A spelunking we must go

Bonnie and Grumpy caught up with us at the Oregon Caves for lots of cave fun and a great 50's lunch-bar-style lunch. Besides lots of cool cave formations, we also got some close-ups of a very friendly deer. 

Catching up with Cara, Chris, and the zombie babies

It was lots of fun playing at the splash park, hula hooping, and hanging out in Medford with Cara, Chris, Ezra and Chloe. And if that weren't enough, we all piled into their minivan for a lovely day picnicking and playing in the snow at Crater Lake which we learned is the clearest lake in the world (due in part to being a caldera lake fed only by melting snow and rainfall) and the deepest in the US. It's also very very pretty!!

P.S. Ezra and Chloe dont resemble anything close to zombie babies now, but I think that to my boys they might forever be the zombie babies. 

Photo re-creation

Three and a half years ago, we had family pictures taken, and this year Grumpy wanted to recreate his favourite one with him and all his grandkids. The outcome was pretty great, and Paul captured a heap of other great photos too.

Oregon City

While it was really cool to see the end of the Oregon Trail after learning so much about it, the real reason we came to Oregon City was to visit Auntie Ginger and Uncle John. We had such an awesome time hiking and exploring the new trails and tunnels at their house. And the kids had a blast braving the "rapids" and floating the Clackamas. 

Dance party

Because there is nobody in the world as perfect as your cousins to have a crazy get-your-freak-on dance party with . . . 

Portland Zoo

Most of the time when we visit the zoo in Portland we only get to see the awesome Xmas light display. But being here in the summer meant that we had a beautiful day to check out all the North American animals like bald eagles, black bears, bobcats, river otters, and polar bears, plus all the other zoo animals that we're more accustomed to seeing. The kids especially loved the birds of prey show and an amazing elephant show which had the elephant swimming and splashing the crowd. 

Hiking in the beautiful Mt Hood wilderness

Rafting the Deschutes

It was such a treat to have my big brother take us all rafting. The kids LOVED it, and we even found some little chutes the kids could ride down.