Sunriver Trip

Wow, where has the time gone? How is it that it is Sept. 2nd already? Hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day before getting back to work and school. We actually don't start school until tomorrow--well at least Hannah does. Justin will be in Kindergarten but actually won't be going until Thursday. It will be so great to have he and Hannah in the same school. They will be able to walk up together and then I will pick him up at 11:30 when he is done. At least that's the plan. Two doors down there is a boy that was in Hannah's class last year and is this year as well, and his sister will be in Justin's class, so we should be able to get the 4 of them to walk up together.

Before summer ended, we did finally do a summer vacation. We hadn't gone anywhere all summer, which is unusual since we usually take a trip or two to the Coast with the kids (Dale and I went but left the kids at home). Anyway, we went to Sunriver for a week with our friends the Davisons. We went there with them last year but for only a weekend and said then that we needed at least a week to be able to do all we wanted to do without feeling so rushed. We definitely packed a lot into our week and it was busy but it was also relaxing. Before going, I had been having lots of headaches and just feeling stressed, but those all went away while we were gone and really haven't come back so far.

Besides just hanging out at the house we rented, riding bikes, playing base tennis (baseball using tennis balls and rackets), playing in the hot tub (one of the kids' favorite activities), playing the Wii and going to the park, the other main things we did were go to the pool a couple days, visit nearby Lava Butte, go on a horse trail ride and do a float trip down the Deschutes from one end of Sunriver to the other.

The pool was the main priority of the kids right when we got there. We went the day after we got there and the kids all jumped right in--well except for Owen. He is my little water baby, so I was surprised when Dale tried to put him in the kiddie pool and after initially diving right in but realizing it was deeper than he was used to, he freaked out. It took awhile but eventually he did warm up to the water and was splashing and kicking all over the place. We went another day to the pool that was closer to our house but we all decided we didn't like it as well. It was smaller and not as fun and the water was much colder, so we ended up going to the other pool again. The weather started to cool off a little then, so that was the extent of our pool going. Thankfully, the hot tub seemed to keep them occupied enough in the water, so they didn't bug us constantly to go again because it was pretty expensive for us all to go.

Lava Butte is a cinder cone between Bend and Sunriver. Dale and I had driven by it numerous times but never stopped. We're definitely glad we did this time. There's a little visitor center showing the history of the area, but the main part is the vast lava field with all the jagged black lava rock and the cinder cone, which looks like a gigantic version of the many mole hills we have in our backyard right now. We did a hike through the lava field. The highlight for the kids was seeing chipmunks (or chipmunkeys as Owen called them) that would eat right out of their hands. We also drove to the top of the cinder cone where they have a fire lookout. The view was amazing. It was cloudy that day, but we could still make out Mt. Hood to the north and of course all the nearby Central Cascade Mts. On a clear day, you would be able to see north to Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams and south to all the mts. around Crater Lake. Dale and I want to go back on a clear day.

South Sister, Broken Top, Middle Sister and North Sister from left to right

Chipmunkey

Hannah and Maya

Owen having fun
Owen having not so much fun while we tried to get a family photo--these quick mood changes, which we attribute to being 2, happened quite often this trip.

Heather and I took Hannah and Maya on a 1/2 hour horseback trail ride at the Sunriver stables. Hannah is becoming much more interested in horses and was excited about this. Other than the pony ride at the fair and one she did at her old school, she has never really ridden a horse. It ended up being just the 4 of us with our guide on the ride. It was a pretty slow, uneventful ride, but the girls had fun. Hannah's horse, Mel, actually liked to to stop and eat all along the way, so Hannah had to struggle with getting his head up to keep going.

