Dodge Park Camping

Photos from our camping trip to Dodge Park with the Hickersons:

Valentina and Makenna

An easy kid friendly "hike" across the river.

Kids inspecting a bug :-)

Hans fished on both the Bull  Run and Sandy rivers.

Our Hobitat away from home.

Alan and Valentina snugging before breakfast.

Sandy River from the historic trestle bridge.

Oregon Country Fair 2013

The Oregon Country Fair was another year of family fun (minus Kevin). Like the past few years since Wally's passing, it's been a surreal experience. The joy of the fair is heightened and alive, even as I miss him amid all the revelry. This year we marked a special place. We dedicated Wally's Way, previously known as the New Kids' Loop between the old entrance and Gypsy Caravan stage. We had a nice low-key celebration with many of his friends from various circles of his life. It was even more special with me being pregnant, and I have no doubt that the next generation of fair goers will feel Wally's legacy.

Most of all, we made new memories with the kids. Grandma and Aunt Miel and I spoiled the kids with lots of ice cream and fun shows. The kids loved the face painting and hanging with kids at camp. Kieran had just learned to ride his bike and loved cruising loops around the Far Side field. Makenna was fast friends with "Cherry" and Ella. I felt surprisingly great, despite being eight months pregnant and only my feet felt sore, which was from a lot of walking. Drinking lots of water was my secret. :-)

Father's Day Hike 2013

We had our best-ever family hike today to celebrate Father's Day. We hiked over six miles along the Falls Creek trail between Mt St Helen's and Bridge of the Gods. The trail was gorgeous and family-friendly with a gentle slope upward and some flat sections (we opted for the longer trail with one steep section, but thankfully that was after we had rested for lunch at the falls). There were at least a half dozen families with babies in packs, but not very many hiking kids.

This has been our fifth weekend of family hikes, each one preparing us for the next. The kids were truly remarkable. We paced ourselves well and listened to them, but they never whined or got unhappy. In fact, they seemed to love it as much as us. Packing baby in my belly meant that I stayed in the rear (now 29 weeks), and Makenna set a pace at times that was tough for me to keep up with. Since I'm still healing from my broken ankle, it's been training for me too. (I felt it on my way back down and I think I'll feel it in the morning too...)

Daddy was sure proud of his little hikers, and I'm sure this day will go down in our family history book. :-)

And we finished off with a freezing dip of our toes at the end of the hike!

Fun with Sequoia and Stella

I feel very lucky to have one of my dearest friends from childhood in my life. Our moms were best friends and our families went camping and boating together. We have lots of shared family memories and a knowing about each other that isn't found in new friends.

We've been friends as adults since she moved to Portland nine years ago, but have grown even closer since having kids. Now we are both pregnant and due the same week. :-) The past few weeks we've gotten together several times: Memorial Day BBQ, Rose Parade, aqua-aerobics, baseball game, strawberry picking...lots of fun summer activities! 

Our girl adore each other too, and they are like big sisters in training together...isn't going to be very exciting to see them and the next batch grow up together. :-)

Girls dancing it up at the Rose Parade :-)

Sequoia and I at her Memorial Day BBQ - both 26 weeks, due just before Labor Day!

Makenna and Stella hugging in the strawberry field
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Big girl hugs...both ready to be big sisters!

Makenna loved roaming the fields...she helped Stella hop over the rows of berries. :-)

Sequoia and Stella

28 weeks (7 months, just starting my third trimester)

Makenna steals my hat!

Hawai'i after 10 years married!!

It's hard to put our trip to Hawai'i into words. I now understand the meaning of aloha and we quickly fell in love with the Big Island. It exceeded our expectations is so many ways, foremost being purely together again without our beloved progeny. We truly felt like honeymooners again, although I thought it was even better than our honeymoon. There was an ease and joy that comes from the security of a good marriage. We landed with no set itinerary and fell into our own rhythm of life. We both love being outdoors so much that between snorkeling and hiking alone, we were in paradise. Kevin also did a zip line trip at Akaka Falls, while I visited a botanical garden (I was 14 weeks pregnant and still recovering from my broken ankle). My big excursion was a snorkeling trip with dolphins., although my photos don't do it justice. And after Kevin tweaked his neck on the zip line, we had a lovely couples massage. All in all, we had a wonderful trip and are already dreaming about our next family vacation there...

New Year's at Olivia Beach

Just a few photos from our first New Year's with friends at Olivia Beach.

We had our goods friends, the Hickerson's come stay for the first two nights. Then the Lillard's and the Mannhard's came to celebrate New Year's itself. Aside from sharing our cabins with close friends for the first time, the best part was the weather...it was amazing. Cool and crisp, but gloriously sunny. We got lots of beach and park time in, and simply enjoyed the relaxed pace of life that being at the beach brings.

Hopefully I'll get some more photos from friends to share, but for now, I want to make sure this memory is at least captured in our family blog. :-)