More fun than a barrel of…

Rockin' the Redwoods

2010-07-08T00:37:00.001-07:00

It's been blazing hot around the country, but cool in the Redwoods of Northern California. We had a fantastic time and in honor of the trip, I decided to give reviews. It was great fun and most everyone I told about the trip said, "We'd like to take our kids. What do you suggest". So, here you go, folks!

First up - Lodging. With kids, it is very important that everyone gets sleep. Ahhhh...sleep, how I miss thou! We stayed at Elk Meadow Village through Redwood Adventures. Think - row of remodeled loggers cabins. It was a nice house for a value price with a full kitchen (a must for me). I didn't think I would like it upon arrival and realized it was RIGHT off the hwy 101. But, then again, the location had some perks for sure; it was a quick drive to several beautiful hikes. I recommend it.

Second - Eats. Please see above. It had a full kitchen with all necessities included. The only place we ate out was in Bandon. More of that to come...

Third (and most important) - Activities!

Fern Canyon: Walking upstream while criss-crossing on logs and rocks. Apparently, the river was too high this year to put up the bridges (glorified planks), but the logs were surprisingly steady. On either side of this canyon one could enjoy the lush ferns growing on the 50 feet high wall, as seen in the movie, Jurassic Park. Surprisingly satisfying for adults and exciting for the kids. We took the trail back (found if you walk up to where the river narrows/canyon opens and to the left...look for almost hidden stairs out of canyon). 5 stars
Note! Must pay $8 fee to enter this area of the Redwoods and portions of the road may be covered in water. I thought it was worth it for crowd control reasons. The beach one drives by to get to the hikes is amazing. And if you are lucky enough to snag a camping spot on the beach. Well, you must be a teenage hippie with no job to stalk that place out. No such luck for us. Anyway, stop at the beach for lunch.

Lady Bird Johnson Grove: Besides the fact that this was named for a politician (of which I have decided it is morose to name national treasures for any politician no matter how snappy of a dresser they are), this easy trail starts by going over a bridge. Kids love bridges. It then meanders past large trees that are fun to hide in. Yes, in. Some of them are hollow inside, but a couple are not super obvious, but any 3 year old will find them if you let them explore. This short hike leads to a beautiful grove of Redwoods. Good stuff. 4 stars because my experience came with a child "accident" that needed a return trip to the car. Your experience may warrant 5 stars.

Trees of Mystery: Entertaining for kids. A bit expensive ($14 per adult) but included information about interesting trees along walk/hike and a tram ride. Of course, the kids were giddy about the tram. Although I wasn't in love with this particular venue we somehow explored around for three hours. So, I must not have hated it. Although, being routed through the gift shop to exit the hike sucks out the "outdoor adventure" right from your soul.

Avenue of the Giants: Okay, we didn't make it down there. I couldn't spend another minute in the car with my crying 18 month old. So we skipped it. But, it seems that the largest trees were further south. Just FYI!

Bandon, Oregon: We stopped in Bandon and ate dinner at the Phoenix Grill. A great new restaurant that serves vegetarian and gluten-free meals. One of the only places you can eat fish'n'chips (husband) and GF crab (wife) in the same eatery along the coast. At least that I know of. If anyone knows ANY GF place to eat on the coast...well...let me know!

So, for any of my friends who are thinking about doing a family trip to the Redwoods, I hope this helps you out! We had a wonderful time with our kids and my parents (who met up with us). So three generations had a great time together. It doesn't get better than that!!

Easy as A, B, C...

2009-11-11T21:13:00.000-08:00

My dear, sweet child is learning to write his letters. He did an ever so excellent job on our pantry chalk board. Here he is taking a picture of mommy while she is taking a picture of him and his letters. Notice that the little darling picked out his own pajamas and dressed himself. Yes, we folks wear pajamas all day. On a fancy day (like grandma might stop by) otherwise it’s just underwear. Notice the shirt is on inside out and backwards. And his camera is also reversed. He is getting a VERY close up shot of his iris.

Gluten Free Favorites

2009-11-02T13:21:00.001-08:00

Elise - It's Thanksgiving season and you are probably wondering what your mom is going to make you. Check out my "gluten free girl" link for help this week!

