What else did we do in the summertime?

The end of June Rich and Lindsey and their six cute kids visited us. They had taken a month long trip from Arizona, up through Utah, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, and then over to Washington. After leaving us they traveled south, through the Redwood Forest, to San Francisco, and then home to Arizona.

While at our house we showed them a few of the beautiful sights around us, including Ape Caves, which is at the base of Mt. St. Helens, and the gorgeous lakes at the base of the volcano. We also took them down to the beach house in Depoe Bay, one of our favorite places anywhere! It was a wonderful visit. They kids all got along like best friends and we loved hanging out with their family. We love to have company!
Posing outside our house, Paij, Sydney, Aubrey, and Bailey.
Joseph and Carson were great buddies.

The beautiful Oregon Coast.
These are heaven on earth . . . . Hood strawberries, which happened to be available the week we drove down to the beach. We bought a flat at a roadside berry stand and the kids ate almost the entire flat by the time we arrived at the beach house!
Brandon and I found a favorite spot at the top of tall outcropping of volcanic rock on Fogarty Beach. We sat for a long time, watching the waves crash and talking about how life is going to change now that he is headed off to college.Logan found a starfish in one of the tidepools.
Bailey and Paij at Fogarty Creek Beach.
Dan and I standing in a little cave, hollowed out by water and wind.
Joseph spent a long time "conducting the waves." He would bring his arms down dramatically and command the waves to crash. He said he was trying to be like Mickey on Fantasia.


The girls at the beach.
Rich and Lindsey. Rich took most of the pictures on this blog posting. He had just gotten a new camera, and took some great pictures during the trip!


On Sunday afternoon after church we drove to downtown Newport and walked along the waterfront. We stopped at an area where the sea lions congregate and watched them for awhile. They are noisy creatures!
Even though the water is freezing, the kids splashed around in it several times.
Brandon drawing in the sand, just before injuring his foot by picking what he thought was a beach ball (look closely in the right side of the picture above). It was actually a buoy, and very heavy and hard. He hyperextended and jammed his big toe. We thought he had broken bones because he was in so much pain, but he improved quickly over the next few days.
The path to the "secret beach" is pretty precarious (which is what makes it so private), so Dan and Rich had to help Brandon hop up the cliff, down the hill, through the brush and the pebble beach, and to the walking paths in Little Whale Cove, where we had borrowed a wheelchair to push him back to the beach house.

Rich and Lindsey carried their stroller up and down the steep path to secret beach so they would have a place to strap the babies while everyone played.
After returning from the beach we took Rich and Lindsey and family to see the south side of Mt. St.Helens, which is breathtakingly beautiful. We walked through the Ape Caves, which are underground lava tube caves.

Porter Reunion 2010

July 12-16, 2010 was the bi-annual Porter Reunion in Greer, Arizona. We flew to AZ a few days before the reunion and rented a home in Gilbert. This allowed us plenty of time to visit with cousins who live in the Valley while eating as much delicious Mexican food as possible. Every day, twice a day, sometimes three times as day. It was great!

The rental home was beautiful and reasonably priced. The kitchen was huge and had the largest fridge I have ever seen. The backyard was all set up for entertaining with a pool, outside bbq and bar area, fountain and waterfall, fire pit, and seating. We had a very relaxing time, and because of the pool we didn't mind the heat!
This rental home had seriously the biggest fridge I have ever seen. The left side is a freezer, the right a fridge. It is set up for catering/entertaining on a large scale.
On Sunday we attended church with Lindsey and Rich's family and then Dan drove us around Mesa for two hours. He showed the kids all the memorable places from his youth, such as the spot where he was hit by a beebee gun, the place he got into a car accident which shut down power to most of the town, where he played Little League baseball, where he attended Prom, and the location of all his schools. The kids were groaning by the end, but it was important stuff!
The best Mexican food anywhere. No question about it. My mouth waters just thinking about it!
We took Grandma and Grandpa out to dinner for Grandpa's birthday. Shellee's two oldest kids were with us, also, as she was in the hospital being monitored for pregnancy complications.

On Monday morning we drove NE to Greer, where the weather is more like it is in Vancouver, cool and rainy. We stayed in a cabin with Dave and Mimi's family, near two other cabins which housed the rest of the Porter family (except for Shellee and Curtis).

