Home at Last

A full tank of gas $120

Over 1000 miles of driving

Everything from the house BUT the kitchen sink

A little one teething and with an ear infection

Making family memories...PRICELESS

Yes, I took all three kids with me on our annual trip to Oregon. Lets be reminded I have been doing this since Reilly was 3 weeks old. Yes, I am crazy! But I love every minute of it.

This year we headed out on Tuesday, September 4th. Our first stop my great grandmothers, Mrama who is 97 years old. The kids got a chance to see her and she really enjoyed the visit. Liam wants to know why she is so old. Natalie was very curious about Mrama. While her health may be failing and it is hard to see why she is still living. I am very thankful that my children have had the opportunity to see her and be around her. She is an amazingly strong and might I say stubborn woman (that must be where I get it). We try and visit whenever we can. It is often short as she can not hear and has a hard time reading lips anymore. I will never forget this visit - it meant so much to me.

Curious or Scared?

This warms my heart!

Me & Mrama

Next we met up with Uncle Mike at Caboose Pizza in Tigard and we stayed the night at his apartment in Lake Oswego. Liam prayed about this place the day before. "Mom in all of these days will we go to the Caboose Pizza place" Liam said "Yes Liam we are going tomorrow" I said. "I prayed about that...(a few minutes of silence) God answered my prayer". I chuckled as I thought how funny that he would get that concept. I guess they know more then we think. Liam thought he wanted to go for a swim until he dipped a foot in. We tried the hot tub but 104 degrees was to hot so we settled for Uncle Mike's bath tub. We stayed up watching the Singing Bee and left early the next morning.

My "Creative Illusion"

"Okay so I look good anyway"

Wednesday, September 5th we packed up from Uncle Mikes and headed out. Our first stop - Starbucks of course...mommy needs her coffee! Then we were on the road again. I could not believe it but we actually go on the road by 8:53am. I decided to drive as far as I could before the kids asked to stop. Everyone fell asleep (but Liam of course) only to be awakened by Liam yawning with his high pitched yawn that he feels is necessary to do when everyone is sleeping. Might I add that I had all the kids in the middle seat so that I had more room for all our stuff.

At 11:45am everyone was done in the car, so we took Exit 119 towards the Wildlife Safari. This turned out to be a fun adventure. We ate our lunch in the car and then $14.00 later headed in to see the wildlife. I was a bit scared by the fluorescent Orange piece of paper that warned "we are not responsible for punctured tires or dents from Rhino attacks". Needless to say I was overjoyed when we did not see the Rhino's anywhere.

Liam's favorite part...getting to sit on moms lap and steer the car and navigate us with the map. Reilly's favorite party...getting to buckle the seat belt in the front seat and seeing a giraffe and monkeys. Natalie's favorite part...not having her brothers bug her while she rested. Moms favorite part...watching the boys and just enjoying the moment.

Lunch Break

Me & My Boys

Once we arrived we had so much fun. The first day we spent with Grandma Great. We went to the Science Works Center in Ashland with the kids. It was so much fun and geared towards younger kids. I loved the bubbles! We then had lunch at grandmas and back to Jan's for naps.

Grandma Great & The Kids

Bubble Boy

That night we had dinner at grandma and grandpas house. Chucker and the boys were having a good time while Natalie just kept looking at herself in the mirror (the same mirror I used to look at when I was a little girl). We also measured ourselves on the closet door. Liam has grown 2 1/2 in since we went last year. I guess I have shrunk since 1992 by 1 in according to the closet...hmmmm. If it is true I am in trouble.

The next day (Friday) we headed to Beer Creek Park to play in the morning and did a bit of shopping. Then lunch and naps. It was beautiful out and the kids loved the park!

We always enjoy our trip to Medford. The best part is the great park behind my aunts house. We go on long walks at night (I just love it) and in the morning. The sidewalks are big and the kids can ride their bikes. It is just great..I would love to move there.

Natalie & Her new friend

We spent Saturday evening in Grants Pass, OR visiting a good friend of mine from High school at Brookings-Harbor. It was so great to catch up and meet his wife and kids. It was so fun...we meet for pizza and then we headed to their house and the kids played on the trampoline and had a blast. It was great to catch up! Here is a picture of Josh and I and all our kids. We look like the Brady Bunch! WOW how life changes after 15 years.

Besides long walks, lots of food and beautiful weather. We acted like tourists. We spent the day at the Family Fun Center. The kids loved this and so did the adults. What a perfect time to go as the kids are in school and we had the place to ourselves. The boys loved Captain Jack's Playhouse and jumping in the balls. The best part was Jan and I could go with them because they were to young - we were supposed to be watching them, but I could not resist jumping myself. Jan got stuck up top! We raced go carts, got soaking wet in the bumper boats and Liam even got to drive his own go cart. It was to slow for him and he was more then disappointed. Natalie loved running around and touching everything. She was not feeling very good this day, but as always still wants to play.

The highlight of our trip each year is the day we get to go to the Train Park. This is a volunteer organization that runs a train park with miniature ride on trains for the kids and adults. It features a 3mi ride over bridges, through tunnels, crossings, bends and then back to the station. Did I mention it was FREE! It runs the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month until Oct. It is really the neatest thing I have ever seen. They even had snow cones this year. The boys just loved it!!!

Okay so on the days we did not go out and about we hung out at aunt Jan's or and G & G's. We really had so much fun and I cried when we left. It did not sink in until the morning we left, but I really miss being near my family. It is such a great joy to have the relationships I do with my entire extended family. It is a true blessing and I hope that will pass down to our children. The value of family is indescribable.

We headed home on Wednesday, September 12th. I wanted to try and drive the entire way, but we were tired. Natalie had me up late the two nights before with her ears and up early. We made it all the way to Albany before we stopped. We hit McDonald's playland for some food and to let loose some energy. The kids had fun and met a new friend.

We then headed to spend the night with Uncle Phil & Aunt Kim. The kids loved their place. We even got pumpkins out of Aunt Kim's garden. Natalie loved Bailey and Sadie. It was a nice break in the trip home. We also got a hold of Jamie & Jodi (Jason's cousin and his wife) and went to visit them. It was so much fun for the kids to play and hang out. Everytime we get together with them we have fun...to bad we do not live closer.

We got up early on Thursday morning loaded up and headed home. We were home by 10:30am and the kids were immediatley playing with all their toys. Natalie even was over joyed by being in her home and with all her things. Daddie came home and got BIG HUGS from us all. We had so much fun, but we missed him.

BTW...daddie went hunting while we were gone and got his first deer. Yahoo! No pictures to show yet.