Cowgirl Hannah on Mel

Cowgirl Maya on Julio

As far as the float trip, that was an interesting afternoon. It was the last full day we spent there and we rented a raft for each family. It was a 6 mi. trip and we had 4-1/2 hours to be off the water. We had no idea it would take so long--we actually did it much quicker probably due to the fact that Owen flipped out after not being on the water very long and we just wanted to make it to the end as soon as possible. It started out fine enough with Dale, Hannah, Maya, Owen and myself in one raft and Denton, Heather and the boys in the other raft. Owen seemed to enjoy it at first, although I could tell right away that he was tired (he pretty much missed his nap most days) and I was hoping he'd go to sleep right away, but he hung on. He enjoyed seeing a deer along the shore and feeding a duck that kept following our boat (I wonder if it was because of the numerous Ritz crackers we kept throwing to him), but eventually he got beyond tired and no longer wanted to be contained in the lifevest or in the raft. If we didn't have a good hold on him a couple times, he would've hurled himself into the water. Eventually, Denton and Heather were nice enough to take all the kids into their raft (despite the 5 person limit), so Dale and I could try to get Owen calmed down. Dale held Owen while I futilely rowed--not really futilely but I kept getting caught in side currents and spinning us in circles. Ahh, good times. Finally, Owen did go to sleep and we were able to just lay him down in the middle of the raft, and then we had a nice peaceful float for the last 1/2 hour or so. He even stayed asleep while we maneuvered to the shore and got out and picked him up to get on the van to take us back to the marina. If the road hadn't been so bumpy and the van so loud, he would've stayed asleep. He was out. Thankfully, he woke up happy. The other kids had fun, though, and I think would have more fun if we were able to stop at some of the beaches along the way and play in the water--some even had rope swings. If we do it again, we be able to plan a little better.

The Davison raft

Dale and Owen chillin' before his breakdown (Owen's that is)

Dale can finally paddle in peace. Owen is asleep underneath his vest and all the towels

All in all, it was a very fun trip and a good way to wind down the summer. We look forward to doing it again.

Some other parting shots:

The deer were numerous. Owen's favorite thing about the trip was the animals. He was especially obsessed with the baby deer. This was a mama that had two fawns that came right up to the front porch. At one point, the kids actually fed the deer from their hands.

Owen in a happy moment playing with brother's Power Rangers

One of the kids' favorite activities, although Hannah is putting on her li'l miss attitude face. The boys especially like to take their action figures in there and scuba dive for them.

Scrappy Happenings at Scrapdango

Since making the design team at Scrapdango, I have been anxiously awaiting my first kit to work with for Sept., but unfortunately it will not make it before I leave for Sunriver tomorrow, so I will have something to look forward to when I get back. What is going on there though right now is a contest for the October guest designer. If you're a scrapper and would like one of their great kits to work with for October, check out this post and submit. You never know until you give it a try or a few tries.

Also, they have a crop coming up this weekend. They will post challenges all weekend long from the old and new DT members. There will be chances to win gift cards and prizes during the crop. I love online crops because they actually motivate me to get scrapping done at home, which used to never happen. Check out this post and come join the fun and get some layouts done. I will not be around during the crop since I'll be in Sunriver, but you have until the end of the week to post layouts and I will be checking in after I get back. Head on over to Scrapdango and check out what else is going on and see some amazing talent from all the members and DT.

Family Time

Once again, it's been awhile since I've posted. Two weekends ago, we had our annual McDonald/Reust family reunion. Like last year, it was at Grandpa Mike and Grandma Carol's property in Washougal, so it was very convenient for us. We were a little more prepared this year than last with more blankets and such to keep us warm in our tent. What was different from last year was that it was cooler and actually rained Friday night and some rain got into the tent despite having the rain cover on. It didn't bother me until Dale woke up in the middle of the night after realizing his pillow was soaked and went all around the tent trying to soak up puddles with towels and block where it was coming in. Despite the cooler, wetter weather, the kids still spent a good amount of time in the pool and they fished in Grandpa's stocked pond. The fish weren't biting quite like they did last year, but Justin did catch a 19-1/2 incher left over from last year and some smaller ones. Hannah caught a couple including one of the few brown trout in the pond. The others were rainbow. The majority of our time was spent chasing Owen around and making sure he wasn't jumping in a pool or the pond. He was obsessed with the fish and froggies around the pond.




