Lava Land!

There are SO MANY fun things to do and places to explore in Central Oregon.  Really.  I think we could live here for 10 years and still not be able to check out all the great things in the area.  But we sure are trying our best to check out as many as we can.  This weekend our family went on an adventure to explore the Lava Lands Visitor Center, Lava Butte and the Lava River Cave. 

Before moving here, I never could have told you that there are no basements to houses in our region because the ground is pretty much made up of lava rock.  Which is apparently solid.  Since learning this, going to check out the Lava Lands Visitor Center has been on our list of things to do. 

Marty, at the Visitors Center with lots of lava rock in the background.

Lava Butte as we were driving up to the top.

Marty & the boys at the top of Lava Butte.

A crater at the top of the butte.  There is a trail that goes around it, so we took a little hike with the boys.

I found the large area of lava rock pretty fascinating.  Everywhere that is brown is the lava rock and then it obviously just morphs into forest.  The guesstimate on the last known eruption is more than 7,000 years ago.... but I personally have a difficult time believing the accuracy of dating on things like that.  Just my personal opinion.  Either way, it was pretty amazing to see - and to see some of the random growth of things in the midst of the lava rock.  Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top & the Sisters are the mountains in the background.

This is on the hike around the crater, looking back up towards where I took the first picture.  The building on the top is a fire lookout station, which if I remember right is one of 7 in the area that are staffed continually during fire season.  Marty and I commented on how that would be a pretty monotonous job.... and pretty hard to stay on task.  I hope the shifts are short!

Another view of the lava rock with Mt. Bachelor in the background. 

After our adventure at the Lava Lands Visitor Center & Lava Butte, we ventured into the town of Sunriver.  We hadn't really explored it much and wanted to check it out.  It is really a unique little resort type town.  Definitely a GREAT place to go if you want to be able to utilize some amazing bike trails.  We eventually found our way to an area with shops, eateries, bumper cars and kids play stuff.  After lunch at a terrible Mexican place (really, how can you mess up Mexican food?)... we headed home for nap time and then back out to the Lava River Cave.

Basically, the lava river cave is a cave that was formed a long time ago by flowing lava (called pahoehoe basalt.... but I really don't know what that means other than it is very fluid flowing lava).  Anyways, this "lava tube" is the longest known lava tube or cave in Oregon.  It is a chilly 40 degrees inside and is (obviously) pitch black.  We came equipped with flashlights and a light saber (not only a great light source, but would also be handy if we ran into Darth Maul in the cave).

Soon after entering the cave.

Elijah LOVED the cave.  Absolutely loved it.  He was all for being our guide and just hiking away through the rocky and uneven cave floor.  It is 1.1 miles to the end of the cave and we made it almost the entire way..... but as it turned out Gavin HATED the cave experience.  Which REALLY surprised us because there have been very few things that child does not enjoy (especially if we are outside - but I guess a cave doesn't really count as outside).  He was mildly grumpy at first, but as we were nearing the far end of the cave (approx 1 mile from the entrance) he freaked out and screamed inconsolably until he saw daylight again.  Then he was fine.  We joked that a spelunking career is not in his future. 

Our apologies to any other Lava River Cave explorers at that same time on Saturday.  Nothing better than a screaming toddler in a cave.  Bummer.

More adventures to come!  :)

Down another sippy cup... and other adventures

We are always up for an adventure around here, so on Friday we took off with our friends (Stacie, Canyon & Sawyer) on a little hike to Sahalie and Koosah Falls.  It is probably about an hour drive from our house... but we were able to stop off in the touristy town of Sisters on the way there for some yummy coffee and treats.  :)

It is a great hike for little kids.  The first waterfall (Sahalie) is literally right off the road and the 2nd waterfall (Koosah) is only 1/2 mile down the trail.  And it is a very nice, well-maintained, obviously heavily traveled trail. 

Sawyer, Canyon & Elijah @ Sahalie Falls

Elijah hiking with his Elmo backpack that he got when he was maybe 2? He wanted to have a backpack just like Mommy.... which worked out great so that he could carry his own water and snacks.  Score.   Oh, and his hiking poles.  He LOVES his hiking poles.

Koosah Falls.  How beautiful is that?!?  And see the rainbow down in the left corner.  Awesomeness.

So, you may have noticed the title of "down another sippy cup".  Well, I was standing by the falls with Gavin in the backpack so Stacie could get a picture of us (Elijah was choosing not to participate in photo opps).  When I hear something going tumbling down into the water.  Yep.  Gavin threw his cup over the edge.  Bummer.

To make matters worse, about 10 minutes down the trail, I was telling Elijah the story of how Gavin threw his sippy cup over the edge and it is gone.  As I am telling the story, he manages to reach around to the side of the backpack, grabs MY water bottle, and throws that over the edge.  And he giggles.  He definitely keeps us on our toes.   Anyways, back to the hike.

