Beat the heat!

Well, this has been a heat wave of a week! In the hundreds most of the week and boy was it miserable...to escape the heat we went to Pacific City for the night this past Monday.....what a great, short trip!....of course we were with Gretchen and Jeff and their kids. We go to the coast and it was cooool 75 degrees and sunny. Gretchy hooked us up with sweet hike to start things off....the kids loved it! That is the great thing about our kids, they love the outdoors and attack hikes with such excitement. Julia, Michael and La took off with Uncle Jeff and ran the first 2 miles to the coast...I was left to stroll with Gretch, Cammy, Ruby, Harrison, Max and Jackson. What a great start to the trip! It was very cool underneath the shade of the Oregon coast forest.

Max even found a snake!


When we finally got to the bluff, the scenery of the cliffs and ocean were breathtaking...we had been here about 15 years earlier (this exact place)...no kids were involved then....and the beauty was still there...truly stuck in time.

After the 4 plus mile hike we went straight to check into our campsite....then it was off to dunes! Our kids love this place so much...they never seem to tire of climbing this huge dune and finding the hole of a fort they call their own....Hobbitville. It is there play imagination and pretend they are hidden from the world...these guys really know how to have fun! On one of the sides of the dune there are about 4 foot drops where the kids show off their skills in catching some air. Even Harrison got into the act...these kids are fearless!

After reclaiming the fort and jumping they then headed straight to the ocean to cool off. The weather had to be the best weather that I can ever remember for Oregon...hot, but not to hot and no wind...a rarity, if you are from Oregon...you know what I mean...you can lose some serious skin from being sand blasted if you show up on the wrong day at the Oregon coast...Now back to the water games...the kids love playing chicken with the waves...running to and fro trying to steer clear of the little waves as they came in and out....Uncle Jeff help Max and Jelly find some cool starfish….they felt pretty cool as everyone that past wanted to take their pictures. (for those people that are worried about all living things, these starfish were not harmed and were set free within the hour..).
While all of this was happening Cammy and Gretch lounged on the beach like two house cats...some things never change! They were happy though and that is all the matters in this world....right?

Then at night we fired up the pit to roast some good'ol marshmallows and hotdogs..You are never too old for a s'more!
Thanks to the Grubbe's we sleep like kings....all in all we had a blast!...and many memories were had...as we traveled home that next day within 10 minutes of heading inland the temperature rose to 110! Crazy heat!...I do not know how you guys in AZ handle this type heat all of time.
Until next time Cape Kiwanda! We love you!

Flying High Again!

Ok, Ok...this is my first blog entry of my life and am I nervous…(Cammy has done all the entries to date..Thanks Cammy!)..well, here goes nothing....

What is up with kids and their constant need for flying through the air! Always higher, always faster....I can attest that when I was a kid there was never a tree that I did not climb or a latter that was not conquered. Mix that with water below and that makes for a great, fun time! I remember jumping off barges, bridges, fire trucks that were on bridges (that is a long, but good story) and having a rope swing that would launch you 30 feet into the air before you let go and plummet into the Willamette river....of course there were no adults around for these amazing feats of courage (or stupidity)….these memories though have come flooding back to me as I have watched my own kids push their limits for the need to go higher, and higher to find or feel that feeling of flying through the air. It all started in the pool at Black Butte where I would throw them over and over again as little kids in the air and they would splash into the water and then they would beg for more. Then it was onto the ski boat tower where they would climb to the top rung and jump off, over and over and over, always smiling and laughing. Even Harrison gets into the mix...scary to think he is only four and has no fear of jumping 10 feet into the Willamette.

I am glad to say that they have a good sense about them and I do not see them jumping off any bridges anytime soon, like some other clowns I know (one being myself).....knock on wood! But when there are no boats to be climbed, good old Uncle Jeff will have to do...This past week while at Black Butte (we disappear there during the summers for weeks at a time) we found a perfect spot at Suttle Lake that had an old tree that had fallen out into the water and was perfect launching pad to jump into the water. Then Uncle Jeff got into the mix and kids where flying everywhere!…Thanks Uncle Jeffy for the great time!

Here is Team Smith and Team Dean hanging out at Suttle Lake.

This is trouble waiting to happen!

Little Michael is flying! (with a little help)

Michael and the rest must have done this jump a hundred times this day.....

It never got old to them....

Of course Jeff had to show off his skills....no rope swings though!

Jelly had the best flight of the day!

Max got up too! He was so heavy Jeff almost fell off the log trying to get him up....

Beautiful!

Is this my baby?

I can not believe how gorgeous Julia is. She is only 12 but I think she is so beautiful. The best part about her is she is gorgeous on the inside also. She loves to read and be with her cousins. She is so kind to all her friends and spends her time at home trying to make Harrison kiss her. I really do not believe Mike and I deserve her but we will take her anyways!

Allergie Attack

We almost died trying to get these pictures. Mandi had us hike to this fence through a field of who know what. Mikey and I had hives all over and could not breath by the time we were done. All for a picture!

Family Pictures

Mandi took some family pictures while she was in town. It is always so much work to get everyone dressed and smiling but she did a great job.

Cruise

When Mandi is in town it is always a party. We cruised up the river to see the Columbia. It was gorgeous!

Parade

4th of July parade. We followed a fire truck around the neighborhood to Harrison and William's delight.

the show that never ends.

This year was the first year we were not at Black Butte for the 4th in about 10 years. We were lucky enough to be invited to our friends the Collin's house to watch the fireworks on the river. The show was amazing and Jeff and Mike of course made fun of it the entire time. They can not just watch something without making obnoxious comments. We blocked them out and loved it!

Surfing the river

This is what surfing should look like.