Day 3, spelunking

Day 3 was a huge high for me.  I was looking forward to it the most out of the entire trip.  To bad I didn't Google some more details on supplies.  The low was non-preparedness.  Day 3 we woke to you guessed it rain!  That didn't stop us though.  We loaded the van with Doyles and Thames and headed to the Ape C

 

Prior to our trip I had Samantha Google spelunking(cave exploring) and decide if we could get away with saying that was what we were doing.  At first she was skeptical.  The Ape Caves are really lava tubes(cool beans right?), but soon she found other people taking about spelunking in the Ape Caves. When we arrived it was wet!  I had the kids head under some shelter to try and stay dry. Turns out that the chipmunks were more interesting than staying dry.

Once we were all ready we headed to the opening of the caves.  It was at this point I wondered if the kiddos were really going to be able to do this.

Down the stairs they went.

Into the darkness(lack of planning equaled lack of light) and then the fear kicked in.

I will not go down were Kellina's words.  I reassured her I would stay right by her the entire time.  By the time it was over she was no where near me.

Samantha had really been looking forward to this.

When we arrived she was talking about the next time we come back.  When asked her favorite part after she asked if leaving the cave and getting back in the van counted.

She got really wet, but no worries she started talking about going again with our the littles up the harder part of the cave.

 I LOVED the entire experience.  I would also LOVE to go back and do the harder part.

After a cold, wet day in a cave we ended the night with a camp fire.

I got some pretty pictures

and missed some amazing shots of the woods during a walk Merriann and I went on.  I also learned the game chubby bunny.  It involves marshmallows and the ability to stuff ones mouth.  I was awful at it, but it was fun.

Day 2, in which I turn 32

So day two we awoke with a new sense of excitement, a new spring in our step, a new age!!  Okay, not all of those may be true for all of those who woke up to rain, but I did wake up a new age.  32 on the 23rd.  It was a big high for me.  The low, you guessed it, RAIN.  My big birthday plans to go to the zoo were thrown out the window and new plans for the Portland Children's Museum took shape.  I was still excited because I have never been to Oregon!  Can you believe it.  32 years and never been down that way. 

This was the view from the bridge.  Don't know if I have mentioned it before, but I LOVE TRAINS!!

The kiddos really enjoyed the museum and it was pretty cool. 

They had an entire room for water play. 

A face painting area.  That I really got into.

A tree house.

The classic set up of tubes that suck up balls and take them through a maze of tubes above you before coming back.

And so much more that I didn't take any photos of!!  After our outing we headed back to camp.  Before we hit camp though, we hit a Fred Myers and got some birthday dessert!  We enjoyed an evening of games while the kids enjoyed a movie.  It was a very good second day.  Wait that might have been the day I saw a herd of elk.  No one in the car believed me and the men folk teased me for ever.  Like the entire trip!!!  Oh well, I saw them and it was cool.  It may have been a different day because teasing the birthday girl should be an off limits thing!! Stay tuned to learn all about my most favorite part of our trip, the Ape Caves.

The highs, lows, and everything in between.

That is what I plan to share with you over the next several days.  We just got back from a camping trip at Mt. St. Helens and instead of trying to stuff all that we did into on post I plan to stretch it out.  For your viewing pleasure and my blogging pleasure.  Since I am the type to get the bad out of the way I will start with the biggest low.  IT RAINED!!  Good thing I am a hearty northwestern gal, raising hearty northwest children.  And, oh yeah, our good friends loaned us a trailer.  Which would be a major high!!  Not only that, but our other friends loaned us their van so we could tow a trailer!! Pretty darn amazing!

So, lets begin with our first day.  It was travel day.  We finished any last minute loading.  That includes kiddos.....

and hit the road.  It is about a five hour drive and to say that I was nervous our kids might kill each other or cause me to have a break down is an understatement.  You see we are blessed with a DVD player in our van.  Eight hour drive, no problem, pop in a few movies and you are there.  The van we borrowed had a tape deck!!!  But you know what, THEY DID GREAT!!  And when we arrived to this.

They still did great.  They were excited to be eating Subway

and be visiting a volcano.

And if that wasn't enough.  They had Isaiah to brighten the mood.

That is not to say that as soon as the trailer was ready they weren't swarming around the heat source.  Which again was a major high!

Then it was time for bed to rest up for our first real day of camp.  So stay tuned and learn where our adventures lead us. 

Incredible eyes

I am a sucker for incredible eyes.  I don't care if you are male, female, young or old.  Incredible eyes always make me so happy!  They also beg to be in a photo.  This weekend I met a young man with those kind of eyes.  The incredible, take my picture, and share with the world kind of eyes.  And Jen, I did it, I learned how to edit them in Photoshop Elements!  Here for your viewing pleasure, Jacob and his incredible eyes!

If you didn't notice, please let me point out, his eyes are brown and blue!!  I thought having eyes that were two different colors, one bluer, one greener was cool. 

This kid has brown and blue in one eye!!  It may be because one day the will be plain old brown, but for now they are INCREDIBLE!!!

Say hello...

to little Calvin or Kalvin?!

 And big brother Kaden.

 And to big brother Caleb.