On to Oregon

I can NOT believe that June has come and gone...what a whirl-wind of life the past month threw at us!  

The kids enjoyed the first few weeks of summer enjoying bikes and neighbors as Corey and I worked ourselves to the bones packing up our home of 6 years...

I love this picture, reminding us of Emma Rose's favorite Towerbridge neighborhood friends...

Porter was so sweet... I threw out my back in the move, so he helped to vacuum for me, without question, and without taking time to remove his bike helmet...

End of a packing day, Daisy and I were found exhausted...

Our last official night at home, slumber party in the basement!

Taking that cats to Arvada made it official, though they weren't exactly thrilled at the up-rooting...

My co-pilot protested the whole way.  Daisy's adjusting...or not...she's not loving the adjustment to the new living quarters much more than she enjoyed the ride.

Unfortunately, we spent 6 hours of Father's Day moving out.  We finally spent the evening in Corey's favorite place, Golden, Colorado...

...followed by a visit up to the new neighborhood, with a gorgeous view from our new home where you can see Downtown Denver...

Our time between old and new finds the kids in the ultimate playground at my parents' beautiful home and my late-childhood stomping grounds!  The kids, Corey, and I spent a gorgeous day on the lake at our new, temporary home, enjoying this "surreal" transition.

I took the kids to visit Aunt Jenny and Uncle Justin in Eugene, Oregon, but were thrilled to spend an afternoon with our Washington cousins.  We were so excited to meet baby Colton for the first time, and to see Kade and Emery, who've grown so much!  

Kade, Emma Rose, Colton, Emery, Porter

We met Aunt Jenny at the Willlamette Vineyard on the way to she and Justin's home in Eugene.

Our first full day in Oregon was spent at the Wildlife Safari, where Porter chose the "Meet the Cheetahs" special exhibition, and Emma Rose chose to "feed and pet the elephants." We saw many animals and learned about nature in the process.  It was awesome.

Cheetah scull

You can only imagine how thrilled Emma Rose was to spend some time with Aunt Jenny and Uncle Justin's new kitty, Julius...

The kids and I took some beautiful, little hiking trails in Hendricks Park, by Jenny & Justin's home one day...

Porter spotted this "Red Mowhawk Woodpecker" before it landed,,,

We spent a day at a lake in Florence, Oregon.

Sand Angel

Porter was thrilled, collecting newts in a bucket. (Boys...)

We stopped at Sweet Cheeks Winery on the way back to Jenny & Justin's!

The following morning, Porter was (much to his disappointment) promised a single pancake, which he'd have to share with his sister.  Bummed at those words, here's what the following surprise did to his face when Uncle Justin's pancake order arrived....

They didn't finish...

That day, Jenny and Justin took us to a local farm where the kids played and fed goats.

The kids also got to pick and eat delicious Oregon peaches!

We spent that afternoon at Agrarian, Jenny & Justin's favorite Oregon brewery.

Jenny took us on another beautiful hike along the McKenzie river one day.

This is my favorite picture of the kids on the hike:

Here's another cute pic of the kids along the Willamette river in Eugene:

Our last day visiting Jenny and Justin, we stopped at the Multnomah Waterfall, the tallest waterfall in Oregon.  

Whereas we intended only to look at it from the base, it was too beautiful to resist hiking to the top...

View from the top, looking down.

...hence, Jenny brought the new kitten...

Thanks, Uncle Justin and Aunt Jenny for a fabulous vacation!