Crater Lake

Disclaimer:  Later in this post there are some bare bottoms....who could resist.  Someday Jack and Ewan will be embarassed by this photo!



Monday morning we left the mountains and headed to Crater Lake.  It was a scenic country road drive.  The landscape changed quickly once we got out of the forest and mountain areas.  We truly did not expect to see so many different types of geography/geology in one State, yet there it was.  Oregon is an exceptionally beautiful state.

After lunch we drove by the Lava Lands Visitor Center.  We stopped by, after all it was a great chance to stretch our legs and see the damage/remains of volcanoes.  We got out of the car and went to the bathroom.  We come out and low and behold run into my cousin and his family!  We knew they were headed to Crater Lake that day too, but what were the odds of running into them along the way?

We all went in the center and learned about the area.  Then we had time for a short hike, the most we could handle with all the boys anyway.  Plus my cousin and his family had to get to Crater Lake since they were still driving to Eugene that evening.

All the kids had so much fun hiking together.  Jack and Ewan really enjoy spending time with their older second cousins and Sean was excited to see Rachela again!

Beautiful hike with snow capped mountains in the background and

lava along the path!

Sean and Rachela enjoying a lift!

The gang having a good time together

We then headed to the Twin Crater Lakes.  We got out of the car and played around East Lake.  East Lake is one of the twin lakes that occupy part of the Newberry Crater or caldera in Central Oregon, United States. It is located in the Deschutes National Forest near the city of La Pine. The caldera was formed over 500,000 years ago from volcanic eruptions. East Lake's water comes from snow melt, rain fall, and hot springs only. The average depth is 67 feet (20 m), 180 feet (55 m) at the deepest point, and covers 1,044 acres (4.2 km²). East Lake is about 50 feet (15 m) higher in elevation and is to the east of its twin, Paulina Lake.  (from Wikipedia)  Like I said, lots of neat places to see in Oregon!!

Boys will be boys, throwing pebbles into the lake!

Jack and Ewan enjoying some splash time in the cold lake

My revenge after Jack and Ewan kept getting Sean and me wet.

That was some COLD water!!

It was finally time to finish the drive to Crater Lake.  It ended up being a long day in the car, but with several stops along the way I think we all managed relatively well.  The boys had their moments, but we all arrived alive and well.  The boys were asleep when we drove into the park, but we really wanted to get out and see that lake right away and play in the snow.  It was so exciting to see snow in late July and we knew the boys would want to play with it too.

We parked the car and that woke Jack up.  Josh took him out and I stayed in the car with Sean and Ewan.  After a little while I woke them, I could not wait any longer.  Sean did all right, Ewan was grumpy. 

Geography lesson:  Crater Lake is a caldera lake located in the south-central region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fills a nearly 2,148-foot (655 m) deep caldera^[1] that was formed around 7,700 (± 150) years ago^[2] by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. There are no rivers flowing into or out of the lake; the evaporation is compensated for by rain and snowfall at a rate such that the total amount of water is replaced every 250 years. (from Wikipedia)

Once again we ran into my cousin and his family at the gift shop in the park!!  With no further delay...pictures from Crater Lake!!

Jack throwing snow at me!

Sean eating snow!

Grumpy Ewan still waking up

View of Crater Lake National Park.  Notice the pole above the

stop sign...the snow gets this high!!!

Absolutely gorgeous blue lake

Ewan and Jack shared the sofa bed, my little lovebirds!

The motel had a nice swing set for the boys to play on.

We also enjoyed grilling out here.

Ready to hike to Plaikni Falls

My hikers!!

We saw lots of beautiful wildflowers along the way to the falls

and at the falls.

Boys being boys again, having to play in the water

One of the few shots of our family.

Here we are at Plaikni Falls

More wildflowers and the falls

Crater Lake and a view of Wizard Island

Jack and Ewan checking out the view

After our hike to the falls we found a spot to park on the side of the road and went off the beaten path.  We found a great "sledding" hill and took our picnic there.  We enjoyed some yummy food and wine and played in the snow.  Needless to say we had some cold and soggy bottoms (we did bring a change of jeans for everyone)!!

Jack sliding down a snowy hill

All the boys having fun!

Ewan sliding down the hill

Enjoying our picnic after playing in the snow

Jack and Ewan making yellow snow!!!

Sean eating snow (NOT THE YELLOW SNOW)

My rock climbers

One last chance in the snow on our way out of the park to the beach

Wizard Island again

As I said before, eat anything huckleberry you can get your hands on!!  Here is Sean with his huckleberry lollipop!!  We also had huckleberry yogurt at the hotel for breakfast.  YUMMY!!!





Our family adventure, not vacation (how can traveling with three kids be relaxing??), began EARLY on a Friday morning.  By early I mean that I woke up at 2:45AM.  We woke the boys around 3:15 and were out the door just after 3:30.  We drove up to the Charlotte airport.  Josh dropped me off, along with the three boys, two large suitcases, three car seats and three backpacks.  Talk about having my hands full!!

I managed to get all of us and our belongings into the doors to the airport and we sat by the check in.  The boys drank their milk and had muffins for breakfast.  In the meantime Josh parked the car and took the bus back to the airport.  We managed to check in with all our stuff.  I was happy to just survive this part of the trip.  Once we got rid of the car seats life was much easier!!

We managed to get through security without any problems.  We headed down to our gate, took the boys to the bathroom and it was already time to board the plane.  Things went smoothly.  We were in the last row (did they think WE would be trouble??!!) which was nice since it was right by the bathroom. 

Jack and Ewan sat next to each other, Josh in the seat across the aisle from them and I had the seat in front of Josh.  Sean switched between sitting with me and Josh.  They were all very excited to fly.  It was a smooth trip to Chicago.  We had a tight connection there but made it.  We arrived at the gate and boarding had already begun.

