We just got home from a wonderful visit in Oregon. We had an amazing time and no one was ready to leave. We flew directly from Uncle David and Aunt Michelle's wedding to Eugene, Oregon, where Uncle Phillip picked us up and took us to Mimi and Grandpa's house. It was a long day but the kids were total champs and traveling was great. Benson fell asleep on the flight and slept the entire time and the older three kids happily played with the activities in their bags the whole flight.
We got in late (especially for our Arkansas time zone bodies) and it was a very full day with the wedding earlier that day, but the kids did amazing.
The next day was Tuesday, June 26th, and we woke up happily in Oregon (if not extremely too early).
The kids explored around Mimi and Grandpa's farm and helped out with the morning chores. Grandpa retired in January and so the kids loved getting to help him around the farm.
Tucker also discovered Mimi's cherry tree and picked and ate his weight in cherries.
Also, I just need to say what a dream Tucker was on this trip. He was such a good boy. He listened. He was happy. He didn't fight with his siblings. He was seriously a joy!
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this boy explore and enjoy himself.
Eventually the cousins came over and Conner and Tuck immediately bonded. They were so cute together.
While Tanner was off helping Grandpa, these cute kids bonded over books and tablets during quiet time.
Chase came over after his cub scout camp and him and Tanner had a great time playing together.
Chase took Tanner for a ride on the go-cart and they explored all over the farm.
Meanwhile, Paige and Tucker enjoyed the sprinklers together.
And they explored the tractors together
Chase also took Tuck for a short, very slow ride
We enjoyed so many beautiful evenings on the back porch. Grandpa was never too busy to have a grand kid snuggle up on his lap and chat about life. Benson really enjoyed his Grandpa snuggles.
We also enjoyed many dinners on the back porch.
After Uncle Phillip got off work, he took his younger brother (Daddy) for a ride on the go-cart and had us all laughing.
Uncle Phillip also took the girls on a short ride around the farm.
And Daddy took Tuck for a ride too.
Chase and Benson immediately bonded and Chase was so good with Benson.
He was constantly checking on him and playing with him. They were so cute together.
Tanner even got his first driving lesson on the go-cart. This had my mamma heart racing but Tanner did great and loved it.
Later that night, while the kids were playing Tucker and Conner were attack by some yellow jackets. They were playing near the orchard and each got stung a half dozen times. It was so sad. They just wanted to pick some fruit for dessert. Here are the kids snuggled up recovering after the yellow jacket incident.
Well in retaliation, the Dads and Grandpa went out and destroyed the nest and then made all the kids cherry sundaes. Tucker was so sad about his stings, but he loved the cherry dessert Daddy made him.
The next day was Wednesday and this was the start of our Sun River trip.
We loaded up in Mimi's car and made the 3 hours drive there.
Our first stop in Sun River was the Lava Caves.
These caves are made of dried lava veins from a nearby volcano that erupted thousands of years ago.
The kids had a great time exploring. It wasn't what I had expected. It was totally primitive and dark. We couldn't see much without our flashlights, but the kids loved it.
Tucker also grew very attached to Chase and wanted to be his buddy all the time.
Here are the cousins (minus Benson- who I was wearing) at the Lava Caves.
Paige and Bailey had a great time exploring together.
And here are all of us outside the cave. We spent about 2 hours inside and we were tired after wards.
But then we drove over to the rental house and everyone got their second wind.
Tanner who newly learned to ride without training wheels was thrilled with the bike selection and immediately took off on a bike ride with Paul and Chase.
Tanner who newly learned to ride without training wheels was thrilled with the bike selection and immediately took off on a bike ride with Paul and Chase.
While they rode bikes, the little boys and I explored around the house. Tucker loved climbing on all the rocks.
Oh and yes, Benson is wearing a jacket, the lows at night were in the lower 50's. It was nice and cool!
Love this face!
After everyone arrived at the house, we had a big family dinner followed by ice cream cones.
Nightly ice cream cones became one of our favorite parts of the day.
As did our nightly hot tubs dips. Except, on our first night, the tub was turned off so when the kids hopped in the hot tub, the water was freezing. Of course, this didst stop them from playing. They were all screaming and laughing so much. It was adorable!
