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!
Here Kitty-Kitty!
After a few more yoga classes this shouldn't be too difficult... right???
Elephants are always fun to see!
Our cute little clowns!
I have 3 faves that I hoped he would perform... Covered in Rain, Good Love is on the Way, and In Repair. He performed none of these last year but last night he did perform Good Love is on the Way! It was a little overwhelming for me to hear live! 
He thanked the audience over and over... and his appreciation actually felt pretty sincere.
My video clips were too large to post on this blog so I uploaded them to YouTube. They are not that great but if you want to take a peek, here are the links...
He ended the show with Gravity... AMAZING! Here is a great video of it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJqIuLGj5T8&NR=1
"Keep me where the light is..."
Every time he looked in our direction, I completely freaked out and snapped a picture without waiting for the camera to focus. :(
Gosh, I miss that hair! :(
Megan actually took to it pretty well and wanted to do it on her own, but at the same time didn't want me to skate too far from her.
Emily is fairly athletic and learns things quickly, but on skates the poor girl was a disaster on wheels! She's never reminded me of her father more than she did today... tall, lanky and with a seeming long way to fall. She spent a majority of the day on her bottom or hanging on the wall. I helped her as much as I could, but I have to admit, I was pretty afraid she was going to take me down with her!
When we first arrived at the rink it was pretty crowded with several camp groups. Once they all left it was pretty open and the girls felt a little more comfortable... we were even able to get Emily off of the wall a few times!
For me, I can remember spending entire summers on skates... I've not been skating in years and it felt great to be able to do it again. There were a few times when I encouraged the girls to sit and take a break, just so I could skate at my own speed. I'm seriously thinking of visiting the rink again soon without kids... it might make for an interesting Girl's Night Out! :)
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!
