July 4th~ Camping cont'd

The boys woke up early and were excited for a big day of fun!

 They each got to choose their own box of cereal from the little travel pack just like we always did when we went camping growing up.

(Ronan drawing in his sketch book)

Good Morning, Eli!

Josh and Alan made a big breakfast for us--scrambled eggs, sausage, and blueberry pancakes (with strawberries & whipped cream on top!)

Then we all walked down to the river and played in the water until lunchtime.

Griffin with his new goggles (:

sticks make good air guitars

Alan & Josh taking a freezing shower under the waterfall!

Campfire

Pictures from the first night of camping:

Josh and his fire helpers

Such a serious & handsome face (:

a little blurry, but caught a smile

Cuddling with Mama

Photo by Ronan

Camping Trip!

For the 4th of July weekend we went camping with our good friends, the Turanskis, at their family's property near Sweet Home.  It was our first time camping as a family since Griffin was born--hard to believe!  We all had such a great time and now we can't wait to go camping again!  The boys absolutely loved being outdoors and experiencing all that camping had to offer!  I took a ton of pictures, so I'll try to break them up into several posts. (:

 There was a bunk house on the property that had a small kitchen in it.

We got there around lunchtime on Saturday, July 3rd, and Kelly & I got the food ready while Alan & Josh set up camp and cleaned up the property a bit (mowed the lawn, weed-wacked some of the trails, and swept off the roof of the bunkhouse).

Eli, John, Ronan, & Griffin

We set up our tent on the deck, and the Turanski family set up their tent on the lawn.

 John & Ronan exploring the campsite

We were right next to the Santiam River--it was so relaxing & peaceful.

We spent a lot of time at the river and the kids loved throwing rocks in the water and looking for tadpoles and fish.  It was such a perfect location for our boys!

20 weeks pregnant~

Eli, Kelly, John, & Ronan

Kelly and her sweet boys

Josh & Alan

Kelly & Me
(Kelly had recently finished chemotherapy for breast cancer, and was getting close to the end of her radiation treatments!!)

Cherries, Science, & Delta Ponds

Josh climbed the Chase's cherry tree last week and ended up picking 30-40 pounds of cherries!!  At one point he helped Becca get on the roof of the house to reach the branches that were just over-loaded with cherries.  I spent the next few days washing, pitting, and freezing cherries.

We even tried drying cherries in our convection oven, and it worked out pretty well.  They are so yummy & sweet--I'm excited that we will get to enjoy them throughout the year!

Wednesday, June 30th, we went to the Science Factory with the Henrys (Katrina & Kenton were on vacation), my parents, and the Chase kids.

Sadie, Ronan, & Papa

Thursday, July 1st~ Griffin wanted to try out his new fishing net from Memaw & Papa, so I took the boys to Delta Ponds to explore & look for things to catch. (:

a Blue Heron

We didn't have much luck in finding any tadpoles or fish, but they still had a great time "fishing".