More Oregon Fun

After the wedding festivities, things settled down a little bit and we were able to enjoy the Oregon coast. We were staying in Newport, which is 3 hours south of Portland, in a large home that accommodated all of us under one roof. It was the perfect arrangement!

Before the newlyweds left on their honeymoon, Uncle Aaron took a swing at a pinata

 . . . and successfully smashed it to smitherines.

 Much to the sugary delight of all the kids--big and little--candy was everywhere!

 One of the highlights of our stay in Oregon was a visit to none other than . . . 

a cheese factory!

This little guy was in absolute heaven.

 Once he knew what was upstairs, there was no holding him back.

 Look at that delight at all of those blocks of cheese! We were at the Tillamook cheese factory in Tillamook, Oregon. I have a new appreciation now for all of the Tillamook dairy products we see in the grocery store.

 After we finished watching the assembly line, Nana quickly made a buddy out of our cheese-loving boy. David went through the sample line at least three times with different adults. He was in pure heaven. And just for the record, my favorite cheese was Black Pepper in smoked cheddar. We bought the "end cuts" in the retail store, and we wish we had brought back a whole stash and  not just a small little package.

 We couldn't get enough of this place. We also enjoyed their ice cream while we were there--yummy!

 While we were in Oregon, we also celebrated a birthday.

 Here is the birthday boy and the birthday boy wannabe. I'll let you guess who is who.

 I forgot to take candles for the cake, so the birthday cake experience seemed a little dull until someone suggested that Sam take a bite out of it.

Monkey see, monkey do.

 This looks like David is stuffing cake in his Daddy's face, but really he is wiping it off with a napkin.
He kept saying, "Hold still. I'm wiping your face."

Portland--Wedding

One beautiful June day in Portland we were at the temple for Sam's youngest brother, Aaron, to attend the marriage to his darling bride, Kristina. It was a beautiful day and a very special occasion!

 And some of this from the newlyweds:

 But David didn't let them have all the fun--he got in on some of it, too.

Keeping track of David on the temple grounds was a little like tacking jello to a tree.

 We bribed him with cheese sticks.

 And took him on walks.

 This boy was in motion for the entire day.

 And he was absolutely thrilled about it.

 Occasionally we caught up with him, but it took the entire family to keep track of the little guy--including Uncle Hanson, Maggie, Pappy, Nana, and well, just about everyone else, too.

After the ceremony and pictures, we left the temple grounds to attend a dinner in honor of the new Mr. and Mrs. A formal dinner, of course, required more holding still. Every 15 minutes or so, David and I would walk around the hotel lobby and ride the elevator to mix things up a little. The ride was especially fun in this glass elevator.

 A week prior to his wedding, Aaron graduated from the US Naval Academy--so at his wedding dinner, they were greeted with military honors.

 Kevin and Carie weren't letting them pass until they were satisfied with the couple's kiss.

 Speaking of Kevin and Carie--they were wonderful! They helped chase David around, and I'm not sure that David ever found out that they are actually family friends (he referred to them as Aunt and Uncle, along with the other family members he met while we were at the wedding.) As far as David was concerned, they were as good as gold.

The brothers took their last chance to impart words of wisdom to Aaron.

 And one last picture of the siblings.

 It was a beautiful occasion, and we were so happy to be part of it!

Congratulations, Aaron and Kristina.

Camping in Denali National Park

 Leading in to Memorial Day Weekend, my parents came to Alaska to tour the state and visit us. We only had five days with them before we flew out to Oregon for a family wedding, but that's how the deals and tickets rolled on this trip. 

David was absolutely thrilled for this "vacation" as he kept calling it. 

He was especially excited about riding in the RV.

And he was elated to have Daddy's (mostly) undivided attention. (We're still trying to readjust to Daddy's work schedule returning since we've come home.)

 We headed up to Denali National Park and found a gorgeous campsite with just enough roaming space for a little boy in brown boots. By "camping" I mean sharing and RV with our little family, my parents, and my 16-year old sister. It was camping in style--and sure beat going up to Denali in the Corolla.

Of course we had to have a campfire for an evening. Here is Grandma helping David stay a safe distance from the fire. Throwing pine cones into the fire was a much better alternative than the rocks that he originally wanted to add to the fire ring.

Daddy taught David how to roast a marshmallow.

As it turns out, teaching a 2-year old to safely poke a stick into a fire is a lot more stressful than you'd think.

But in the end, David was happy with the result. The funny thing was that he carried the s'more around and didn't hardly even nibble at it. Apparently the fun is in making it, and our little guy thinks eating it is overrated.

We were in Denali National Park for some of the most gorgeous days we've had all summer.
Which is one of the reasons why we had such a fantastic time on our whitewater ride down the Nenana River.

Dad has taken my siblings and I on several whitewater rides over the years. This was Sam's first time, and based on his love for roller coasters I should have guessed that he would love it. I've been on river runs like this probably four different times now--and this was the first time I wasn't a teensy bit afraid to get into the boat!

On Memorial Day, we rode the bus into the park. The entire road wasn't ready yet, it wouldn't be opened for summer traffic until a week after we left, but we got to go half way. We saw lots of wildlife and gorgeous scenery on our 6 hour bus ride. Unfortunately, we did not actually see Denali while we were driving. We'll have to go back sometime when the road all the way to Wonder Lake is open. David was an absolute champ on the long bus ride. And at the few rest stops we were able to take, he did a little exploring, too.

Here he is with Caribou antlers.

On the ride we saw a brown bear, dall sheep, snowshoe hare, a ptarmigan, caribou, moose, and an eagle. And while the close-up view was of low-brush tundra and taiga (so it was a little plain) the long distance view was of braided rivers against stunning mountain ranges.

We saw a whole flock of the dall sheep, but this guy posed for us right outside our bus window.

 This mama moose and her two calves were wandering around our campsite. They were right next to the road one evening while we were trying to leave. After we waited for them to move and they didn't, we finally just slowly drove the RV past them. This is (hopefully) the closest we will ever be to a cow and her spring calves. No zoom on this picture--they were just a few feet from the window where I was with my camera.

 Denali is truly an impressive sight! It has an ascension of 18,000 feet--because the base begins at 2,000 feet above sea level and the peak is just over 20,000 feet. However, you really have to catch it on a clear day to see the full magnificence of it. Clouds were obscuring most of the mountain, but we often saw the peak above the clouds.

And this is for anyone who wants to know what mountain man Sam looks like.
I'm not a fan of facial hair on my man--and lucky for me, he's not either. But we both conceded for 6 days while we were camping--here's proof.

While We Were Away

We saw this:

With them:

And did some of this:

Then we rode this:

To go here:

 And see these lovebirds:

And enjoy this:

And this:

 Now we are home and I am sorting out the 500+ pictures we captured. Please pardon the delay--we'll be back to blogland soon!

A Little Sick

Poor fella. In the two weeks before we left for our trips, David caught a bug that quickly turned to pneumonia. The doctor and call-in nurse gave us a stern warning about taking him back in if it got any worse, so we passed on trying any of our tricks when he woke up with wheazy breathing and a chest that was moving really fast. We headed to the ER, and by the time we got there the cold air had opened his lungs up again. When we left our house, David was a very sick little boy. By the time we got checked in to the ER, David was a playful kid who was happy to be at a party (the hospital) in the middle of the night. The docs cleared him to go home after a couple of hours. As we left, the ER staff thanked us for bringing in their most entertaining patient all week.

When David is sick, he is pretty much his good-natured-self until his fever really spikes. He turns into a cuddler, too. I hate to say it, but David's sick days are some of my favorite since he's calm, happy and cuddles all day with his Mama. I don't get anything else done, but the cuddles make up for that. A couple of times, I caught David lying on the floor like this picture or holding onto his head like it was about to fall off.

As soon as we came back from our trip, David came down with another respiratory bug. Now we're through that, and I am trying to become an expert on how to strengthen my toddler's immune system.

Swimming

All through the winter months, David and I have enjoyed twice weekly outings to the local water park.

I go there to do some water jogging (they open up the lazy river--9 laps is a mile) and David comes along for the ride. He has charmed the other swimmers, most of them older ladies. He has tried to charm the grumpy life guards, but I don't think they are morning people. We're still working on that one--I'm sure he can wear them down eventually. The older ladies that fall for his charm like to surprise David with small gifts. One of them gave him the duck he is holding--it has a football helmet and it squirts water out the beak. Another lady occasionally brings David a plate of cookies to take home. All of the swimmers know our names as David and David's mom.

I sure love this little boy and all the fun outings we get to enjoy every week!

Yard Pass

Family Night on Monday was spent raking the grass in hopes of hurrying the green along. Our yard looks a little more perky now and our garden soil is ready to be planted.

David was thrilled to use the rake.

 Through the course of the rest of the week, David went out to the backyard as often as he could. I love having a fenced in yard where he can play to his heart's content! On this particular day, David came in and asked for a "picnic."

 Strawberries and soup filled his tummy.

All of it together made for a very happy little boy.