12 hours in the car...it was worth it! Part 1 of Oregon

When our nephew Jeremy got his mission call, Robbie and I promised that we'd be there for his farewell. Robbie's sister lives out side of Portland in a town called McMinnville. It was an 12 hour drive. As the day came that we were supposed to leave, I would be lying if I didn't say that I was nervous about that time in the car. Before we left, I sat Carson and Nate down and had a little talk with them. It went something like this, "We are going to be in the car for a VERY long time...all day long. We can not have any fighting or yelling or crying or anything that makes me and daddy go crazy while we are driving. We are not stopping very often, so you are going to have to be very patient. " I couldn't believe it...IT WORKED! They were angels. We left about noon and got to Shelley's at 11ish her time.

Our first day there, we took it easy. We went to an air and space museum in McMinnville. Robbie's dad came with us. It was kind of more for adults. The kids liked the first two or three planes...but the rest...they got a little bored. They did have a few things for children. 

They had real air plane seats for people to sit on to rest. I think this was because everyone that was there was OLD! My kiddo's like them though.

This is a diagram of the biggest planed ever build, which was in the museum. The boys liked the "Choo choo" in the bubble more than the real plane. If I look a little frazzled here, it is because I was. The museum was run by all volunteers...nice old IMPATIENT retired people.

The first flying contraption by Leonardo DaVincci...pretty neat

They had a few things for the kids to do at the airplane portion

Keith's favorite airplane...They literally had a hundred planes from all countries.

Then it was on to the space museum. I actually really like this. They had real rockets, satalites and tons of video footage of rockets blasting off. Even after going there, I am not real sure what the difference between a rocket and a spaceship is though.

I am not sure what this really is, but it was BIG. The kids dragged Robbie down countless stairs so that they could see the bottom of it.

Then was the highlight of the museum...the airplane flying toy ride!

The boys loved this...except Logan wasn't too sure about it. They went on it a couple of times after lunch and then a couple more times at the end of our stay. The old man running it was so nice, even after Nathan peed his pants. OOPS! Then the other old man that came to clean it up said two rides was plenty and it was time to get off. WHAT? There were no other kids in line or in the whole building for that matter. Oh, well. So we finished our day at the playground outside. It was really neat with everything shaped like helicopters, planes, or rockets. Somehow, Carson turned it into a pirate ship and had the kids out there calling him captain. They were sad to go, but the promise of cousins waiting was enough to get them to leave.

The Coast

On Saturday morning, we got up bright and early and left for the coast. I had no idea the roads would be so windy and covered with trees. Poor Logan threw up on the way there. We had so much fun at the beach gathering shells and chasing the water. The boys loved the sound of their feet on the wet sand.

Carson holding a shell with the rocks in the background

 There was a tunnel through a big cliff. The boys were a little scared, but loved it!

The other side

It was at this beach that Nate found a crab shell. I had to carry that thing all over creation. They a couple hours later in the car, he broke it all to pieces. Boys!  I love this picture of my cute husband and my baby. Spending time with our little family was so fun. I love creating memories with them. It seems like time goes so fast that if we don't make these opportunities, they don't happen. One reason I love Robbie so much is that these times are just as important to him as they are to the rest of us. He is a good daddy.

We met up with the rest of the family at Tillamook Cheese Factory. It was fun so see where my FAVORITE cheese came from. Nothing says yummy like a good cheese. And to the Wayments, nothing says yummy like good ice cream! It was delish. Before we went, Robbie's parents were telling Carson that the had SO many flavors of icecream and it was SO good. He got big disbelieving eyes and asked, "Do they have chocolate?"

 

Then it was back to the ocean for round two. This beach was neat because there is this giant sand dune. Robbie climbed to the top with some of our nephews. Carson made an attempt.

Carson was more interested in this:

A boat had just come back from fishing. The fisherman offered to show the boys a real live crab! YIKES! They were a little scared!

My favorite picture of the whole day was this one. Two brothers on their tummies playing in the sand and talking. Who knows what they were saying, but they were having so much fun.

While the boys spent all day running around and playing in the sand, Robbie's dad sat in his chair with his cowboy boots on doing leather work and his mom in another chair reading a book. Classic. They are the only people I know who go to Hawaii and never put their swim suit on and the only people who go to the beach and never take their shoes off. By the end of the day, we were exhausted. We had chased these little boys miles.

The funny thing was that it never got old. Running in and running out. We had such a fun day!

Robbie and Carson have some time...

Carson got a hiking back pack for his birthday, so Robbie decided to take him on a little hike. He had been looking forward to this for a long time. Carson kept telling Nate, "I am going hiking with my dad. You are staying with mom." Nate would then ask me what we were going to do. I would say that I didn't know. Nate would say, "Par-tay." Well, if his idea of "par-tay" is going to Walmart, then he got what he wanted.

The night before he  had to pack his back pack...including jacket, drink, AND the must have binoculars. The Easter Bunny brought these to Nate 2 years ago. But, they were a must, so in they went. That morning they left bright and early...around 6:30. Carson had to come and tell me bye. He was so excited but had a little leaving mom saddness. Robbie said as they hiked he kept saying, "I wonder what mom and Nate and Logan are doing?" "I wonder where mom is..." Any variation of these two things was said a million times.

They went up to Pomerelle and hiked around. The day started with a stop at the gas station for some chocolate milk and donuts...the breakfast of champions. They spent some time hiking a run called Milk. It was filled with cows and cow pies. He couldn't wait to tell me about the poop.

Here he is all ready to go

Ditched the trecking poles for the binoculars

Robbie and Carson's self portrait

They mostly just hiked around and had a lot of fun. To "bag" his first peak though, they drove to the top of Mount Harrison.

By this point, Carson was ready to come home. He had a lot of fun with his dad. It gave me just a glimmer of what the future has in store for me. My boys like doing this kind of stuff. I am sure I will have two choices: drag myself out of be to go with them or stay home in bed sleeping in or reading a good book. I can't say which I would choose, but I don't like getting left behind...and I think by the time all my boys are old enough to go I will have earned some peace and quiet!

We've come a long way...the Jackson/Cooper Camp Out!

When my dad and Marsha got married, it was a little weird blending two grown families. Each of us had our own traditions. So here there were 4 grown Jackson kids and 4 grown Cooper kids trying to make our new situation in life seem normal (what ever that is...is there such a thing?). My dad and Marsha love the outdoors and love camping so they started having family camping trips. There was one for the Jacksons and one for the Coopers. They were so much fun that slowly some from each family started coming to the camping trip for the other family. Time passed and here we are...one big happy family that has blended well. There are lots of differences and lots of similarities. It has been so fun getting to know them and growing to love them.

No one would have believed this camp out. There were 16 adults and 16 kids (the oldest was 9). Marsha planned and planned for a year for this. This was the first time since she married my dad that her son Bryan came to Idaho with all his family.  With all these kiddos there were crafts, games, bracelet making, a fishing pond, and my kid's favorite...a bug hunt. There was lots of good food to eat too. One thing about being with the Jacksons is that you never go hungry.

Brandon setting up the fishing pond

Out side the fishing pond...girls are wearing hats they made at the craft table

Steph...doing the work behind the scenes at the fishing pond

Nate showing his loot! Tootsie rolls, binoculars, flashlights...and a whole bunch more stuff!

Logan having a bite of tootsie roll

Nate before the bug hunt...there were plastic bugs hidden and the kids got to find them and put them in their bug holders.

Just a little friendly fight with the bug holders between cousins...snap snap

On a cold morning, who needs a jacket??? Not Dad...just a pair of pants for his arms.

Rob  cooking dinner...love his camping hair

My cute camping husband...he is always such a help chasing all these boys!

The girls on the beach...soaking up some sun! My favorite part about camping...

NOODLES! That is what I call a noodle! We LOVE noodles!

I love this boy...he loves to have fun!

The self entertainment...dirt and water...we hardly saw our kids.

One funny thing about this trip was that Carson kind of wanted to go jet skiing. It took up a couple days of courage and then we went. There were a couple Carson rules...no going fast (like more than 5 miles per hour) and no leaving the shore (like no more that 20 feet away). So, after the first time, he loved it! Then, his crazy mother let him push the gas and steer. Big mistake. He was a wild man! Now he thinks he is practically 15 and can almost drive anything...that is one part of growing up that can wait...YIKES!  

After the camp out, we came back to Idaho Falls and stayed the night. Then it was family picture time. WOW. That is all I have to say about that. It was a little crazy with all the kids AND adults. The only way it could have been more crazy was to add dogs to the mix. The pictures turned out cute and now there is one that is the whole group of us. Thanks to Kelli for taking these cute ones:

After pictures Logan found a mud puddle to splash in... before long, he was laying down in it! Here, he is not sure whether it is worth getting in trouble...

Here he is sure it is! Stinker!

2 Classic BOB pics

Laying on the ground barking out orders...if I had a nickle for every time I've seen this happen...

After pictures, we had a picnic at the river and fed the ducks. The last time we did this, Carson was about 2. It was CRAZY. We chased him all over. This time, he actually fed the ducks. Nate liked it too. I guess it was mostly geese, but to them, they are all the same. Logan, on the other hand...

Running baby...running mommy

I am proud of our family. It is not the easiest thing in the world to blend two adult families. We are having fun together and are so glad to see our parents happy. They laugh more than anyone I know. We've come a very long way.