Walking Infomercial.

K.  We are back in FC and we are slightly overwhelmed with everything we have to do.  I have some photos/stories from our road trip back, but I first need to write this one down before I forget it!

We are back to being a cable TV free household, but we do have Qubo.  Qubo is the over the air, free kids channel.... which comes equipped with mini infomercials in place of commercials.  Every time Elijah sees one of these things, he is SURE that he needs it, or that I need it.  This morning, the boys were downstairs watching some Qubo and playing with Daddy while I was cleaning up the kitchen.

Elijah comes running up the stairs.  He says with excitement in his voice "Mommy, do you want to spend more time with your kids?  You need to get *I-have-no-idea-what-the-product-name-is, but insert it here* because then you don't even have to mop the floor!  It just does it all by itself!"

ME:  "Awesome.  You need to go tell Daddy that I need that for Christmas."

Elijah (running down the stairs):  "Daddy, you need to buy that with your own money for Mommy for Christmas"

When Marty came upstairs a few minutes later I relayed the conversation to him.  Elijah is so easily convinced by these things - Marty said that is basically the exact sales pitch the infomercial had just given him over the TV.  Thus far in our few hours home, Elijah is sure that I need the mop-the-floor-itself gadget (which does sound nice) and a metal wallet that won't even be damaged if I drive over it with a truck. 

Farewell Bend

"Bend" was originally named "Farewell Bend".  The name "Farewell Bend" was the designation used by early pioneers to refer to the area where the river water was low enough to cross and where the town was eventually established.  The name was later shortened to "Bend" by the US Postal Service because the postmaster felt the name was too long.  Good random info to know, huh?  Thanks to the Bend website and Wikipedia for providing the info.

That said, it is now (very sadly) time for our family to say "Farewell Bend".  It is a bittersweet time.  We are excited to get back to our home in Colorado and we are also sad to leave behind our friends and all the fun times we have had in Bend.

Prior to this nutty opportunity popping up in our lives, I had never given much thought to the state of Oregon or really even entertained the possibility of wanting to live West of the Rockies.  I have to say, Central Oregon is absolutely beautiful.

Here is a short list of some of the things we are going to miss about Bend:

* RECREATION!  We LOVE being outside.  Within 30 minutes of our house there is access to downhill skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, camping, waterfalls, lakes & lake shores (read places to throw rocks and play in dirt for little boys), rivers to float, and probably more things I am forgetting.  We have taken advantage of all these opportunities over the past 10 months.  Since the population in the area is relatively low, we have really enjoyed that the areas generally are not completely packed and crazy.

* The round-a-bouts.  I love them.  It took some getting used to, but now I absolutely love them.  Sitting at red lights now seems pretty lame.  

* All the pine trees and  the smell of the pine trees - especially early in the morning or right after it rains.

* Fred Meyer.  I LOVE this place.  I do not like to shop, so the fact that I can go to one store and get virtually everything I need is great.  They have a great produce and natural food section, decent prices, a gas station, and I can even drop E off at the play area on occasion.

* Coffee.  There are drive through coffee places everywhere - really handy when you aren't sleeping through the night and have two small kids.  There are also so many good local coffee shops.  I love all the coffee options.

* Definitely going to miss our "fancy-pants house".  There is something to be said for renting - especially renting a place where the landlord takes care of all the yardwork.  YAY!  When the refrigerator broke all I had to do was call the property management company.  So easy.  Not to mention the fact that the house is new, it's a ranch-style (which I now know I really like), and it is just pretty.  Soon it is back to the reality of our 30 year old home that needs a little bit of attention....

* Friends.  It is always hard to leave friends and we have been lucky to establish some good friendships after only living here for 10 months.  Thankfully there is email and cheap phone calling plans.  Definitely a plus.

* The coast!  We are only 4 hours or so from the Pacific ocean and we have definitely taken advantage of that opportunity with our  trips there.

* No Sales Tax

* Summer in Bend.  It was just great.  It isn't too hot and it is just beautiful.  There are most festivals and places with bounce houses than I could have ever possibly imagined- not to mention all the lakes that are accessible in the summer.  Always something enjoyable to do.
There definitely are some things we are not going to miss about Bend.  The months of April & May stand out the most.  When most of the country was getting ready for summer, it was COLD and dreary here.  As a matter of fact, it was snowing here Memorial Day weekend. 

Now, for the final part of our adventure..... we are off on a road trip back home.  :)

Looking forward to seeing many fun Coloradoans soon.