After having a weekend off and a few of us actually feeling a bit under the weather, we are off tomorrow for a week in Sunriver, OR. I am ready for a little relaxation. I'll post about that when we return.

Another Anniversary Gift

Dale and I didn't really get each other gifts this year besides our weekend away and buying the hand blown vase, but I did get a separate gift on my anniversary.


In the scrapbooking world, there are a couple things people strive for--to be published (which I did get 2 more layouts published in an online ezine this month) and to be chosen for design team. I've tried out for a few design teams for online kit clubs but had no luck until now. I've been involved in a month long contest at Scrapdango and on Monday, got a call from the site owner to find out I was chosen as one of the new team members. Although, I probably didn't sound very excited to her (I'm not one of those people who screams and yells on the phone--a radio station would hate for me to win a contest), but I am ecstatic. So what does it mean to be on a design team? Well, each month, I'll get a kit of great scrapbooking goodies to work with. I'll put together layouts and other projects with the kit to be posted on the site when they reveal the new kit. I will also be responsible for being on the message board to encourage and inspire others. That's just a small taste of my responsiblity. I'm sure I'll learn more of what it entails in the coming month. I'm really excited to get my first kit to work with within a week or so. This is definitely a new venture in my scrapbooking "career."

12 Years!

It's official, Dale and I have been married a dozen years as of Monday August 4th. It's been a great 12 years and I look forward to a few dozen more. We have been so blessed with everything in our lives including our kiddos, home, other family and friends. To celebrate, we got away for the weekend to the OR coast while Grandma Judi watched the kids. It was so wonderful and relaxing. While windy, as expected, the weather was beautiful with tons of sunshine. We stayed in a bed and breakfast with a view of the ocean. We pretty much didn't do much of anything. We, of course, walked along the beach and looked in the shops in Newport even though we've been in them all many times before. We did discover a section of town (Nye Beach) we had never been too before with a lot of cute shops--at least to me. I'm sure Dale didn't care much about most of them, but he is a good sport to go into most of them with me. We also headed a little south of Newport to Seal Rock where there is a nice beach that is somewhat shielded by the wind, so we just sat and relaxed and read on the beach for quite awhile. There is also a neat little slot between two big rocks where the waves come in and then as the water runs out, you hear all the pebbles rolling around. It's the greatest sound. Last time we were there, we hung out in that slot for awhile, but it was a bit of a windtunnel on Saturday, so we didn't stay in there too long. We also visited a glass blowing shop and watched a guy do some glass blowing. I wanted to have a custom vase made while we watched, but there was too long a line, so we settled on buying a premade vase. I really want to start collecting blown glass, which probably isn't the best collection to have with 3 young kids, but I guess we want to live on the edge. Right before heading home, we went to Depot Bay and walked along the sea wall and visited some of the shops. It's not as nice a town as Newport, but we did see gray whales just off the shore--you pretty much just see the blow hole spray and a little of the back. There were quite a few of them out there.

View from the deck at the B&B

The slot at Seal Rock

Relaxin' on the beach at Seal Rock


Sunset from the B&B

The happy couple

Owen turns 2!!!!

Owen turned 2 yesterday. I can't believe it. All of a sudden, he even seemed taller and much more grown up. He has really changed so much in the past few months--mainly with all the talking he's doing. He's picking up new words left and right and just amazes us with some of the things he says. He is such a little man.

