Some traditions...

Some traditions just stink! Like cleaning the dishes after Thanksgiving dinner. You love to eat, and you know dessert is coming, but the work ahead of you makes you think twice about it all.
I feel this way about our vacations. I love vacation, who doesn't? I love the sunshine more than anything.. but it is not just the laundry that I get anxiety about. It is making our videos after. Now... let me clear things up, I love the vacation part, and I love the end result of having our fun times documented in a way that my children love to sit and watch ad nauseum. But the work that goes into making one of these videos brings out the worst in me. Language is muttered that would make my mother wash my mouth out. Sighs that are so audible that I sound more like a semi-truck with those Jake Brakes.

When I finished up the final piece last night, my sighs turned their tune, and the language I was using sounded like a sweet song bird.

I am so pleased to post the video of my families vacation at
Black Butte Ranch we had in September.

Fright Night

Some costumes are better than others. Let's take a look here and assess the damages.

Trenton aka Obi Wan Kenobi.
(He has a lightsaber, several layers that are brownish colored, a hoodies/draping cloth to cover his head.)

Simon aka Skervy Dogg, aka Pirate.
(He has the bandana, hook, treasure, sword, hat, necklaces, belt, and pants.)

Emile... aka Mauled Safari guy.
(He has the hat, binoculars, machete, cargo shorts, high socks and animals hanging from him as if he had been ....mauled?)

Raina aka Witch.
(Hat, necklace, striped socks and pointy shoes.)

Maybe next year we will all get on the same page and actually have a theme. There are no awards given here.
Happy Halloween!

Texas

I love the picture above! Would you ever guess we are in Texas?
We paddle boarded everyday and played at the beach in between.

Below is Trenton fishing. Lee and Sarah knew just what to get Trenton for his birthday and got him his very own fishing pole. It is not the one in the picture... but Trenton fished morning, noon and night with his new pole (so did Emile). The fish were HUGE and took real work to reel in at times. You can see more fishing pictures here.

Lee had a kayak for the kids and I'm pretty sure the kids thought they had really hit the jack pot!

They set sail... for a short time anyways. Doesn't the boat look beautiful!

Trenton surfed like a rockstar! This picture doesn't do it justice. He is so amazing!

We had yummy smoothies on the pier and found some delicious food on the island!

Simon surfed (aka body boarded). He isn't as thrilled about getting his head wet, but the warm water and peer pressure gave him a boost of confidence I have not yet seen out of him.

Sarah was sick for some of our time together so when she felt well enough she joined us on the boards and I am certain she had the kids laughing harder than I have heard them in a long time. They loved playing off the dock with her!

Emile and Lee.
Brothers?

It is kinda hard leaving this place when we know that we won't get to see Lee and Sarah anytime soon. The weather, water and fun is hard to leave as well when we know Portland is looking chilly from now until June.

Black Butte Ranch

We went to Black Butte Ranch in September! I can't believe I haven't been blogging very well.

We had so much fun while we were there. We were with family and it is such a beautiful place. The only bad thing is that the time went too fast. Everything else was perfect.

We climbed Black Butte, played games, ate great food, swam, tried to ride bikes.. and here is just a taste of what we did. I'll make a video to follow soon.

This is the classic Head of the Metolius. You can't miss this!

The Metolius looked even better with all the cousins together!
They were actually pretty good little tennis players

Emile is looking quite stealth here.

A little baseball

Beads and necklaces

Painting birdhouses...
Our Minute to Win it game night. Emile had the shot of the night throwing a card into this watermelon!

Climbed to the top of Black Butte. This was harder on the kids than I thought it would be. They felt very proud of themselves when they could see their victory!

Here is Black Butte right over their heads.

Can't wait till we go back again! Thanks Mom and Dad for such a great weekend!