Oregon Trail

We just returned from our yearly trip out to Cottage Grove, Oregon to visit Sam's grandmother. We went out with Sam's parents. We spent a week out there picking blackberries, visiting family and flying kites at the coast. It was fun to introduce Lily to Grandma Spady. Lily even favored Grandma by taking her first steps while we were out there. Sarah got spoiled by Grandma as usual. Grandma stocks up on crayons, fun little notepads, stickers and all kinds of little toys. Sarah spent most of her time playing with a little bottle of bubbles in the shape of a bunny. She took it everywhere we went. Driving in the car, we would suddenly have bubbles floating in front of our faces. The girls traveled pretty well, but by the last day driving home they were more than ready to be out of the car. Vacations are fun, but it's good to be home.

Here are just a few pictures of over a thousand that we took while we were out there. That's right, over a thousand pictures. So, I realize that this post is heavy on pictures, but it could be worse.

Lily adored Grandma Spady.

Sarah and Lily exploring Grandma Spady's backyard.

We found this great little park with a river running next to it. Everyone had a lot of fun playing in the water and skipping rocks.

Grandpa Hacking was a great sport and kept Lily occupied. She loved playing with sticks and chewing on river rocks. Thats one way to cut teeth.

Thank goodness grandpa had a strong grip.

On the way home from the park, we stopped and picked blackberries. Lily tried them for the first time and it was all I could do to keep up with her.

The next day we went out to the coast. Lily loved the feel of the sand. She also wouldn't stop putting it in her mouth. Between her new found love of blackberries and her penchant for eating sand, we changed some great diapers in the following days.

Grandma Spady gives us seashells to "plant" on the beach for Sarah to find. She's going to think that finding shells is always that easy.

Grandma and Grandpa going for a walk on the beach.

We went to the Wildlife Safari in Winston the next day. It is a drive through wild animal park. We saw all kinds of animals wandering around different enclosures. It was a lot of fun. Animals were crossing the road in front of and behind our car.

We watched this brown bear swim around for awhile.

Lily and Dad and Grandma Hacking were outside in the backyard enjoying some wonderful Oregon rain.

We say goodbye to Grandma Spady for another year.