The second half of our trip to Oregon we were nomads for five nights. We spent one night in The Dalles, then the kids and I drove down to my parents in Lakeview for three nights (while Ben was hunting in Eastern Oregon with his family), and then the final night of our trip we had a sleepover at my sister's homestead in Woodburn. Our travels were partly because we wanted to visit family, but also because a new missionary family moved into our home in Scappoose. This particular family will be staying at the house through the school year, but we will still be able to stay at it during holidays and spring break, as they will spend those times with their extended family. Our home has only been empty for a few nights the entire time we've been in Mexico, and the Lord has faithfully provided family after family that has needed it. Anytime I want to question why the Lord brought us to Mexico, I am reminded that it's because he needed our house for other people!
Anyways, the boys and I had a great five-hour drive together from The Dalles to Lakeview; we are definitely getting better at traveling together! The only difficult part of the trip was seeing first-hand all the smoke of the forest fires in Oregon. We stopped at a park in Bend to play and barely wanted to be outside because the air was so thick with smoke! A great memory of the trip was listening to the audio book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," together. It was Josh's first time hearing the story, and he loved it!
The highlight of our trip to Lakeview was that it was fair and round-up time. The last time we were in town during this fun event the twins were around Josh's age. They were both so excited to experience the rides, parade, and rodeo again and it was a blast to introduce Josh to these things for the first time.
Josh's first pony ride
Seth
Sam
The boys with their Papa during the rodeo
Josh was unsure at first about the rodeo: he was quite worried about the calves who were getting their heels roped! But, by the end he was telling us how he wanted to "be a cowboy with a hat that rides horses and ropes cattle."
No, the kids aren't sunburned, they are just hotter than blazes. It was around 97 degrees during the rodeo...actually the whole weekend it was hotter in Lakeview than it was in Monterrey!
Bull riding: isn't this view beautiful? This is the high desert of Oregon and the type of country I grew up around.
We were able to find gluten free fair food...even curly fries!
Once it cooled off a bit, we returned to the fair to experience some rides. There aren't many Grandma's that are willing to do a tower-drop with their grandkids!
They are all the way up there!
There wasn't anyone in line for the roller coaster, so the worker kept letting the kids go over and over and over again!
Joshy loved it
Joshy and his Papa
This is me and the boys smiling before the Sizzler starts. I was not smiling after having the combined weights of the twins smashed against me over and over again for what seemed like an eternity.
I'm officially getting old: I was queasy and dizzy after the Sizzler and swore to never go on it again.
Nights in Lakeview always end with a story with Grandma
Josh, Sam and Seth all ready for the Labor Day parade
Notice Sam's shirt: he wore it every day we were in Lakeview
Lots of horses in the parade
And a few tractors
One of the best moments of the parade was when someone walked by and offered Josh a free construction hat and he rejected the offer, glaring at the person with "stranger danger" eyes
Love this kid, love the freckles that are starting to show up!
The twins taught Josh all about getting candy. Check out how full those bags are!
Josh quickly caught on and soon was venturing almost too far into the road!
Dividing and trading the spoils
I always love it when I can get a grandparent picture in front of my dad's beautiful flowers!
Crazy face photo
One more!
After three nights in Lakeview, we drove up to Woodburn to spend the afternoon and evening with my sister's family before flying out the next morning. It was such a delightful time visiting together in their beautiful yard and listening to the kids play. It was a perfect ending of our trip! All the cousins have been wanting to have a sleepover for years now, so we finally did it! Everyone except baby Henry fell asleep in the living room together...and everyone was asleep before 10:45...a victory for sure! I wish I had taken some better pictures of our time, but truthfully by that final day, I was exhausted of traveling and picture taking!
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