This leg of the trip was extremely pleasant since we flew first class.  So much more room for the boys to roam and to hold Sean.  More beverage service.  AND and actual meal.  We all had breakfast.  It is a good thing they served a meal too since all three boys ate their meal well, PLUS plenty of the snacks that I packed.  Jack and Ewan were quite thrilled to get Sprite since they normally do not get any sodas.

Jack and Ewan enjoying Sprite in first class

Sean living the first class life

We arrived safely in Portland late Friday morning.  We headed to baggage claim and waited for all our luggage.  Josh went to get the rental car while I got luggage.  Everything arrived, except one of the car seats was missing.  This would be a huge problem.  After waiting over fifteen minutes and watching everything go around but our missing car seat we headed to the service desk when suddenly our car seat decided to appear.  YEAH!!

So now came the fun part, getting three boys, four backpacks, two large suitcases and three car seats to the rental car.  I put one of the cars on my suitcase and Josh had the other two.  We barely managed it, but we did make it to the car.  When we arrived the the car, the boys did not understand why it was not their Toyota Prius!!  While Josh installed all the seats the boys played with the minivan.  So many new things to explore.  Sean loved "driving" the car, Jack discovered the TV.  Finally we were off and running.

We went to a lovely cafe in a residential neighborhood, thanks to the Food TV site (I cannot remember which show was there).  The food was delish.  The boys were a little cranky at times, but that is understandable given how long they had been awake and the time change.  After surviving the meal we were off to our cabin in Welches, near Mount Hood.

After a stop at the grocery store along the way and driving around the mountains a little we met Oma, Opa and Uncle Nick at the cabin check-in.  The boys were thrilled to see Oma, Opa and Uncle Nick.  We all checked in and settled into our cabins (we were neighbors).  It was cute to see the boys walk two doors down and check on Oma, Opa and Uncle Nick.

Friday evening we had the big 50th anniversary dinner for Aunt Kay and Uncle Fred.  It was so fun seeing the family all together again.  Dad and his four siblings were all there along with their kids (11 of the 12 cousins/grand kids were there) and some of our kids too (15 second cousins), plus a lot of Uncle Fred's family and several of their friends.  It was the most cousins we have ever had all together, just one missing because she had her first baby just a month ago.  The second cousins all got along and played together as if they had always known one another.

It was fun to catch up on all the family gossip and see relatives we had not seen since I was a child.  Josh met the last cousin he had not met yet.  We ate good food, drank well and socialized.  The kids played hard.  Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I do not have any photos from this night.  Hopefully I will get some pictures from everyone else soon, plus there was a photographer there to get the five of us together and all of us with Oma, Opa and Uncle Nick too.

Saturday we took a walk with the boys in the neighborhood near the cabin.  Later we followed Oma and Opa to a beautiful lavender farm.  After that Oma and Opa took the boys to an alpaca farm.  The boys saw a baby alpaca born just that morning!  They also drove around some of the Fruit Loop (the berries were all in season, strawberries, blueberries, marionberries, huckleberries, raspberries, black raspberries....we so LOVED all the fresh fruit while we were there).

Hiking near the cabins

Enjoying the cool weather for a hike

 

Sleepy Sean at the lavender farm

Hummingbird at the lavender farm

All my boys!!

Baby alpaca

Enjoying huckleberry milkshakes with Oma and Opa (Sean was asleep in the car)

FYI:  For those of you who have never been out West, you simply must have everything

huckleberry you can get in your mouth!!  ESPECIALLY the milkshakes.

Josh, Nick and I went to a winery and then to Hood River.  We went to a brewery and enjoyed some time on the river watching people wind surfing and kite  boarding.

Saturday evening there was another family dinner.  We had much fun again.  It was at one of the rental houses on a creek.  It was absolutely beautiful.  Sean had lots of fun hanging out with Rachela.  Jack and Ewan had too much fun playing with the older kids and getting dirty in the horseshoe pit. 

Five of my cousins near the kegs of home brewed beer!!

Sean and his new love (drinking ice, NOT home brew)!

Sean helping pitch a game of wiffle ball

The kids watching Kay and Fred's grand kids to a skit about their first date

Happy 50th Aunt Kay and Uncle Fred!!

 A musical performance by one of Kay and Fred's granddaughter

Sunday we had a family breakfast.  Then several of the guys headed to Portland for a beer fest.  Oma, the boys and I stayed at the cabins.  We had lunch and then went to Kay and Fred's house.  I did some laundry there and we had fun with the family.

That evening we cooked out at the cabins and had dinner with Oma, Opa and Uncle Nick.  Ewan spend the night in the bunk beds with Uncle Nick.  He was very excited!!

Jack waking up in the top bunk at the cabin

Monday morning we were off for another leg of our journey, Crater Lake.   More to come later....

We're Back!!

We just got home early this morning (thanks to a red-eye flight) from our family vacation in Oregon.  Fun was had by all, along with some stress.  Travel with young kids isn't exactly vacation for the parents!! 

Due to lack of sleep and over 800 pictures to sort through this is just a preview of the fun. 

Enjoying first class!!

Good times with Uncle Nick

Sean and his new best friend, second cousin Rachela

Second cousins hanging out, minus several of the teenagers

Fabulous scenery in Oregon, snow topped mountains and volcanic areas

Pals together again!

Waterfall hike at Crater Lake

The gorgeous Crater Lake

Fun sliding down the snow, BRRR!!

Cold and windy beaches, BRRRRR again!!!

Ice cream at Tillamook, YUMMY!!

Good times at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry

Goodies at Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland