Oregon Part 2

Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach is one of our most favorite places to go in Oregon. The kids can never get enough of it. It's not the warmest water but the kids still have fun despite having their legs and feet turn bright pink from the cold.

While is Cannon Beach you can't not go to Mo's. We have a favorite booth we like to sit in that is centered in the corner overlooking Haystack Rock. We request this booth every time we go. The crabmelt sandwich and clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl is to die for!!

Another site we have to visit is Young's River Falls in Olney. These falls are beautiful and the mist that sprays you while standing on the shore is awesome! We had a bunch of Garrison's with us this day: Grandpa, Uncle Kirk and Aunt Gina with their kids, and Uncle Greg and Aunt Dawna and two of their kids. We had a picnic and enjoyed the day playing in the water and jumping off the cliffs.

Another fun place to visit is The Astor Column. The kids love to climb the winding stairs and throw airplane/gliders over the railing.

The weather while we were there was gorgeous!

Stay tuned for Part 3

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY WILL!!!!!

Our little Grandbaby Will is 1-year old now......where did the last year go?? He has grown so much and has such a fun little personality. He started crawling and walking early and has even a little vocabulary going. He loves his mommy and daddy a ton and still gets a little nervous when they are out of his sight but he is coming out of that stage now that he is becoming a toddler.

Last night we had a little birthday party for him and enjoyed watching him open and play with his presents. One of the toys we gave him was a vacume that plays music and teaches the ABC's and counting. When the music comes on he bounces up and down and dances.

During the course of the party one of the kids had gotten Tank's tutu and was showing it to Uncle Pete and somehow it ended up on Will. Don't worry, it was short-lived. Uncle Pete got a kick out of "Willamena" pushing his vacume in a tutu.

Grandpa reading to Will from the book we gave him.....ahhhhh!!!!

It's so funny to watch how sometimes little ones are more interested in other things rather than the new toys that are in front of them. Case in point, Gunners tail!

OREGON 2009 - Part 1

Our Oregon trip has come and gone. We weren't gone nearly as long as last year and are home with plenty of more summer for the kids to enjoy before school starts up again.

I think I am going to have to post the trip in spurts since I am so overwhelmed right now with too many pictures and events to talk about. So just know that this is only a portion of the trip and I will post more later.

We had not 1 but 2 tires blow-out on the fifth-wheel (not both at the same time). Mark was a stud and kept the truck and trailer in control and we were lucky to be close enough to towns to buy replacements both times. We were already down quite a bit of spending money before we even got there. Unfortunately the fifth-wheel sustained some body damage that we will have to get repaired.

Here are some candids of the trip:

We couldn't resist taking this one of the two boys sharing a bed trying to stay warm after Mark booted Carson out of his bed (the kitchen table bed of the fifth-wheel) so he could make breakfast and get the table all set.

Traveling with your home-away-from-home on wheels definitely is the way to go! Last summer we parked our fifth-wheel in one spot and left it there the whole time while we traveled around. This year we got smart and took it wherever we went. The boys have gotten pretty dang good with packing up and hooking up and can make it all happen in a very short time. It was so nice to do lakes and beaches and have the convenience of water/showers/potties/food right there.

We didn't have to eat out a ton and spend lots of money that we didn't have thanks to the new tires.....ala the Griswald Family Diner, I mean the Garrison Family Diner. (FYI we have been deemed the Clark Griswald family because Mark IS Clark Griswald and we are his family!

We had a mini office set-up in the back of the fifth-wheel so Mark could work from home/fifth wheel when needed, even with a printer/fax machine in the kids closet!! Of course I needed to stay in touch with the world via the internet! :)

One day the kids were able to go on a birds-eye view of Portland in a friends plane. They had a blast! Thanks Mike!

And last of all for Part 1 of our Oregon trip, Tank who has always been afraid of the water is NOW a swimmer and has learned to love it! Notice in the picture that he has not only retrieved a ball we threw out into the water, but he went out further to retrieve a stick at the same time that we had thrown in earlier. It was so funny to watch him because the whole time he was swimming he was constantly wagging his tail! No more sissy dog...he really is a true lab now!