. Our original plan was to stop by on the way down to visit our friends the Moore's, but we ended up wanting to get to North Bend sooner on Friday night so we could go to the county fair. Not sure if stopping by on the way home was the best move or not because we were all exhausted from a weekend full of fun (and a little cranky from being in the car for 2 1/2 hours already!) The first 30 minutes were a little tough with some whiny-ness (not from me...promise!), but {the kids} were able to turn it around and we enjoyed the last part of our visit. We decided that we really didn't need to stay long and were thankful that we had gotten tickets to the aquarium for really cheap! All in all, it was a nice way to break up our long drive home.

Austin loved the octopus!

Jellyfish!
The Touch Pool
Yes, they look all lovey-dovey in this picture, but it took me at least 5 shots to get smiling faces instead of grumpy ones. This was right before our little pep talk to change the attitudes.
We took a break for some play time and snacks.
I just love this picture of them skipping down the pathway...
so happy!
Sea lions
We finished our journey in the deep sea area where we were encased in a "tube" with water all around us...
...including sharks!
I love these silly kids!

What a great way to end a fun weekend!

fun at the fair with friends!

Last Friday (a week ago) we headed down to North Bend to visit our wonderful friends, the Moore family! It had been awhile since we made the 4-hour trip south and when I saw this open weekend for us that just so happened to be the same weekend they were celebrating their sweet boy's first birthday, I just KNEW we had to make this visit happen! They graciously hosted us for two nights and the kids were super excited to have a sleepover at their friends' house!

Friday night they had invited us to come with them to the Coos County Fair & Rodeo. We were given free tickets to get into the fair and rodeo and the kids got treated to unlimited rides...for FREE! If they only knew just how lucky they really were!! (all thanks to Kara's dad!)

The evening started out with a visit to the animal exhibits...

check out that rabbit...
looks just like a giant cotton ball!
Mikayla really wanted to take this guinea pig home...
sorry, sweetheart, never gonna happen!
Next up was the rodeo...

I wish I could say the kids sat there in awe of all that was going on, but that was definitely not the case! The sun was in the kids' eyes most of the time and they couldn't really see anything going on in the arena. Austin would not sit in one place for longer than 10 seconds and before the kids got too antsy, we decided to cut it short and head out to the rides!

Just a taste of Disneyland...

Mikayla & her buddy Chloe went on the giant swings and we (the parents) were so nervous for them! We kept freaking out that we were making the wrong choice by letting them go, would they be safe, could they slip out of the seat, was it too high?
When Mikayla got off the ride I asked if she was feeling all right (thinking that maybe her tummy was a bit queasy), but all she said to me was..."THAT WAS AWESOME!"

Ally (4 yrs.), Mikayla (5 yrs.), Austin (almost 4), Chloe (5 1/2 yrs.)
{we were missing Jayce...home with his grandma and grandpa}

ending the night with chocolate dipped ice cream bars!
me & one of my greatest friends...love you Kara!

we're back...kind of

On our way to camping...


On our way home from camping...


Exhausted, maybe?

Be back soon...