Summer Vacation Part Deux...The Final Chapter.

Lucky you! Only one more silly blog post to read about the 'ole va-kay...
Although, "lucky" might be a stretch!

As we got closer to the Coast, we ran into this wall of clouds...

Seemed like a bit of an intimidating start to the week!

But, once we got unpacked, we headed for the ocean. It was cloudy all that day, but still - we were at the beach!! 

The next day, we decided to hit the aquarium. It was nice. Not at all what I expected given the hype leading up to our visit. But, we persevered!

 I also found this guy! (But not at the aquarium...)

We did a lot of beach walking/exploring the entire week. A. LOT.

The tide pools were amazing. The girls loved checking out the creatures. The lighthouse was super cool.

We made it to Tillamook for ice cream and cheese. Did a little shopping. Ate some taffy. Played a couple games, watched a few movies. Wore matching hats...so embarrassing! We need to coordinate our packing better so that never, ever happens again! But mostly, we just spent time together. I can't speak for the other three, but that was my favorite part!

As the girls get older, we have less and less time to just hang out. It was so nice to have this trip with my three favorite people.  {LOVE}

My Summer vacation Part 1, by Meg T.

Have you missed me? I figured so. Ha to the ha ha.

We spent the last week at the Oregon Coast. It was a week full of sun, sand, and relaxation. Kind of...

We left on Saturday morning after a quick stop to drop off the dog and hit Dutch Bros. Mama has her road-trip rules.

We drove to Vancouver to spend the night with my dad and Jeanne. We rolled in juuuust in time for church. Of course since we were so disheveled, who do you think they asked to present the gifts. That's just our luck. And our second bit of luck was the air conditioner being on the fritz. Good times, ya'll.

But, we made it through and hit up Mill City Brew Werk, which was delicious...and not just because we were starving! At least I don't think so. The pretzel was super good, beer too! Pineapple cider was interesting to say the least. And how 'bout them selfie skillz?

After dinner, we went back to Gpa and Gramma's new house. Such a cool location! And the house is perfect. The best part? The river that is the back yard. So nice to dip my toes in after the long drive.{LOVE}

The next morning we were up early and off to see our niece and her family. They even made us breakfast. As someone mentioned on Facebook, it was like a ginger convention. Their house was awesome, and the garden was super impressive. Tori and Luke were excellent hosts! And little Miss Emily? Well, check out those cheeks!

Apparently, she is officially a roller-overer, but we didn't witness any such thing since we just took turns holding her! Poor kid never got a moments peace!

After leaving breakfast, we hit the road and ended up in McMinnville. Guess who came up with that plan? I'll give you a hint...

We had a great time exploring Evergreen Space Museum. The Spruce Goose was truly impressive! And of course we were dorks and had to take the full tour. Especially the one in the hat...complete dork!

Syd got to meet and talk to a real Rocket Scientist. The two of them, and Mark discussed engines and stuff. Peyton and I were super mature and patient, of course...

Lest I bore you any further with this post, I will sign off. You know you won't be quite as lucky tomorrow...Part 2 in a 12 part series. Just kidding. Or am I?!?

If a tree falls in the forest, and there's no one there to hear it...

Or, if it falls in the canal and your husband isn't home to lumberjack it...

We have a huge, huge tree on our property. Sometime during one of the last storms, we lost a branch.  Not just a "branch", more like a small tree attached to the big tree. Of course it had to fall in the canal and block things up. That's just how we roll...

And naturally, I had to go take pictures. And, as usual, every time I take a picture, someone in my family has to ask "Are you going to put that on the blog?" Yes, always yes.

You can see our house in the bottom right of this shot...

 It's hard to get an idea of how big the branch actually is. I tried to get some perspective by using my hand, but how do YOU know I don't just have tiny hands?!? Plus, this was a piece from about mid-length of the branch. The part that was attached to the tree was even bigger.












So, since Mark was out of town, and we have no free time in the evenings...I made the executive (and unpopular with my husband) decision and called someone to come take care of it for us. So, that was expensive.





But! Here is the finished product...

It's just too bad that the street side of the tree is so bare. Poor guy! Kind of makes me think of someone wearing a hospital gown that opens in the back.

I'm also pretty sure Mark has forgiven me. Mostly...

It's called "Fishing" for a reason...

Last Sunday, Chris and Tilson invited Mark and the girls to go fishing.  I had to stay home.  (Insert smirky emoticon here...)

They did a lot of fishing, but no catching.  This is the only picture they sent, so obvoiusly they were having a fantastic time!

Clearly, it was a rough, rough day for everyone. 

'Fraidy cat...

I have this fear of snakes. I know it's irrational, I know none of the snakes on our property can harm me. I get it.

But this is me, rain or shine, any time I have to go to the back part of the property...

Yes, I'm wearing rubber boots with my skirt. Don't judge.

I've been spending some time contemplating projects for all of the wood I've been hoarding. I think I'm ready to get started on a few things. It's just that every time I think I want to work on something, I have to go back to snakeville!  

Thankfully, I generally have Syd around. She is more than willing to protect me from the snakes. She's definitely my favorite at those times. LOL.

This is life...

So things have either been really crazy, or really boring around here. I'm still not sure which. Maybe boringly crazy?

Syd is away at Jr. High Camp this week. Her last Jr. High event. Sigh. She clearly loved that I was taking her picture in front of everyone.

 

 

Whatevs.

Peyton started babysitting her cousin Delaney one day a week. She loves it, but has realized babies are a lot of work. Really? Who knew? Thankfully, Delaney is about as cute a baby as I've ever seen so even if she's being naughty, she's adorable. 

The girls have swim practice every day at 7:30. Other than that, they are chilling out at home.

See how exciting we are?!?

Looking forward to our vacation later this month. A. LOT.