We had a party Saturday with family including Grandma Sharon who left that evening to go back to Indiana (we miss her, especially Hannah) and Grandpa Robert and Grandma Pom who came down from Seattle and then spent Saturday night. Grandma Judi and Grandpa Mike and Grandma Carol (we definitely don't have a shortage of grandparents) were here and all the aunts, uncles and cousins. We had a bbq and then just had presents and cake, which Owen couldn't have cared less about. Not really thinking, I made the party for 1:00 pm, right around his naptime, so by 2:00, he was pretty cranky. I tried to distract him with opening presents, which we were doing outside, but instead, he walked over to the little inflatable pool we have where his cousin was playing, stepped right in and sat down and started swimming with all his clothes and regular diaper on. He was a wildman. He was getting out of the pool and running and belly flopping into it. We were just cracking up. Of course his diaper got about 4 times larger--man those things hold a lot of water--but I knew if I didn't get it off of him, it would start to break open and all that gel goo comes out. His brother, sister and cousins opened all his gifts, which he then got interested in because there were lots of trucks and cars, which are his obsession right now. Then we did cake, which he wasn't into at all, so they blew the candles out for that too. After taking another dip in the pool, he then had fun lining all his new cars and trucks up and playing with those for hours.








Dale had to take Grandma Sharon to the airport, but the fun didn't stop because Grandpa Robert and Grandma Pom were here and brought toys and activities for Hannah and Justin as well. They brought an awesome kite, which we flew a little, but it wasn't quite windy enough to keep it up. It will be great fun at the coast. And they also brough a remote control airplane, which Grandpa and Justin had fun playing with out in the field. There were numerous times it went in a neighbors backyard though, and since they weren't home, they had to keep sneaking in to get, which Hannah thought was not a good idea. Hannah and Pom had fun making beaded necklaces and bracelets and paper flowers. It was a fun, although exhausting, birthday party and week/weekend with grandparents, Now, we are back to normal, whatever that is. We are doing the last week of swimming lessons. It was really nice to have Sharon here to help take them to those because Owen is not content to sit and watch them swim. Tonight Hannah and Justin start vacation bible school at our church for a week. The fun just keeps coming.

Almost midnight

It's 1 minute to Midnight on Monday night (Tuesday morning). I'm the only one up and am attempting to scrap. I just finished a page. It didn't quite turn out as I envisioned in my head. I maybe need to go to bed and come back to it tomorrow. Actually, as I look at it again, I think it's starting to grow on me. Anyway, I've been scrapping a little this weekend. Personal Scrapper was having an online crop, and over at Scrapdango, I've been participating in a contest. Here are some photos of the layouts I've done for that and for the online crop.









I even did a sketch for the contest and then the Birthday Boy layout is based on that sketch except I ended up using 4 photos in the bottom instead of 3. I can't even stick to my own sketch. Go figure.

Grandma Sharon is here visiting us now much to the childrens' delight. She came on Friday and will be here until Saturday evening. She will be here for Owen's birthday party that day. It's always great having her. She definitely helps keep the children entertained, so it's nice for Dale and I as well--not that we don't like to entertain our children, but you know...

Other than that, there is not much going on. Hannah and Justin had swimming lessons the past two weeks (every day) and are going to be doing them for 2 more weeks. It will be nice that Grandma can take them this week, and I don't have to take Owen because keeping him occupied around the pool is not fun. It is amazing how much they have learned already. Hannah is swimming across the pool and Justin is so comfortable in water now where before he didn't want his face wet and is starting to swim.

Tomorrow, I actually get to go and use the Mother's Day gift that Dale got me, which was a 3 hour spa package with a 1 hour massage, 1 hour facial and 1 hour pedicure. It will be wonderful. The bad thing about going to the spa though and then having to come straight home (opposed to doing it at a resort where you stay--not that I've even done that) is that as soon as you walk in the door and the kids run up screaming about something, you're suddenly jolted back into reality and all that relaxation goes out the window. It will be wonderful while it lasts though.

Well, I think I'm going to head off to bed. I am going to leave you with a few parting shots that I took last week when Hannah and Owen were playing together on the slide. Owen discovered that he could walk up the slide and slide down, first with the help of Hanney (what he calls her) and then on his own. Also, Hannah started twirling in her new dress that Daddy picked out at the Gap Outlet.





And I was talking about Hannah and Justin swimming--well even though he can't take lessons yet (by himself anyway), Owen also loves to swim and, at least at this point, shows no fear of water.