Family Reunion

We drove to Vancouver, WA (across the river from Portland) to my sister's house on August 1. We had a family reunion scheduled the 2nd week of August but I decided if we were making the LONG drive that I wanted to stay for two full weeks. Allen flew home the next morning so he could spend the week working.

The first week was full of a lot of hanging out for the kids. My kids absolutely adore all of their cousins and they had a fabulous time getting to spend so much time with their Baldwin cousins over two weeks. The weather was up and down during the time we were there (welcome to the PNW, right?) but it didn't stop the kids from swimming the pool every day (in 60 degree weather a couple times).

Mason also taught them that if you put dish soap on the trampoline with a bit of water, you get LOTS of bubbles. They went through and entire bottle of soap over a few days doing this.

We were able to celebrate Maddie's 5th birthday with a fun ice cream themed party. Unfortunately she was sick on her bday but we were happy to celebrate with her anyway.

The kids had LOTS of late nights:


Lots of craft projects (completely organized by the older kids - loved it!):

Tons of yummy treats (and food):


Dress up and pretend play (my little nieces were so good about playing with the younger kids. I loved hearing them direct them in "Little house on the Prairie" and school)

On one of the warm days we went and played in the Hood river for the day. The kids had a ball swimming, digging in the sand and having mud wars. We were hoping to squeeze in one more river day but the weather never really cooperated again.
My sister and I were able to squeeze in a Girls Night Out too. We had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, shopped for a couple of hours and then saw the Broadway production of South Pacific in downtown Portland one night. It was so much fun getting to spend a few child free hours together.

There was also a lot of pickup basketball played, walks with blackberry picking (yum!), video game playing (by the boys) and going to the movies.

The second week, the rest of my family joined in the fun. Allen flew back on Saturday morning. My mom and dad drove up with Parker and Bailey and then Teresa, Steve and Christina flew up a couple days later.

The first day we were together we drove up to Mount St. Helen's for the day. The drive was absolutely gorgeous and we loved learning about the volcano and the day it erupted in 1980. Unfortunately, it was totally cloudy and we were unable to see the volcano at all. It was a bummer but we just had to laugh about it (like I said, welcome to the PNW!). We had a picnic lunch in the balmy 50 degree weather and then headed back home.

That afternoon the kids filled up a bunch of water balloons for a water fight and we came out to find the girls looking like this:
It was too funny to not take a picture of!

We headed off to the beach for a few days and had the best time. We stayed in this same beach house 5 years ago (I was pregnant with Makenna at the time!) and we were excited to stay there again. The house is right on the water and is big enough to accommodate us all. On the way to the beach we made a stop in downtown Portland to go to Voodoo donuts. It's a very famous shop that has been featured on lots of Food Network shows and boasts being on the top 10 best donut list for the country. We waited for an hour in line just to get in the store. We were a bit skeptical while standing in line but they were the YUMMIEST donuts ever. They had a huge variety and our favorite was the maple donut with bacon on top. I know it sounds disgusting but it was SO good. We also had a bubblegum donut (makenna), an M&M donut (carter), a mango donut, a peanut butter/oreo donut and a couple others. They were so good!



Our trips to the OR coast always include the same activities. Trips to the tidepools:

Sitting in the hot tub:

Then running down to the beach and jumping in the FREEZING water:

And then running back to the hot tub. Addie was not too happy about being left standing on the beach while everyone jumped in. The water was about 52 degrees on this day and I could barely stand to get my feet wet, let alone jump in. Of course Allen had to get in on the fun as he feels he always has to get in ocean when he has the opportunity (crazy!)

There was lots of game playing:

Spoiling of Addie (who was beloved by everyone and fought over by the cousins):

My mom brought lots of craft projects that kept the kids occupied for hours at time. We took walks on the beach and had fun finding sea creatures everywhere.

On the way home from the beach we always stop at Tillamook cheese factory for the tour, cheese sampling and their amazing ice cream:

(Carter's interesting outfit is due to the fact that he jumped in the ocean full clothed right before we were leaving. I was completely out of clothes for him so he wore dirty jeans and a pj top for the rest of the day. I was not too amused at the time but it was actually funny).

The day after returning from the beach we made the epic 24 hour drive home in just two days. It was pretty brutal and I'm not sure we've ever been more tired in our lives. We had to make it home in order to start school the following morning. The kids actually missed the first week of school so we were pretty desperate to make it home in time for the 2nd week.

We had a wonderful time being together with my family. A special thanks to the Jackson's for hosting our big group and to my mom and dad for all their organization of the events.