Philip Foster Farm

One day we took a trip to an historic farm nearby - Philip Foster Farm.

Here we are in the parlor learning about life in the 1800s.

The kids got a chance to do laundry the old fashioned way - using a basin, bar of soap and a washboard.  I've never seen kids so excited to do laundry.

Owen and Grant sharing the washboard.

John puts his clothing through the ringer.

They also had life sized Lincoln Logs of different sizes to build large log cabins.

Everyone had a fun time with this and worked on various projects.

John in his little cabin

Karlee, Kelsie, Anna and Olivia in their cabin

Matthew and Jaron had a cabin with a larger footprint.

And Owen and Grant with their cabin

We also got to pack our wagon for the Oregon trail.  We had to decide two items to leave behind.  In true LDS fashion we left behind coffee and tea.  Then we were told what happened to us because we left them behind.  We suffered a little without the tea (for the treatment of different ailments) but still made it to Oregon.

Here we are with our wagon all packed.

Here we are climbing on the wagon.

Everyone took turns in the driver seat.

Matthew was upset

He and Jaron got a turn up front too.

They were trying to look somber.

Everyone got to grind an ear of corn

They put it in a machine to get the corn off the cob

Then ground the kernels into a meal

We got to lift all the kids up on this hay bail using the magic of pulleys.  

We saw that the two wheel pulley makes it easier to lift the load (physics!)

All the kids got a chance to ride.

Some of the adult muscle.  I helped too but took a picture for this one instead.

We had a lot of fun at the farm and learned a lot.

Later on at home the kids played in the sprinklers.

And us grown ups got to go out to dinner for Ma2's birthday.

Kallie (the oldest cousin) babysat.  Thanks Kallie!

More Oregon adventures to come.

Oaks Park

Here are a few pictures from our trip with the cousins to Oaks Park in Portland.  We had a lot of fun even though it was super hot.  Here are Grand and Owen on the big slide.  And here are a few other pics of our hot adventures.

Emma with her pink penguin that she got from a carnival game.

Emma had a lot of fun on these small kiddie rides.

She also loved the carousel.

Scott at the shooting gallery.

He's a great shot!

So much cotton candy.  It was 2 for 1 day for corn dogs, cotton candy and ride wristbands.

Here we are at the end of the day enjoying our cotton candy.

We had a lot of fun.

Emma had a fun day but she thought the cotton candy was too sticky.

And she may be right.  But we enjoyed it anyway.  Another great visit to Oaks Park!

It's the little things...

After our time at the beach house with the whole Guptill clan, we dispersed.  Scott's sister Angie was still in Oregon with her kids and so were we so we hung out a little bit.  And Scott's other two sister's were around some also.  One day we got Wendy's frosties.  They are only 50 cents a piece this summer.  So 11 frosties doesn't set you back too much.

We ate our desserts at a park near Scott's parent's house.

Then we threw rocks in the river.  One of my favorite things.

We went to Oregon City and Scott showed me this overlook of the falls.

Jaron and Matthew goofing around.

One day we went to visit the Portland Temple.  Scott and I were married there almost 12 years ago.

We went berry picking one day.  We started out hoping for raspberries but there weren't many left so we settled on boysenberries instead.  I LOVE boysenberries so I was very happy.  We picked a bunch and made two tasty berry cobblers with them.  So good!  Here's John picking some berries.

Emma wasn't happy about berry picking. We took all the beach buckets with us to hold berries and Emma thought that meant we were going to the beach.  She was cruelly disappointed and quite angry about it.  Poor Emma.

Post berry picking pic

We played in the yard at Great Grandma Guptill's house.  She has this awesome clown sprinkler with a hat that shoots into the air when the water is just right.  The kids had a lot of fun with it.

I came upon these three cousins goofing around in the back of Grandpa's truck.  I have three girl cousins about my age on my dad's side (and several about my age on my mom's side too) and I specifically remember goofing around with them in the back of my uncle's truck one summer.  I got my uncle's work boots stuck on my feet and needed lots of adult help to get them off.  He didn't even get mad at me.  I hope they were making good summer memories too.

Another day we went to this water play area in a nearby town.  

Everyone had so much fun playing there together.

It's nice to have such great cousin time and simple summer fun.

Oregon Coast - Part 4

Ahh vacation.  As I write this I am now back at home facing real life things.  My side of the family is having our first ever reunion of which I have found myself somewhat of an organizer.  I woke up early in the morning with reunion anxiety today.  I hope it all goes well.  Then there is Anna and John's birthdays which are both next week.  I told Anna she could have a friend birthday this year since she hasn't had one in a few years.  Friend birthday parties give me major anxiety.  I'm not a good party thrower and I'm struggling and stressing to come up with fun party ideas for 9 (and thereabouts) year old girls.  Then there is the eclipse (which we are considering traveling back to Oregon for).  The kids first day of school is two days before the eclipse otherwise I would just drive there from our family reunion in Idaho.  And I just found out I need a root canal.  Gaaaaah!!   Please can I go back on vacation?  This is what the end of summer feels like right now.  Maybe I can relax and enjoy it a little.

We had a great time at the beach house but soon enough our time was up and we packed up and headed off.  There we are (top picture) on the front steps of the house just before leaving.  The house was so much fun!

Scott's sister organized a little egg hunt for the kids before we left.

Here's Emma searching for eggs.  She's not quick but getting the hang of it.

Here are all the Guptill side grandchildren.

Upper left is Matthew and Jaron (aka the "package deal"), Kallie (oldest grandchild and going to be a HS senior this year), Anna and Karlee (buddies both going into 4th grade) and Grant and Owen (also little buddies on this trip).

Lower left is Benjamin (currently 2nd youngest), Emma looking mad, Kelsie (who Anna also enjoyed playing with a lot), John (a sometimes buddy to Owen and Grant and a big fan of Karlee's) and Norah (just over 1 year old who Emma still calls "Baby Norah") and Olivia (also Anna's buddy).

Phew!

After leaving the house we checked out the lighthouse at Yaquina Head.

They have a nice visitor center.

Checking out the lighthouse.

We had a little picnic in the parking lot.

And then went down to the tide pools

There were a lot of cool creatures to see

Here is John looking at some things with Scott.

This was right before John fell in the water to about waist deep.  He was ok and we think no creatures were harmed but he didn't want to check out the tide pools anymore after that.

We walked back up by the lighthouse to dry off

We could see lots of seals that day too

After leaving the lighthouse we headed north to Tillamook.  Tillamook was nowhere near our beach house but we went anyway.  Because free cheese.  And (not free) ice cream.

The Tillamook Cheese Factory visitor center is closed for renovation.  They currently have a temporary facility set up.

We were still able to get cheese and ice cream but I'll be interested to see their new visitor's center once its completed.