On our way back from central Oregon, we stopped at the Oregon State Fair.
I swear I've told Erin about this fair that I visited almost annually, throughout my childhood. I think she's under the impression I've been holding out on her, but I swear! I haven't! This year the stars aligned and all fifty of us made it to the Oregon State Fair and, well I think it's fair (HA!) to say that a great time was had by all.
You can't argue with rainbows AND unicorns. Ellie was in her element.
Erin and Ellie rode the bumper cars. Leo and I (and the babies) were content on terra firma.
After Leo had his face painted (Spiderman, natch) we moved onto the rides. He really wanted the pink
bike.
Ellie won that war. (Mostly Leo just really wanted to ride next to Ellie. True story.)
We made some new friends (can't visit Oregon without a hug from Smokey!)
In between all these shots, we visited with the cows, horses, pigs, goats, sheep, rabbits...you get the idea. We watched people stand in line for a loooong time to hold a baby lion, surveyed the collections (one of my favorite exhibits) which this year included a cereal box collection. Leo and Ellie loved looking at the cakes entered in the cake decorating contest. Leo and Ellie donned fire fighter garb and held fire hoses. In short, small minds were blown at nearly every turn. This fair? It's a kid's dream. And as a bonus? I had just as much fun as a grown-up as I remember having as a kid.
I can't remember the last time I went to this fair--I guess I must have been a teenager. I am here to tell you it has not changed AT ALL, which, in our times (geez, how old am I?) is saying a lot. You laugh, but this state fair is the epitome of good ole family fun. Funnel cakes and snow cones, jumpy houses and skee ball, miniature horses and long haired guinea pigs. I've tried to replicate this experience at other fairs and festivals in other states and I've yet to do so. Every fair I'll ever go to will get compared to this one. It just feels so comfortable and familiar. (I'll admit I was disappointed by this year's absence of deep fried pickles, but I soldiered on.)
And of course it was the source of one of my favorite pictures of all time (we were fortunate to have Grandma and Grandpa with us at the fair, too).
At the end of a very long (but long in a good way) day, we happened upon a playground built atop a mound of haystacks (only at the Oregon State Fair). The sandbox? Was made of corn kernels. Of course. This playground was serendipitously located not only right next to the beer garden (score!) but across from some more than decent live music. Leo and Ellie played for a good hour (the irony was not lost on me that one of their most favored things ended up being free!) against a backdrop of the setting sun, the sky a swirling palette of blues and pinks and purple. There was a marked chill in the air: autumn was on the way.
Our days in central Oregon alternated between lazy hours by the pool (well, not exactly lazy) and side trips.
One of our favorites was a visit to the fish hatchery in Camp Sherman. Look closely at the water. All those fish! Ellie is feeding them here. You'd throw a tiny bisquit in the water and hundreds--thousands? would rush to grab the food.
Cowboy Leo read ALL about the salmon and trout.
Why yes, the big kids were outfitted in their western attire (new cow boy hats and boots for both, I for one am seething with jealousy at Ellie's red cow boy boots...they did not come in my size). Hey, when in Rome...
Lucy, not in western garb.
I could have stood on the bridge overlooking this gorgeous water for a loooong time. Such an incredible bluish green color.
After the fish hatchery we headed to Bend where we had lunch at Deschutes Brewery pub (or as I like to call, it the Mother Ship). No pictures of our meal (and beverages) because, well, you can't drink the best beer in the world, wrangle small children AND take photographs.
Post lunch, the big kids and the grandparents went to the High Desert Museum in Bend. Meanwhile, just to shake things up, Erin and I spent a few hours with the babies at an urgent care clinic, suspicious that the lack of sleep and several hours of Lucy wailing the night before might indicate an ear infection. But no dice! Diagnosis: just nasty little colds (and probably the time change) = no sleeping! Ah well, what vacation is complete with young ones without a trip or two to urgent care?
When we weren't fish hatchery or museum going, there was time for dress up. Here's Ellie, channeling Michael Phelps, Dolly Parton and Stevie Nicks.
And morning snuggles with Grandma.
And more art with Grandpa.
A fairy, by Ellie
A fairy, by Leo
"Relaxing" by the pool.