For everyone else who wonders what I eat in addition to nuts, twigs and berries, here is a list of my favorite splurges...GF mixes!!

1) Pancakes = Pamelas Pancake Mix. Don't let the tacky packaging fool you...it's good stuff!

2) Cookies = Cravings Double Chocolate Chunk. I never actually bake these...just eat the dough. Hey, if you are GF...you don't get much where the dough is edible.

3) Brownies = Bob's Red Mill Brownie Mix.

4) Spice Cake = Namaste Spice/Carrot Cake Mix. Good flavor and moisture. Extra yummy with cream cheese frosting (homemade).

5) Bread = Living Earth Bakery Multi-grain Bread. Made in Corvallis, Oregon.

6) BBQ sauce = Black Horse Savory Sauce (for meat) or Apricot Sauce (for chicken)

7) Hot Breakfast = Bob Red Mill's Mighty Tasty. Mix with brown sugar, flax seed, raisins, walnuts (or whatever). Inexpensive, healthy and tasty. My kids even ask for this!

8) Ham = Beeler's (Boar's Head also good)

9) Bacon = Applegate

10) Yogurt = Brown Cow Vanilla (whole milk, of course)

11) Crackers = Nut Thins by Blue Diamond

Okay, I am hungry now. Gotta eat!!

Fun for Daddy, too!

2009-10-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

Life B.C. (before children) Kris and I were able to do lots of things for ourselves. We went on lots of fabulous vacations, worked out at the gym and even went to the grocery store in peace. Everything has it's season. This season is all about doing fun things as a family. These "things" require planning, flexibility and short distances. Kris is "fun dad" for sure. He enjoys planning outings and spending time together as a family. The boys adore him and remind me daily of how much they *love* daddy (note: mommy is not mentioned). It's a rare treat for Kris to be able to do something adventuresome. Fortunately, with 8 years of scouts under his belt, he was able to combine volunteerism and outdoor excursions. Although Kris enjoyed doing all the fun family activities, he enjoyed this challenge, too!

Kris on Mount Hood summer 2009. Kris was recently released from his YM/scouting calling and is now in EQ as a teacher.

Truck coming through!

2009-05-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

Brogan is my little sweetheart, but don't get in his way on the field. That boy turns into an aggressive athlete with the soccer ball. But, don't be fooled. The reason he tries so hard is because he doesn't want to let his team down. "The team needs me", is what he says. So it's really his compassion for his teammates that drives him to mow over all other boys and girls in his way. Right? He uses shoulders and elbows and all other manner of tactics to get the ball. But it is all in the name of "team work". Is that what we over-enthusiastic parents tell ourselves? Usually in "bunch ball-type" scrimmages, he is the one to victoriously emerge driving down the field. This is a revelation for those of us (myself) who thought he might get glimpses of the ball as it passed him while he was picking flowers on the field. He might clap his hands and support his teammates from time to time, but that would be the extent of his participation. So watching him actually play has been a pleasant surprise. What a cutie!

Celebrate Mud - It's Spring!

2009-04-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

It's springtime in Oregon and the boys couldn't be happier. Look at all the liquid gold sent from heaven. A gift for boys who have spend a cold(ish) winter indoors. Spring drives me crazy. It's weathers' form of teasing. A cruel, torturous tease. One day it will be 60 degrees. Two days later it will drop below freezing and threaten ones garden. My little, tiny, laughable “garden” made up of 6 bean-thingys. Ahhh...my garden will probably be crushed when Kris decides to move his shed. He promised that my “garden” will be safe when he relocates his stinky shed. It stinks like dirt and fertilizer. I think he believes my garden will long be dead before he moves the shed. Anywho, we are enjoying the sporatic spring days. Today was gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. Brogan spent an hour digging up worms. Can't wait for more days like today!

Brogan started soccer. Lincoln likes his space. Dallin is my easiest baby. Friends, consider this your quarterly update!

Baby Dallin

2008-12-19T17:04:00.000-08:00

Okay - we decided on a name and it's Dallin Williams. Quite a mouthful, as Kris says, but that is what we picked!

