Bandon

I don't know what my problem is!  Sorry about all the well-after-the-fact posts. 

Nearly a month ago, the kids and I went to Bandon with my mom.  Our trip was one night shorter than planned because she was really sick before we left.  We were down there for four nights, though, and had a really great time...got to see lots of friends (many of whom are more like family) and enjoyed beautiful weather.

We spent the first morning at the beach (Devils Kitchen).  It's the best place to visit with kids, because there's a protected area with a great stream to play in.  The ocean isn't close enough to tempt kids, which is perfect.  Anyway, we played for hours and thankfully didn't get sunburned (suncreen didn't even cross my mind until we were there).  Like her big brother, Cooper loved the freezing water, which will make all of our water time this summer even more fun. :)

Another day we had a really nice walk on the ranch.  Other than that, our outings were undocumented (mostly lots of time spent at the city park).  The pictures aren't great, but they're better than nothing.

"Hiking" back up the hill while Judson picked sticks off the road.  It looks peaceful, but it wasn't.  Cooper was screaming because she wanted out of the stroller (to be carried) and further up the hill, Judson cut his finger on a stick and was also screaming.  :)

Our first family bike ride of the year

Okay, this is from a month ago.  Sorry. 

One day before work, Nate told me he wanted to go on a family bike ride that night.  I didn't believe he'd be able to move fast enough after work to get everything loaded and ready.  (Our bikes go on the roof of the Xterra and it's nearly impossible for me to do.  It involves me holding a bike over my head and climbing up a step ladder.  I did it once and don't plan to ever do it again. :)  Well, sure enough, he was motivated and we were ready to go very quickly.  We ate dinner in the car as we drove up to Shelburg Falls (near Silver Falls), about thirty minutes away.

We weren't able to go too far for fear it'd get dark, but since it was mostly uphill, it was quite a workout.  The kids had a blast, and I was so relieved that they were happy to be in such a small space together.  We look forward to many more bike rides in the coming months!

Our outing ended with root beer floats from A&W, which sounds fun in theory, but was not.  Both kids were over-tired and didn't want to share and there was a lot of screaming on the drive home from Stayton...

We stopped at a picnic table to eat the rest of our dinner and Cooper spent most of that time in the trailer.  She loved it!

Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on, but thought I'd share today's fun first.  Our friend Joani passed on their tulip festival season pass and we hadn't had a chance to use it until today.  Lisa and her girls were able to meet us, which was a huge treat, since Ella's in school now and we rarely get to see them.  The festival ends on Sunday, so the flowers weren't at their best, but we still had a great time in the SUNSHINE.  Thank you, Lord!

We got there about an hour ahead of the Andrewjeskis, so had lots of fun playing while we waited.  Cooper even rode a pony!  She was pretty fascinated by them, and I was so excited to have a child who would be brave enough to do it that I happily paid the $5 for her to go around sixteen times.  I didn't even have to walk along with her!  So fun!

We did more playing with Ella and Emilie and then had a picnic and explored the fields.  Ems was pretty shy, but Judson and Ella played and were so cute together.  At the end, we rode the "cow train" and all of the kids were thrilled.  What a perfect day!

A slide made of rollers...quite the bumpy ride.  Yes, I'm speaking from experience.  It was tall and I didn't want Cooper to try it alone.

Starting to slide off the side...

Duck "races" (Emilie is five days older than Judson)

Ella is almost seven and I cannot believe it.  Where DOES the time go?!

I asked Cooper to join the big kids and she immediately headed right over...

...but wouldn't get closer than this. :)

The cow train was super bumpy, so this is the best I could do with Mt. Hood.  I should have taken one when we were walking.