Pacific City or bust!!!!!!

Well, here we are at the beginning of things this summer. (I'm learning...so what if everything is backwards chronologically!!!!!!) If you are looking for a gorgeous beach, fantastic beach houses and lots and lots and lots of sand then Pacific City Oregon is the place for you. We took my parents here when they came to visit us this summer. It was the perfect place to relax and enjoy their company. Fortunately we brought some warm clothes. I think that was pretty insightful for a bunch of Californians and Arizonans. It's so funny to think that at the same time we were bundled up on the beach our cousins were probably getting tan while playing in the waves down in California. So, we learned that playing in the water is a big No No. Chase and Emily still managed to get wet, but I don't think Katie and I even stuck in our big toe. I loved the view. My parents and Dave and I could play cards while watching out our wall of windows at the kids playing in the sand. We attempted to sled down the sand dunes (improperly equipped) but only managed to catapult our bodies down the dunes. I'm so glad we went on great vacations this year. Oh, Yeah!!! Three cheers for Tillamock ice cream on the way home!!!!! It's the best I've ever had!!!!!

Jackson Hole and Yellowstone

Here is the fam! At least half of us anyway. We were lucky enough to get to go with Liz (Dave's oldest sister) and her family to Jackson Hole this summer. I can't begin to tell you all the fun things that there were for us to do there. It's no wonder people vacation here for more than a week. Our five days were so packed with fun it took me almost a month to recover when we got home. Just being with family was awesome but then throw in all the great things we got to do and this vacation will go down in the books! We went river rafting, mountain biking, swimming, fishing, hiking, on animal safaris (lots of elk and bison), scenic driving, stage coach riding, imax watching (THX Marissa)and did very little sleeping! My personal favorite part was rafting down the Snake river!


We only had one real tragedy with all our adventure having. Chase got a fish hook stuck in his finger. Poor guy! He had three uncles pushing and pulling on it to no avail. Mom was busy trying not to pass out! After a quick trip to the local emergency room, some anesthetic and a pair of needle nose pliers all was better. Now he has a cool story to share with all his school buddies. He made a big poster of it for his class bulletin board. The theme was, "Here's what I did on my summer vacation." Hopefully he'll remember all the other things too!

There are so many great pictures!! Enjoy the slidshow!!!!!
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Long Beach Kit Festival

Our last trip of the summer was to head to the Washington coast with our friends the Flake family for the Long Beach kite festival. I have never seen so many kites in the sky at once. Seriously, I don't know how everybody was flying so many kites without getting their strings all tangled together. I loved all the color everywhere and seeing so many fun kite designs.

So here are my top ten:

10. Not taking the dog with us this time (see separate post).

9. Watching Ray Bethell fly three kites at a time, and not just having them up in the air, but doing stunts and tricks with them.

8. Staying in a hotel and not having to worry about the sand dunes forming on the floors and in the kids beds.

7. Just relaxing while watching individuals do kite ballets (choreographed routines preformed to music).

6. Learning how to play a new game "San Juan" (someday Eric I will beat you soundly!!!!!)

5. Watching the iquad revolution team. It was like watching synchronized swimming in the air.

4. Staying in a hotel with an indoor pool and a hot tub because folks it was cold!

3. All the Beautiful color and kites.

2. Not having to yell at my kids because they were having so much fun playing with friends that they didn't have time to be mean to each other!

1. Being with good friends.


For more pictures, click HERE