Another Fun Trip to Oregon

It's become somewhat of an annual tradition for us to take a trip down to see my Grandma near her birthday in June and to spend some time visiting with our relatives. Last week we did just that and had a lovely visit, mostly due to my aunt's wonderful hospitality in allowing us to stay in her home. But apparently, it'd been too long since our last visit because both Abby and Ben turned down the opportunity to ride the 4-wheeler with their Great-Uncle Paul the first evening we arrived and Ben was acting downright scared of the tractors and machinery (!!!). Thankfully, they warmed up to the farm by the next day and Ben spent lots of time "driving" every tractor, loader, and truck that he came across.

By our third and last day there, he was so comfortable that he started exploring on his own and we had a hard time keeping track of him! He found an abundance of two of his favorite things: lights and wheels.

On our first evening, Aunt Sandi took us on a walk to show us a field of hay near the house that Uncle Paul had freshly cut and was drying. For whatever reason, Abby and Ben thought the rows of cut hay were very fun and they spent about 10 minutes running around in it and playing.

The following day we took a walk with my mom and the kids were so excited to find another field of freshly cut hay. It was really quite funny to watch. I'm still not quite sure what was so enticing about it to them. :)

Although having fun visiting and playing on the farm is a big part of our trip, the main reason we traveled on this specific date was to celebrate my Grandma's 85th birthday. My cousin Jayne and her three kids met us at the retirement home where we made yummy turkey sandwiches and Jayne made delicious smoothies with her Vitamix. Afterward, we headed outside to the gazebo so the kids could run around and play. We brought ding-dongs to share as Grandma's "birthday cake." It was a simple affair, but Grandma loved every minute of it!

While the kids were playing, I snapped a few pictures of Jayne's kids who were much more willing models than mine are (I think mine are sick of me putting the camera in their face and asking them to smile!). Although I'm not nearly as good as Jayne's sister-in-law Alysun, I do have an SLR camera which, although it's on the low-end of SLR's, beats Jayne's point-and-shoot any day. :)

Back at the farm, Abby was anxious to see the cows and was pretty sad that they hadn't come up to the barn near the house yet. When Aunt Sandi heard about it, she offered to take Abby on the 4-wheeler out to the far fields to see them. Abby agreed, but only if Aunt Sandi drove slowly. :) When they got back, even Ben wanted a little ride and Sandi obliged him too. He seemed a little unsure of it, but we know he liked it because as we left for home he kept asking for another ride!

Thank you, Aunt Sandi, for making our trips to Oregon such a wonderful experience!