Crater Lake & Floating the River

We're continuing on our fun adventures here in beautiful Central Oregon.  :)

On our list of things to do before the end of the summer was to float the Deschutes River through town.  So, a couple weeks ago on a beautiful near 90 degree day, we loaded up the boys, rented some tubes and did just that.  Since we were on/in the water, I don't have any photos, but a fun time was had by all.  Gavin wasn't so sure about it, but he did enjoy pointing out the ducks that were floating the river with us.

We also took a trip down to Crater Lake National Park a couple weeks ago.  Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the US and the 6th deepest lake in the world.  It is beautiful. 

A little historical information on the forming of the lake.

A look down towards the lake.  It is a little bit of an adventure to take small children there.  There is only one place where you can actually hike down to the lake (which we did not do) and every other spot is an overlook with very steep drop-offs.

We took a short little hike up to a neat look out.  Gavin fell fast asleep on the way back down, making for a very short nap day.  He is in the phase where even a 5 minute nap will count as his nap for the day.  Not a fun phase.

It is really impressive.

There is a lodge available to stay at right near the lake, numerous hikes, and a boat tour on the lake.  It would definitely be fun to go back again when the kids are a little bit older and might enjoy it more.

I also have to note, that while the pictures are absolutely beautiful, it was a bit of a trying day.  Gavin woke up that morning with a cold and was feeling somewhat miserable.  Elijah woke up with a bad attitude that he was not able to shake for the majority of the day.  Although, chocolate chip cookies did help improve the temperament of both children.  We are grateful that we were able to take the little day trip to see some of God's amazing creation.

Wacky Wednesday #18: Phone Booths

Whoops.  I wrote this early.... and then forgot to post it on Wednesday.  So, here is a be-lated Wacky Wednesday post. 

When is the last time you saw a phone booth?  I cannot even remember the last time I had seen one prior to moving here.  If you walk downtown here, you see roughly one per block.  It cracks me up.

I have yet to see someone actually using one of the phone booths (well, aside from my own small children, but I am pretty sure they do not count).  I have seen someone standing in a phone booth talking on their cell phone (I'm assuming for added privacy).  I have also seen vandalism done to the phone booths.

Wacky, huh?

Any other cities out there that still have phone booths?  Or maybe they exist more places than I realize and I just hadn't noticed.

The best times of our life?

I had a very brief conversation with a semi-truck driver back in December that obviously made an impact because I still remember it clearly.  He was the guy delivering our vehicles to our home here in Oregon (click here to see blog post if you're interested - it was an adventure).

The driver was very friendly- I would even go as far to say bubbly.  He asked how old the boys were and after I responded, he responded by saying that he remembered when he kids were that old - those were the best days of his life.

I clearly remember my response.  "REALLY?"  And then I believe I remember saying something about it being so much work!  I was clearly coming from a place of having just moved unexpectedly, not sleeping through the night, attempting to feed a baby a bottle while also navigating a driver through a neighborhood I am not familiar with, all while taking care of a 4 year old.  These are supposed to be the best days of my life?!?!  Seriously, at that moment, I am fairly certain I just wanted a nap.

I have reflected on that short conversation numerous times.... as I am washing out dirty diapers, picking up the kitchen towels from the floor, caring for kids in the middle of the night, and emptying random items from the cupboards, dishwasher, and washing machine (compliments of small children).

However,  there are so many fun things that are happening in this stage of life.  At this very moment, Marty and Elijah are drawing robots - and spending time with Daddy is about the best thing that Elijah could ask for.  Gavin is in such a fun phase.  He is learning new things all the time and will do just about anything to make us laugh.  When he sees something exciting (like an ant or an airplane) he will enthusiastically point and shout "WHOA!!!!".  So precious.

So, I was smiling and reflecting on this tonight as Gavin was playing in the bathtub - figuring out which toys would fit inside his cup.  And then.... he pooped.  In the bathtub.  Best times of my life?  Thankfully tonight I was able to continue to smile as I was cleaning all the bath toys and Marty was helping clean out the tub.  But there are times that it is much more difficult to smile.  Raising small kids is a lot of work.

That said, I probably will remember these as some of the best times of my life - possibly because I don't take pictures or regularly write about the times that one of the kids pooped in the tub or both kids stuffed all our shoes in the washing machine - and the ensuing time it takes to clean it all up.  We take pictures and write about the really fun times we have and all the silly things the kids do.  And there are a lot of those.

Reading to Elijah about Crater Lake.  He loves to learn and it is so fun to be able to watch him
and to be involved in his interests.  I am sure that I will remember these moments much more
than all the times that he tells me I am wrong or that I don't know what I'm talking about.  At least I hope so...

Gavin LOVES hats and thinks everything should be made into a hat.  Including
Elijah's underwear.  This makes us laugh - a lot.  I am going to fondly remember this
and likely forget that he also pooped in the tub.