Oregon

The girls and I along with Aunt Sissy and Grandma and Grandpa took a trip to Oregon, July 5th to July 11th. It was a refreshing little getaway... the weather was outstanding and the girls had lots of fun seeing things they they don't get to see too much around here... like trees! :) Grandpa grew up in Oakridge OR and we still have lots of family there.

The girls with Grandpa and Great-Grandma Simon
We spent several relaxing afternoons in the front yard of Aunt Celia and Uncle Gene's home. The girls loved going to "Aunt Zelia's"... they had a lots of toys and cousins to play with there! Here they are pictured with their baby Annie!
My cousins Susan and Jackie were so kind to come visit with us often. Sadly, I didn't have my camera handy during the brief visits from my other cousins, Ashley, Milissa and Nick and Aunt Sandy and Uncle Brad... but is was definitely great to see them all!
Emily and Megan with Susan's children, Ciara and Austin, and Jackie's son, Troy, playing on the playground where we were having a picnic dinner.
There must be 30 parks with playgrounds in McKinney... but not one of them has a view like the 1 park in Oakridge!

The girls and I enjoying the view from inside a covered bridge.

Westfir Covered Bridge

Feeding the beautiful rainbow trout with Grandpa at the fish hatchery.

In the cage Megan is running from lives a turkey that would only "gobble" for Megan... and not for the rest of us. Anytime she would walk over to him he "gobbled"... which startled her so she would scream and run away. :)

Emily and Megan with Grandma and Grandpa

The girls and I in front of Salmon Creek Falls... not exactly the easiest falls to get to... alot of sliding downhill in the dirt on your bottom... well at least that's the safest way for we morons wearing non-traction flip-flops and Crocs! :) Anwyway, the view was well worth the dirty slide down.

The girls had a great time trowing rocks. I stood in the water, ankle deep, and it only took a minute for my feet to become numb... it was icy cold!

Diamond Peak

The girls at Salt Creek Falls

Stunning!

The girls with Aunt Sissy

Here's an interesting sign we spotted on our drive to Crater Lake. (hee hee) It was too funny not to take a picture! Maybe I'll send it to David Letterman! :)

When we arrived at Crater Lake National Park we discovered there was still quite a bit of snow that had not yet melted from winter.

It was probably 85 degrees that afternoon so it was quite a experience for the girls to play with snow and not have to be bundled up!

Snow Ball Fight!

Cater Lake is absolutely majestic! One of the perks here is that it's impossible to take a bad picture...

When I was a kid, the most exciting part of visiting Crater Lake was that the place was swarming with chipmunks and cute fluffy birds that would come up and eat from your hand. Today we were visited by one lone chipmunk to share our crackers with.

What do you think the girls named him... Alvin, of course!

Mount Hood

Both girls and I had a great time and were not ready to go home when the week ended. Hopefully, we will get to visit again sometime soon in the next couple of years. Thanks to everyone that made us feel so welcomed and comfortable during our stay... we love you!