As you can see, it was a rough life.
Still to come: the final Oregon installment, which includes this event, also known as, perhaps my favorite picture ever, of all time.
Erin, at the Portland International Airport, shortly after arrival. I'm betting we win the award for Most Carseats in Checked Luggage!
At approximately zero o'clock in the morning we woke the kids and took all seventeen bags and fifteen car seats to Newark airport.
Thirty years later (in case you were wondering, a cross country flight with two fifteen month olds? It's long.) we arrived. Sidenote: there were three sets of twins on our flight to Portland. How funny is that?
Less than twenty-four hours after we arrived in Portland we hit the road for Black Butte, where my family has a vacation home and where we've been going since, well, before I was even born. I have so many memories there, which is part of why it's so special to be able to bring my family there now.
Tired yet?
This is the view you see much of the time at Black Butte.
I think you can see why we make the trip. One look at that, and one breath of that mountain air and I am done. In a good way. Stick the proverbial fork in me. Oh and the readily available and plentiful Deschutes Brewery beer doesn't hurt either.
The kids frolicked with their cousins (some of whom they'd never even met, ah the plight of cross country living).
Now, let's be honest. With four kids, two of them toddlers, it wasn't much of a vacation as much as it was a relocation. Keeping the babies safe in a non-baby proofed cabin was exhausting (to say nothing of the sleep--or lack of it-they never quite got on Pacific time, not that I expected them to, but Harry? The waking up every hour thing? That was a bit much, my friend. Ahem).
But as a friend said to me when I told her what we were setting off to do, it was a chance to make some wonderful family memories. And that we did.
By the way, this picture? This encapsulates Lucy and Harry's personalities To a T. This is it. The end. Done.
The big kids got to do art projects with Grandpa Rog.
Days dawned early, as they do wherever we go.
And I'm pretty sure that we broke Grandpa Rog more than a few times.
There was plenty of time to practice walking. Oh! I buried a lead--Lucy learned to walk on this trip!
Video proof of the Lucy walking that runs a bit long and might only be of interest to relatives but hey--if you want to know why we now call Lucy "Lurch"--well, take a look.
In spite of how it looks here, we did not plan on color coordinating our outfits with Tigger and Pooh.
When Erin announced, right after the holidays that she wanted us to go to Disneyworld, my reaction was simple. Are you crazy?
But somehow, through her magical and mysterious ways, I was convinced. And I admit. I was skeptical. Two little kids, one with a predeliction for wandering off? Twin babies? On an airplane to Florida and all of us, loose in a giant theme park? How were we going to pull this off?
And when I told people we were going to Disneyworld? All of us? Everyone had the same reaction.
Are you crazy?
Well. We have four kids. Clearly we are crazy.
But we did it. We went to Disneyworld.
And I'll tell you right now. I'm a believer. I get it. The Disney magic? I bought into it all.
I don't even know where to begin. I've spent the last seventy two hours gazing at pictures, still on a vacation buzz. Dreams do come true.
We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge which was perfect for us, lovers of the pacific northwest. And the fact that we could get to the Magic Kingdom via boat in less than thirty minutes (including wait time for said boat) wasn't bad either. I'll preface all of this by saying our expectations for this trip were low. We didn't want to try to plan too much or try to do too much. I told Erin I would be ecstatic if we all just got home safely (i.e. no lost children at the Magic Kingdom). What can I say? I'm a worrier. We weren't even sure if the kids could handle two days at the Magic Kingdom and we went back and forth over whether we should try to do another park too (Epcot? Universal Orlando? Sea World?). We thought it best to go with the flow and the flow ended up being, two days at the Magic Kingdom with a day of rest in between (that's where the fabulous poolside mai tais came in).
One day, a few weeks before we left for the trip when I was on the phone with someone at Disneyworld for the ninety seventh time (OK I lied, I am a little bit of a planner), the Disney cast member was checking on something for me. "Hakuna Matata," she said. I paused for a moment, confused. Then I realized, she was quoting "The Lion King." Of course she was. No worries. Of course! And that became our mantra for the trip. Whenever Erin and I sensed the other was getting stressed out or bunchy, it was "Hakuna Matata!" And I'm not embarrassed to say that it worked.
