Monday, June 14, 2010

what we did on our summer vacation



We decided a long time ago that May is the best time for a homeschooling family to have a "summer" vacation. We love the lack of crowds and really summer is the most fun time to play at home when you live in the pacific northwest.


However, our week in Bend made us re-think this opinion. It rained almost every day we were there, the indoor pool was not open for the first couple of days we were there, the go-kart place was only open on the weekend and almost all of our fun-things-to-do list included outdoor activities. But we had fun anyway, how can you not while on vacation with your favorite people!


Highlights include: a super long bike ride (our first time with Justus & Ava in the trailer behind Mike's bike), hiking (our first time with all five kids), enjoying some time with our Aunt Sarah and cousin Keegan, relishing time with our grandma and papa (why do we not have any pictures of them?!), racquetball & other sports, and swimming in the pool as much as we possibly could.

(A few pictures of sweet Keegan and Sarah)

One of the hikes we did was a couple miles down into the earth via a lava tunnel. It was pretty neat to use the lanterns to see where we were going and to hike into a cave like that. (Oh and there is Grandma & Papa!)


This was taken at the end of the lava tube, about a mile into the earth.



We went geocaching and this was what Ava choose to take out of the box.



Hilariously, one activity which was enjoyed by all (especially Sarah and Papa but no pictures of them) was seeing how long one could hold an L-sit on the parallettes. Good times.


One last thing to share. We made it home from our 8 hour drive (not including many stops) late Friday night. After putting the kids to bed, Mike and I began to unload the car. All of a sudden a big, wet (it was raining), dog came up the driveway and followed us right into the garage. We chased him out of the garage and he went straight into the backseat of the car. He sampled each and every seat of our car a-la-Goldilocks and would not get out no matter how firmly we prodded, pleaded and cajoled. It was comical at first. But by the end I was pretty ticked at the wet, stinky, (at least two of us are allergic to) dog and the hair that he was getting everywhere. Once he had sullied the entire car he ambled out and headed for our house (we are convinced he would have headed straight to our bed had we not locked him out). We never found out his origin nor have we heard from him again. Pretty funny cap on a great week away.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great vacation pics, you guys! It's neat to see you and your sis and your folks and all the kids in one pic. Love the cave shots, too.

About the crazy dog...you aren't alone, the same thing happened to us, except the wet and dirty dog DID get into our house and make an absolute mess of our basement. I have to smile just a little when I see this happen to someone else....YUCK!!!

Stacy said...

Seriously? The DOG? That's hilarious. How random.

And ew.

Great pictures. :)

Timmy said...

Great pics. Thanks for sharing them. Happy to see Amy's parents! I don't know that I've personally seen them since the wedding! Prolly have, but I can't remember. Didn't Nick wear ladies undies... wait, that wasn't him. Sorry. I digress.

Al said...

looks like you guys had a great time! We have a similar dog story from when our kids were the same ages as yours... (probably not the same dog though...)

Unknown said...

You always make me laugh out loud, I thank you for that! I like dogs (not wet ones) to clean out our car, much easier than vaccumming! Looks like a great time. I love all the photos of Justus in the Ergo.

amy said...

That is so crazy that the dog situation has happened to so many of us! Who knew?

Rebecca M said...

What a fun hike underground, guys! I love the picture of so many of you gathered around your lanterns in the dark. Fun family memories!

amy said...

Rebecca, we did have fun but we missed you guys for sure! I think we've been spoiled being able to play with you guys while on vacation so many times!