Visit to Leavenworth

Mommy is still catching up on posting pictures from this summer. We had a wonderful visit to Leavenworth in early July. Uncle Moo showed us how talented and brave cousin Violet can be dangling upside down.

 Papa tried the same upside down stunt with me! I was all smiles!

 Auntie Amy and Violet (almost 1 year at the time of the picture).

 Dancing cousins!

Auntie Teddy showed us her beautiful garden and her scarecrow. We even got to pick some yummy berries. We're impressed with how much of a green thumb she is!

 It's obvious mommy sure does love her brothers!

 Dr. Lola loves role play like me!

A definite highlight from our visit to Leavenworth was floating the river. I was a little nervous at first.

Thanks uncle Kevin and auntie Teddy for providing all the floatation devices.

I made a hook with my finger for much of the ride...pretending to be a pirate!

We loved playing in the sand! The Roberts sisters may recognize this beach!

Nothing like a hot bath after floating the river!

  Dinner with the Rieke families. Miss you all!

Oregon Adventures

Part of our road trip this summer included AMAZING adventures in Oregon. We were blessed to find a camping spot along this beautiful lake near Klammath Falls.

The sunset was gorgeous.

We really enjoyed visiting the Oregon Caves in Southern Oregon even though mommy got super car sick from the curvy roads.

Papa and I practiced our "cave growl" that the forest ranger taught us.

We had a great visit with a longtime friend of Papa's - Karen Church. She grew up in Stanwood, ran track & field at U of O, and now has a farm outside of Eugene.

Black hands from driving the tractor.

 These eggs were SO FRESH they were still warm!

We had a blast renting these paddle boats near the OR Sand Dunes!

Weeeeee! I wore goggles to keep the sand out of my eyes during my ride down the dunes!

We spent several days with some of mama's very special longtime friends and their families.

Left to Right: Mama (Evan), Holly (Nathan), Megan (Karen), Janie (Lily), Katy (Elsa).

S'mores on the beach!

This picture (of Karen, Holden, Evan and Papa) is taken from our balcony....yes, we were blessed to stay RIGHT on the OR coastline! Beautiful and great for flying kites!

Josh and Papa helped Lily and me (Karen) get a better view of the parade on the 4th of July.

Elsa, Evan, and Holden spent most of the parade right up front....until they were warned of an upcoming firetruck spraying water into the crowd...so they found a good "hiding place"!

Thanks for all the memories!

Lassen Volcanic National Park

It will probably take mom a few weeks to post all the pictures from our amazing road trip in early July but it will help us recall all the wonderful memories, beautiful places, and family/friends we saw during our adventure. Our first stop was Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California after leaving Irvine at 3 a.m. Thanks cousin Brent for the tip of driving through the night. The 7,000+ feet elevation provided much cooler temperatures and RELIEF from the 110 degree temperatures we drove through in other parts of California.

 My sister and I helped set up camp (one of us more helpful than the other)! :)

 Our campsite was near this beautiful alpine lake that we pretty much had to ourselves!

We had a blast swimming! This was the first of many bodies of water we encountered on our road trip.