Our first day at the Magic Kingdom we had one goal. Tinkerbell. For Ellie. Ellie was nervous. Tinkerbell has surpassed Princesses for Ellie (thank goodness--there is something way less annoying and almost empowering about the fairies--OK that's probably going a little far but you know what I mean--but I do like that Tink is a "Can Do" kind of gal). I don't think Ellie could quite believe she was going to actually meet Tinkerbell. Not the world's best picture, but I had to include it. Tink gave Leo and Ellie fairy dust and here they are showing it off. In the end, Ellie was disappointed that she hadn't been able to fly with Tinkerbell.
For Leo, the goals were Woody and Buzz. Check (with bonus Jessie). And Check again.
Ride-wise, two of the biggest hits were Peter Pan's Flightand It's a Small World (which will always remain close to my heart since I loved it as a child and it was the only ride that all of us (even the babies!) were able to ride together). Ellie kept asking why the dolls weren't waving back at her. Sometimes I really do forget that she's four. Leo also loved the Tomorrowland Speedway. Here he's showing off his "license." The Magic Carpets of Aladdin was another favorite. The Teacups (with Grandma Jerry, to boot!) were also memorable.
And me? Fruitball that I am, lover of "Glee" (the old Glee, not so much this season) and Broadway musicals, I LOVED the "Celebrate a Dream" parade (that's us, above, waiting for it to start).
I loved it SO much, I forced everyone to watch the parade twice (not in the same day, don't worry). Just watch that snippet and see the hug Leo received and just try not to feel like the world is a wonderful place. Or at the very least, that Disneyworld is a wonderful place. The kids loved the parade too. What's not to love? It was the most perfect, awesome Disney mash-up. All the characters! All the princesses! Together! Coupled with a catchy little song that is still in my brain five days later! You just don't get smiles bigger than that, anywhere. Those babies were there too. Harry, aka Shameless, who tries to steal everything and anything from Lucy, even her bottle, when she's sleeping. Seriously Harry, how low can you go? I like to call this one "Mission Accomplished." Finally napping. Trying to find the quickest way to Splash Mountain. Shockingly enough the babies were not much help.
Back at the hotel we swam (did I mention Ellie can officially swim?). I mean, she's been taking lessons but I hadn't really seen her in action. Side note about the pool: I have never felt so safe at a pool with kids. At one point I asked the lifeguard a question and he said he could not turn to look at me because he had to keep his eyes on the pool at all times. Another time Leo wouldn't leave the pool when both Erin and I had to get out with the babies who both got cold and tired of swimming at the same time. The lifeguard told me not to worry, that Leo was fine, that "no one was going to drown."
I enjoyed the break from cooking and cleaning up the kitchen approximately seventy-nine times a day. It was also heavenly to come back to a clean hotel room every night. Daily housekeeping? I could get used to that. Wash cloths and hand towels on the bed at our hotel. No detail is too small for Disney.
This trip did wonders for my confidence as the mother of four (cough, cough I am still not used to saying that). And as a family of six (again I am coughing). For a while I was terrified that Life As We Knew It was over. That we'd never do fun stuff again (well, I knew we'd do it again, I just thought it would be a long while). I'm not going to say it was easy or that there weren't a few moments of What Were We Thinking? But I have to say those moments were fewer and farther between than I expected.
We concluded our first day at the Magic Kingdom with the fabulous "Wishes" fireworks spectacular. It has it all, wonderfully cheesy Disney music with a montage of Disney quotes about wishes ("I wish I could be part of that world" (Little Mermaid); "I wish I could go to the ball," (Cinderella); "I wish we'd never have to grow up" (Peter Pan).
I never realized the thread that ties so many (all?) of the Disney movies together: wishes.
Star bright, star light, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish, I wish tonight, we make a wish as dreamers do and all our wishes will come true. We didn't lose any children. We didn't go crazy (well, any crazier than we already are). We drank mai tais (yes I'm still thinking about those mai tais) and juice boxes poolside, hugged fairies and Tigger and Pooh (and many, many more). At least one baby slept through the night in the hotel room.