It's A Boy!

2008-12-16T16:19:00.000-08:00

We are happy to announce the arrival of our new baby boy! He arrived December 14th, at 10:22am PST. The baby left the hospital with no name and it we still have yet to decide on one. Soooo...it's still baby #3. But now he has a face to go with his non-name!

His big brothers like to know where he is all the time and Lincoln likes to poke him in the face. I figure the most dangerous thing to an infant is a toddler, and we have two of them...so welcome to the world, little man!

This little man was 5 lbs and 13 ounces at birth - tiny tiny! And, I have to say that his head was/is perfectly round...unlike his siblings. I wish I had a good photo just of that!!

Officially Fall

2008-11-05T22:44:00.000-08:00

We took Brogan and Lincoln to a pumpkin patch in October. The boys had been sick with colds, but we decided to go out anyway. Apparently, so did everyone else in Lane County. It was packed with people, but fortunately, we left with as many children as we arrived with. And they fit in with the family just great!

Both boys had a great time feeding the goats, running through the pumpkin patch and riding behind the horses on the hay bales. We did have to explain to *someone* on multiple occasions the difference between goat food and goat poop. In *someone's* defense, food & poop are the same size and shape (different color). Fortunately, germ-o-phobic mom came with lots of wipes and antibacterial wash for the trip!

I learned a little trick from "Ugly Betty". Instead of asking Brogan to smile for the camera...which he hates to do, I just ask him to "show teeth". It looks much better than the scowl I normally have on film.

Stay Cool & Have a Nice Summer

2008-08-07T22:59:00.000-07:00

Our long awaited summer vacation to Oceanside was all we had hoped it would be. We had an amazingly good time with eight adults and six kids (under the age of 6) all under one roof for one week. Davin continued on his life-long quest of "no eating leftovers". Kris and I both gained 10 pounds, but I blame mine on "baby weight". The view from the house was gorgeous and we were just a few houses away from the public beach access. It was a perfect situation as between naps and snacks and everything else, we were back and forth from the beach all the time.

Tillamook forest areas are nearby with several places to hike and explore. Here is a photo Kris took of me idly watching my graceful son fall into the creek.

I guess you can take the kids out of Cottage Grove, but you can't take Cottage Grove out of the kids. Here Lincoln is happily flying a kite...with no pants on. I figured they are cloth diapers and that practically makes them shorts!

I was happy to spend some time with my family. Especially Kimber as it had been over 2 years since I'd seen her last. We each had a child they other had never met. How sad is that?

I wonder if Grandpa and Grandma thought they made a mistake with all those wild children running around. As Nate said "There is always one crying. It is like they take turns". But the crying was like faint background noise to those of us who came with the kids and are used to hearing all that comes with them (whining, crying, etc...). We had such a great time that Kris pulled out the atlas when we came home to try and figure out where we can purchase a beach house. I laugh.

We saw whales in the ocean, built sand castles, crushed sand castles, visited the Newport Aquarium, blew bubbles, saw a waterfall, threw rocks, flew kites, made smores, hot tubbed outside and watched the sun go down...and I got to see 4 hours of old English movies with my mom. What could be better than that?!?!

We Are In the House

2008-07-09T21:55:00.001-07:00

After two years of planning and building, we are finally in our new house. Kris and I have proven, yet again, that we are an awesome-dysfunctional team. I dream it up and Kris gets to do all the work building it. Some of the highlights are when we do a walk-through together and obviously the designer (Kristin) didn't clearly communicate the vision to the builder (Kris). Then the whole volley of games begin. It will go something like this "In exchange for moving this wall, I will remove the request for built-in's in the boy's rooms". More often it's "This brick walkway is too narrow and the stroller will not fit on it properly...". But Kris' all-time favorite is "can you move this ceiling beam 2 inches over?" I guess that ceiling beam is holding the house up. So that didn't happen. Nor did the request for moving the fireplace because changes to the foundation would need to be made. But, I figure with enough determination (i.e. money) anything can be accomplished! Hence our house timeline going from 9 months to nearly 2 years. And the builder would like to make it known that the designer went way over budget.