September 2012 Oregon Trip

We made a quick one-night trip to Oregon to visit my Grandma. As we've been doing since we got our Museum of Flight membership, we stopped at the Gilbert House in Salem on our way to Dallas. The kids are going to be so sad when our membership runs out (it lets us get in free at reciprocal museums). I'm not going to include many pictures, but I did want to show a shot from farther away to attempt to show the immensity of the play structure (you can see Ben so small in the middle behind the slats about to enter!). It is made to resemble A.C. Gilbert's erector sets that he invented. It's like a maze in there, with stairs and passageways going every which way. There is a two-story spiral slide on the other side that I went down with Jake in for the first time - my goodness, it was pitch-black most of the way and I had to drag my shoes to keep us from going too fast!! I couldn't believe that Ben and Abby had gone down that slide several times on their own - they are much braver than I thought! Once was enough for me. :)

At my uncle's farm, the gorgeous end-of-summer weather was absolutely perfect for an evening of tractor rides, feeding the cows and picking apples. Ah, the country life! The kids had a hard time leaving, especially since we only stayed one night this time. Abby even cried a bit in the car and said she wanted to live in Oregon. I had to laugh and sympathize, because that is EXACTLY what I did and said every time we drove away from my cousins' farm when I was a kid. :o) As I got a bit older, I used to say that although I was born a Washingtonian, I was an Oregonian at heart. That beautiful Willamette Valley combined with some very special relatives is quite the enticement.... :o)

Since our last visit, my grandma had been moved from the assisted living wing of the retirement home into the skilled nursing wing. Although the move from her own apartment-like room filled with her own things and furniture to a hospital-like room with a roommate has been understandably difficult for my grandma, it was also difficult for me to see in person. It's hard to face the fact that her health continues to decline and that it can only get worse from here on out. I also felt so sad for her, knowing that her new surroundings are not nearly as nice or comfortable as before. And, although a minor point, the cramped quarters will also make our future visits not as pleasant when the weather keeps us indoors. This time we took advantage of the beautiful day and took Grandma out for a walk. Grandma still kept a few toys for the kids in her dresser drawer and they enjoyed playing with the cars on the sidewalk and bench. (in the picture below, Jake is pointing at the tree and saying "Tree!" :)

 On our way back home, we met-up with my nephew Stephen who was visiting his girlfriend Patti in the Portland area for the weekend. We grabbed lunch together and then went to a fun city park that had lots of water fun for the kids! They might have stayed cool, but boy did it get hot for us adults who had to chase them all around, trying to keep an eye on them! The kids were very excited to be able to spend time with Stephen (we saw him so little this summer since he was gone at camp, then Air Force training, and then decided to get a job in his college town rather than finish the summer fishing with Kevin again). They didn't want to say good-bye to him, and instead kept climbing on him and tackling him. :o)

 It was a very nice but very full two days!