We started out our third week in Oregon at Mimi and Grandpa's cabin in Summer Lake, Oregon.
We had a wonderful visit and really enjoyed the high dessert that is central Oregon.
Sadly, the lake for which the little town is name dried up years ago. The lake bed can be seen from the mountains surrounding the lake. It makes me sad to think about the whole lake drying up. We did see some crazy dust devils on the lake bed though and that was pretty cool.
Our first full day at the cabin was spent fishing at a lake. We hiked in for about a mile and found a beautiful little lake that was secluded and quiet. It was wonderful.
Tanner reeled in the first fish of the day. He was so excited.
Mimi caught a couple and grandpa caught a couple. They let the kids help them reel their fish in so they could share in their excitement.
I love this picture of Grandpa and Bailey. It's so cute.
We caught 6 fish in total. We had packed a picnic lunch which we ate and then we hiked back to our cars. It was so fun. And again, the weather was amazing.
When we got back to the cabin we swam in the hot tub, Tanner and Dad shot some guns and we played outside.
Tanner got pretty good at shooting the little .22 rifle. He loved it.
That night we grilled burgers and enjoyed a beautiful evening on the back porch.
By the time the sun went down, the wind had picked up and we had to go inside but we really loved the nice weather.
Friday morning we packed a lunch and loaded up to drive to Crater Lake. Crater Lake is a natural lake that formed after a volcano exploded and then imploded on itself. Then over time, melted snow and rain caused the crater to fill in and formed a lake. It's the prettiest lake I have ever seen. It's bright blue and looks completely fake but the bright color is real.
We had a great time exploring the lake and hiking a bit. We stopped at one of the picnic areas to eat our lunch. These kids were ready to stretch their legs.
I love this picture of us by Crater Lake. I just can't get over the color. It was so beautiful.
Chris took Benson for a little walk while the big kids and I visited one of the overlooks. It was so interesting to learn about the volcano that formed the lake. This type of volcano is known as a caldera. Also Crater lake houses the purest water- it is better than the drinking water we get from our city.
Here is the view from the overlook. Seriously- that blue is amazing.
And, of course, we had to get a group shot.
After our adventure at Crater Lake, we went back to the cabin to hang out and the kids immediately hopped back into the hot tub.
That night we ate up all the leftovers and enjoyed our last evening on the back porch.
These cute brothers shared their dinners and snuggled together. It was so cute.
On Saturday we cleaned and closed down the cabin again so we could drive back to the farm. We had to make sure we got some pictures of the kids at the cabin though because who knows how long it will be before we can go back.
On our drive back to the farm, we stopped at "Fort Rock" to explore a bit. Fort Rock is a volcanic tuff ring that formed when a volcano exploded and the hot magna met gold ground water. Before the volcano exploded there was a lake there and it was a vital part of the Native American lifestyle. If you look closely on the sides of the ring of rock you can actually see how high the water use to be.
It was really cool. We had fun hiking around and learning about it.
After exploring Fort Rock, we drove about halfway home before stopping to see another set of caves.
Grandpa and Dad use to explore these caves when Dad was a kid. So Dad was excited to show the kids. Tanner didn't want to get out so I stayed in the car with him. But the rest of the kids enjoyed exploring with Dad and Grandpa.
Eventually we got home and unpacked. All the stops along the way made the 5 hour drive feel even longer. But we made it home and eventually got kids to bed.
On Sunday we had church with Mimi and Grandpa and then the cousins came over and we went horseback riding. Chase has a really sweet older horse, named Red, and he let all the kids ride him. They loved it.
The kids loved it so much. Bailey really wants to be a veterinarian when she gets older and being around all the animals at the farm only solidified her dreams. She really loved getting to help brush and saddle the horse.
After horseback riding the kids just played outside and ran around together until dinner time. That's one of the best parts about the farm- the kids can run wild and play and they never get bored. It's wonderful. I can't wait until we can get some land!
Monday was Tanner's birthday. We started the day by visiting Aunt Susie and getting to see all her animals. This was so fun. The kids loved it.
First she showed us her pheasants. They were too crazy for the kids to hold on their own so Aunt Susie held them and the kids were able to pet them.
On the walk over to see her baby bunnies, we passed her grape vineyard and the kids got to pick all the grapes they wanted. They were a bit sour but that didn't stop them from eating their fill.
Then we got to hold the baby bunnies. They were seriously the cutest things ever. I loved it as much as the kids.
We also got to see the mommy bunnies. They weren't as cute but still pretty great. I loved the brown nosed ones.
Benson got bored with the bunnies pretty quick and moved on to climbing fences. I just love this boy living his best country life.
The last animal Aunt Susie showed us were baby opossums.
These were my least favorite of the day, but Bailey and Tucker still enjoyed them.
They are sort of creepy.
Then it was back to picking grapes and we picked some yellow raspberries. The raspberries were really yummy. I've never had yellow raspberries before.
We had a great time with Aunt Susie and the kids didn't want to leave. Sadly, we had to get back because Daddy had a meeting he couldn't miss. But on the way home we grabbed some sushi for Tanner's birthday lunch.
After lunch, the cousins came over and Tanner had a blast helping Chase fix his go-cart and then riding it all over the place.
Tucker and Bailey went over to Aunt Stephanie's to play while her boys played with Tanner.
Benson and I just roamed the farm together and played on the swing.
Eventually we had dinner. Tanner requested sweet and sour chicken, pot stickers and chow mien.
Tanner loved it and everyone else seemed to enjoy it too. It took a few hours to make but his smile was worth it.
After dinner we handed out water guns to everyone and the kids had an epic water gun fight.
After our water gun fight we served cake. Tanner asked for a texas sheet cake this year and I happily made it for him. He loves Aunt Sarah's recipe for Texas Sheet cake so I made that one for him and it was pretty delicious.