Bailey and Tanner loved it so much. I could hardly get them out. Weirdos!
The next morning almost everyone took off on a bike ride.
Benson rode with Paige in her bike trailer while I kept Tucker home. He can't ride without training wheels and we didn't have another bike trailer.
While they were gone on their long bike ride, Tucker and I rode around the house .
After Dad got back from the bike ride, we rented another bike trailer for us to use. Then we went on a short ride to the park.
How cute are these little helmet head boys.
Bailey loved riding on the tandem bike with Daddy.
Aren't they cute?
The park was awesome and the kids played so hard.
This is Bailey's little bird nest she made, she was so proud of it.
After playing at the park, we rode home and then are lunch and took naps.
Then we got on our suits and went to the "SHARC" which stands for Sun River Homeowners Aquatic and Recreation Center. It's basically a big water park. The kids had a great time playing and even though it wasn't super warm, they still played hard.
Chase and Benson played happily together.
Tucker also enjoyed playing in the sand in the kiddie area.
Benson was the cutest little sandy bummed boy.
I mean seriously, look at that lower lip.
Tanner loved riding all the slides. He had so much fun with his cousins.
Bailey and Maureen had the best time riding the slides together and were giggling so hard at the end of each one. They are so cute together!
After playing all afternoon at the SHARC, we came back to the house for a large dinner together. After we eventually got all the kids to sleep, the adults went for walk down to the ice cream shop.
Then we came home and watched TV together before passing out from our very full day of fun.
The next day was no less full. We immediately woke up and got everyone ready for another bike ride.
We planned a 10 mile ride to go see a waterfall.
Look at this cute biking crew!
Bailey on the tandem bike again with Daddy.
Bailey and Maureen are such cute friends. I love them.
The cute cousins who didn't go on the mountain bike trails. We stuck with these cuties on the paved trails.
We did do some dirt trails though to finally get to the waterfall.
The kids took a break from bike riding to explore around the waterfall.
We took a family picture in front of the overlook too.
Benson didn't come on this ride, we thought it would be too long for him. He stayed at the house with Mimi and Grandpa.
Here's one of all the cute biking cousins.
And one of all the adults.
After exploring and playing for a while, we started the ride home. Everyone did so great and I couldn't believe how well it went. 10 miles is a long way to go and no one complained. Not even once.
After getting back to the house, we ate dinner and then headed over to the SHARC for more swimming and fun. Again Tucker immediately took to the sandy kid area.
While Bailey played in the big pool, going down the slide and practicing her underwater handstands.
She also played a ton on the tub slides.
After SHARC, we went home, dried off, changed our clothes and then hopped in the cars to go explore a volcano. We found the obsidian trail and walked to the top.
The kids loved how shiny and smooth the obsidian was and we all had fun exploring.
Here's a full group shot of us all at the volcano overlook.
And one of Mimi and Grandpa with their boys.
After our volcano adventure we came back home for another big family dinner and then we got the kids to bed.
The following day was Saturday and we had to check out. So we packed up, cleaned the house and checked out. Then we went back over to the SHARC for one last time so we could play before heading home.
Tucker did enjoy other parts of the aquatic center besides the sand area but mostly he played in the sand.
Benson also enjoyed playing with Paige in the sand.
After we finished at the aquatic center, we got changed and went and played at the village. We got ice cream at the cute little ice cream shop. They had the best salted caramel ice cream!
Both Tanner and I really enjoyed the salted caramel!
Bailey enjoyed her brownie batter ice cream and Tucker got Oreo.
Benson shared with me and we both enjoyed the caramel and cookie dough
Oh I love this ice cream faced boy
After our delicious ice cream, we took the kids to ride the village train. They got to ride all around and see the cute little Sun River village.
After finishing our train ride, we hoped in the car and got some lunch on our drive back to Mimi & Grandpa's house. We had so much fun in Sun River and we didn't want to leave. The kids played so hard every day and no one was fighting or whining.
All the kids shared one room full of bunk beds and each night they fell asleep talking and giggling together. I just love the thought of all the memories they were making together each night. It makes my heart happy.
Everyone just played happily the entire time.
That's the end of part 1 of our trip. Stay tuned for the rest of our awesome trip!
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