Oregon Part 6 - iPhone Photos

Gas station fill up and bathroom break. This is Ellie after a good nursing session and exploring the front seat of the car.

Rest stop castle!

Sleeping in the car- Ellie's much appreciated talent.

Cousin bath! Ellie looks so tan haha!

I love how big Idaho's sky is, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss trees towering above me.


Pictures Aunt Lori took of the cousin's of cousins playing together.

They started out dry, but it was only a matter of time before...

They were soaked. P.s Maisie and Maggie could be twins- the Lloyd blood runs strong in them.

If I fits... I sits.

Cousin sleepover. Maisie's first ever sleepover... Emerson's too.

Emerson pestering Maisie.


Austin bought that salsa and when we tried it, it was crazy spicy. When we looked on the packaging it wasn't labeled as hot or anything so we were confused. Until we spotted that tiny circle on the top right of the packaging that reads: "could be considered HOT". Yeah... "could be" is putting it lightly. It was HOT though.

I know she's not in a carseat, but we were only going down the street. She wanted to try out her new headphones. She was listening to the lullabye setting on my sound machine app, so it was hilarious when I looked behind me to see her like that. She's not asleep... just "very very relaxed" haha

Arnie the greatest cat who lived and the only one I am not allergic to.

Shortcake

Maisie's parting gifts to Grams and Gramps.

Another masterpiece

Pit stop going home. Beep beep!

Oregon Part 5 - EZ Orchards

This was our last day in town, so we had to squeeze in an EZ Orchards visit. It was nice and relaxing for us adults and good exercise for the girls because they were busy running around, finding/eating pinecones, exploring the plants and trees and playing with new friends. It was nice to get their wiggles out before our 12+ hour drive home the next day. It proved to work as planned because Ellie nearly slept the whole drive. She has some kind of super power where she can sleep for crazy long stretches of time on car trips. I won't complain- it's amazing! The last hour is generally rough because she finally decides she's done with the carseat and being in the car, but I know we are incredibly lucky. I can't tell you how many people have told us that their kids screamed almost the duration of their road trips. So an hour of fussiness? No big deal. We have yet to have a bad trip with either of our girls. Maisie is quite the trooper too, but the older she gets the more indifferent she becomes with long car rides... teenager much?

It was a nice little close to the trip.

Oregon Part 4 - Carousel

We had to sneak in a carousel ride right?! 

I remember when the City of Salem was in the process of building, hand carving and hand painting the carousel. I was a kid and I remember it being years and years (like 10??) before it came together. I think as a kid I took it for granted, but now with my adult and more appreciative eyes, all I see is the work and beauty that went into it. It sure is pretty and I am glad that Maisie always requests "one more ride". I know she's too young to appreciate it fully, but she must know it's pretty special.

Oregon Part 3 - Drift Creek Falls

We wanted to sneak a hike into our trip somewhere, but with the heat in town, it didn't seem likely until Austin's Uncle and Aunt from Arizona came into town and we decided to squeeze a nice hike in. I used to hike this trail fairly often when my family still lived in Oregon. It's beautiful and has always been a favorite of mine. A swinging suspension bridge? Sign me up! At first Maisie was a little leery of the bridge, but eventually she saw the fun in it. Ellie was a trooper in the Babyhawk, it did get a bit warm and sweaty- she's quite the little space heater, so hiking with her strapped to your frontside is.... toasty.

I'm so thankful we got to enjoy such a nice hike with so many of our loved ones. It was quite the hiking party. :)

p.s I have pictures of other members of the family, but I didn't want to post their pictures in case they felt uncomfortable about it.

Oregon Part 2 - Lincoln City

After a few days in Salem, we were desperate to cool off and in the Northwest that means only one of a few things, but mostly it means heading west to the coast. Oh, and it was much needed. The cozy fog, the wind with trace amounts of sea salt, the shops with unpredictable hours and of course the fresh seafood... hello halibut and clam chowder!

We finished the day off with s'mores roasted over a bon fire and with all the cousins playing in the sand- complete with copious amounts of sand in their every crevice.

S'mores and sandy crevices... all you could ever want. haha