Then we opened presents. We had left most of Tanner's gifts at home the party we are planning later, but we had a couple for him. His cousins and grandparents got him gifts as well. But, it's safe to say, his favorite gift of the day was his new gun from his Grandpa. Tanner was too shocked to even react. It was pretty funny to watch. Eventually it sank in and he was so excited.
Happy 11th birthday sweet boy. We love you so much!
On Tuesday we went to the lake with Aunt Stephanie and her kids.
This particular inlet had a little dock and the kids had so much fun jumping off the dock into the water.
I wasn't surprised when Tanner jumped off. He's always been pretty fearless.
But Bailey did surprise me when she jumped. That girl is getting braver.
Aunt Stephanie brought her little kayaks with her and Tanner really enjoyed paddling around the lake on one of the kayaks.
We had lots of fun. The kids weren't ready to leave to go back to Mimi's. But eventually we headed home and had dinner with Mimi and Grandpa.
On Wednesday we just hung out at Mimi and Grandpa's with the cousins. The kids watched a movie together and played outside.
In the afternoon, Stephanie and I left to get pedicures.
Dad and Grandpa took the kids to see Grandpa's plane at the Albany airport. They have so much fun exploring the plane and taking turns sitting in the pilot's seat.
Wednesday night Stephanie and I went and got dinner while Chris took the kids to his friend, Jonathon Mattson's house. They had a great time. They smoked some meat, played on a zipline and played with their animals. The kids came home exhausted but so happy.
Early Thursday morning Chris got a phone call saying his unit that he commands was being deployed to Louisiana to help with some hurricane relief efforts. So we were told to get home ASAP. So I immediately started packing. We were supposed to leave Friday morning, so this phone call moved our timeline up a day and cut out our trip to Yellowstone on the way home. I was disappointed but that's army life. So as quickly as possible, I got kids up and packed and loaded the car all while Chris was making arrangements for his job. But after I finished getting the car loaded, Chris got another phone call and was told to stand down. UGH. We were equal parts relieved and annoyed. We debated just leaving anyways since we were already packed, but ultimately decided to stay for the extra day.
The kids were relieved since they didn't want to leave. They immediately started playing with their cousins, who had come over to say goodbye. And Stephanie and I left to run some last minute errands.
We spent the rest of the day just relaxing together and mentally preparing for our long drive home.
The kids played together until dark and the adults were able to just visit and chat. It was a great last day and it was the perfect way to end our trip.
We left to drive home early Friday morning. Because we didn't have to be back early, we put Yellowstone back on our itinerary. So we drove from Oregon to Rexburg, ID and stayed the night there.
Saturday morning we drove to Yellowstone National Park and spent the day exploring. We had so much fun. The kids loved all the animals. We especially loved seeing the bison. We drove half of the upper loop and saw "Artist Point" and the "Grand Canyon" of Yellowstone.
Tanner really enjoyed using his new binoculars that he got for his birthday. It was pretty cute to watch.
"Artist Point" was beautiful. We loved the big canyon.
Here you can see some the yellow stones that "Yellowstone" was named after.
Then we drove back around the loop headed for the lower side of the park. We pulled over at the river to eat our picnic lunch. Next to our picnic area sat this huge Bison. It sat there for over an hour while we ate and played. It was so content just sitting there people watching.
These cute kids ate all their lunch and then we played near the river.
Then we drove through "Hayden Valley" which is known for Bison. We saw tons driving through here. We even got to see some baby ones. It was pretty fun.
Benson loved using the binoculars to see the bison from his window.
Our next stop were the mud volcanoes. These were pretty stinky but the boys loved them.
Our next stop was the prettiest! We hiked to "Grand Prismatic Spring" and got to see it from the overlook. It was beautiful. The different colors are caused by bacteria and thermophiles, which are heat loving algae that contain colorful pigments. Each color of algae is specific to a particular temperature range radiating from the center of the hot spring. The water gradually cools at it flows outward from the source. It's so pretty! I really loved this stop!
Then we drove and parked at "Old Faithful". This was the kids' favorite stop for the day. Luckily, we got to the geyser right before it blew. With only 2 minutes to spare, we couldn't have timed it any better. The kids loved watching the geyser explode.
I just had to document what a weird time this is. Face masks and social distancing everywhere you look. But it didn't dampen our fun.
We had a great time at Yellowstone!
After we saw "Old Faithful" we used the bathroom and started driving out of the park. It took us a while to get through the rest of the park and we left through "Grand Teton National park" so we got to see some gorgeous scenery. Then we continued our drive home. We stopped at a "Sinclair" gas station and grabbed some dinner. There wasn't much food to be found in WY, so we had to take what we could find. Happily, the kids loved the sinclair dinosaur and the pizza we got from the gas station for dinner.
We saw some beautiful scenery on our drive. We stopped for the night in WY. Then hit the road again Sunday morning.
For years I've been seeing signs for "Little America" and their .75 cent ice cream cones. I've never stopped. Despite driving past it atleast a dozen times, I've never made time for it. However, we had promised the kids ice cream earlier and so this stop killed two birds with one stone.
The kids loved it!
We stopped for the night at Aunt Sarah's house in Kansas. We had missed our cousins and so this was the perfect stopping point. We chatted and hung out Sunday evening.
Then we drove the rest of the way home on Monday. We finally got home around 3 pm on Monday, August 31st. After being gone for nearly 4 weeks, including travel time, we are finally home.
We had the best time in Oregon. It was honestly hard to come home. The idea of homeschooling this year is terrifying and we were enjoying vacation mode. We are excited to go back to Oregon next year.
Now that we know we can drive it, we will do it again!