Watching the sippy cup tumble over the edge.

Back at Sahalie Falls at the end of the hike.  :)

Fun little map of the area.  :)

Thanks to our friends Stacie, Canyon & Sawyer for taking us on a fun adventure!  :)

July 2011

Another quick summary post... and then I might be caught up?!?  Yay!  We did spend 10 days in Colorado (of which I have almost zero pictures.... not sure how that happened), but we have also had some fun adventures through the month.  Mostly just around home this month though.  :)

Elijah learned to ride his bike without training wheels!  YAY!  Most afternoons while Gavin naps he will ride up and down the alley repeatedly.

The boys helping me make chocolate chip cookies.  This is the first time Gavin has actively participated.

Once he figured out he couldn't eat the actual spatula, he thought the batter was great. 

Taste testing the finished product to make sure they turned out okay.

Gavin has an affinity for all things from the kitchen cupboard.  Makes it common to find dishes in and under our bed and he has a great time with it.

Marty celebrated a birthday earlier this month!

Happy Birthday Marty!

Gavin gave up on using sign language for "all done" and now just starts playing "peek-a-boo" to communicate he is done with a meal.  It is very cute and very messy.  Especially when things like spaghetti are involved.

A trip to the High Desert Museum was a regular thing this winter, but we haven't made it there as frequently this summer.

It does have a 'garden' which always needs work done.  Wow.  Talk about dirty kids afterwards, but they LOVE it.

The after picture.  Elijah decided he didn't want to have to comb his hair anymore and he wanted it chopped off. So, we did.

Throwing rocks in the stream on a hike with Daddy.

Playing in Grandma Neeny's pool in Colorado. 

We're having another baby! See that belly sticking out?  Baby is due to arrive in January 2012.  Elijah, who always has the best comments, responded to the news with "Mommy, I saw your tummy getting bigger and I just thought you were eating too much junk food."  Always the observant child.  Love it!

June 2011

We had a lot of fun in June.  The month started off cold - really cold.  But thankfully we started to reach some more reasonable temps.  :)  Our big adventure of the month was a trip to the coast with Marty's sister, brother-in-law and our two nieces.  It was so much fun to get to see them and getting to spend time at the coast was just great.  We can't wait to make it back again - hopefully soon.  So, there are a lot of photos, but ocean pics are just the best.

Funny story that I can remember from June is that is the month where the use of the baby monitor ended.  Because Gavin got it and took it for a swim in the toilet.  It didn't work after that and I just haven't replaced it. Gavin definitely keeps us on our toes.  He is busy.  :)

Gavin got his first haircut!  Kind of sad to cut off the curls in the back, but the baby mullet was getting a little bit out of control.

First of many ocean pics.  Elijah just loved running around in the water.

Gavin also LOVED the ocean. 

The cousins playing at the ocean.  Sylvia, Isa, Elijah & Gavin

Marty taking the big kids out to play in the water.

Gavin LOVED playing in the sand.  But he also made Elijah frustrated because he was intent on destroying whatever Elijah was creating.

Isa digging in the sand.

Gavin busy playing in the sand.

Not sure what we were looking at, but this was on a little hike up to see a light house on the coast.

Just stopping to be silly.  There was a little ledge we could jump off here which made it even more fun.

Still making out way up the light house.  Elijah & Sylvia checking out the ocean.

Gabe has a really good eye for spotting things in the ocean and pointed out these Orca Whales. 

Our turn for a tour of the light house.

After the light house tour we went for a little adventure down in the tide pools.

Marty stuck his finger in the sea anemone so that it would close up.  It also gave him a little sting... which was entertaining to the small children.

The boys and me making our way down from some rocks.

Sylvia and Elijah exploring the tide pools.

Elijah found this star fish and pointed it out to everyone.

The last night we were there, Vic & Gabe watched the boys while Marty and I went out for dinner.  We then went down to the beach to watch the sunset.  It was really great.  :)

Somewhat out of order, but these are dirty baby feet from the beach.

Elijah really enjoyed just running up and down the beach.

A few weeks later we took a Sunday afternoon trip up to Elk Lake with some friends.  Gavin made himself comfy and enjoyed a snack.

The kids playing at Elk Lake.  This is about 30 minutes from our house.  :)

The boys got a sprinkler to run through sometime in June.  Gavin would quickly get cold and run to me screaming.  But as soon as I would give him a hug.... he would just just go back to it again.  Silly little guy.

Elijah enjoys the sprinkler a lot more.  :)

We surprised Marty one evening when he came home to water balloon fight.

"Double fistin'"

He's a climber.