Our kids really look forward to this reunion. They say, "it's like a big huge sleepover." The older kids hang out until late, watching movies, playing games, and talking. The younger kids play together all day. It is a lot of work to pull off a reunion, but it is worth it.
Nate (all grown up!) challenged Dan to a push-up contest. Dan held his own, but Nate does clapping push-ups!
A few of the Porter girls doing crafts at the Pavilion while it rained. It rained almost every afternoon, which was a kind of fun novelty for those who live in Arizona.
Every night we had a devotional and activity. This night Grandma taught a lesson about prophets. She dressed all the little boys up as a different prophet.
The lighting in this room is horrible for pictures, but this is Brandon and Aubrey singing during the talent show. They sang a cool version of "If I Had a Hammer." Brandon played guitar and sang harmony and Aubrey sang the lead. For her talent, Bailey brought a framed copy of one of the photos she has taken. She really enjoys photography.
Brandon helped the younger girls write a song that they dedicated to Spencer (who is Brandon's age). Spencer was at Boot Camp at the Air Force Academy. The last night of the reunion, Brandon and the girls performed the song, which was taped and will be sent to Spencer.
There are some fun play structures at the campground. The kids love this "red merry-go-round." They are constantly begging for one of the older cousins to push them on it.
All the pictures from the reunion are compliments of Bailey, who snapped many photos documenting the experience. Because I knew she is so good at taking pictures, I didn't even get my camera out of the bag!

Chicago

The end of June I was lucky enough to spend 4 days in Chicago with a good friend from high school, Lynette Peck. We celebrated turning 40 years old this year. We met at the airport and rode the "El" (elevated train system) into the downtown area. Our hotel was right on Michigan Avenue, in the middle of everything fun. We had a great time together - exploring all the sights of Chicago and catching up on the last many years.

I was very impressed by Chicago - the architecture, the history, the beautiful waterfront (who knew that Lake Michigan was such a beautiful blue color - I was picturing more of a greyish brown), the food, the fabulous museums in Museum Park. Every day we walked for many miles, visiting points of interest and taking in the sights.

I especially liked the four hours we spent in the fabulous Museum of Art. I took my time and looked at every piece of art thoroughly - something that is hard to do when I have kids along! We also visited the Aquarium, walked around Millenium Park and Grant Park (beautiful), ate delicious deep dish pizza, attended the "Taste of Chicago" festival (where we sampled many yummy foods), and attended a "Blue Man Group" performance (a little weird, but memorable). We rode to the top of the John Hancock building, which isn't quite as tall as the Sears Tower, but has a better view of the waterfront and downtown. The observatory is on the 94th floor, and the elevator to the top travels at 40 mph! We took an architecture boat tour which took us along the river that runs through town and then out onto Lake Michigan, where we looked at the skyline and watched fireworks.

I missed my family, but it was really fun doing all the travel/museum/adventurous things that are a part of my personality, but which don't always fit with my current main role as mom of kids ranging from age 18 to age 5. It was a great way to celebrate the big birthday. Or, at least one of the ways . . . Dan and I are planning another trip to Victoria Island in Canada. I say the more celebrating the better!
Views of the buildings from our boat ride.
A view of the skyline from Lake Michigan.The pictures above are the famous "silver bean" in Millenium Plaza. It is designed to reflect the skyline and clouds and provide cool reflections to explore from the inside and outside of the sculpture.
It is awesome to have Millenium and Grant parks right next to the downtown, with cool sculptures flanked by beautiful flower beds and trees, surrounded by imposing skyscrapers.
I liked these sculptures in Grant Park.
Oh yeah, deep dish pizza. Prior to this trip, I did not know that authentic deep dish has the sauce on the top!
In downtown Chicago, I love the juxtaposition of older, classical architecture and newer, sleek high rises.
A view of one of the shoreline of Lake Michigan from atop the John Hancock tower. There are miles and miles of beautiful beaches along the Lake. Look at that beautiful blue-green water! I did not expect that.
Standing at the top of the John Hancock tower, holding our loot from a day of shopping along Michigan Avenue (aka shopping heaven).
The Chicago River meanders through the city. The Riverwalks and bridges over the river are really beautiful. It also represents quite a feat in engineering - in 1900 the direction of the river was reversed to stop the flow of pollution into Lake Michigan.
The Fountains, by French artist Hubert Robert. It doesn't look as cool in a picture, but the detail and play of light and shadow really struck me in the museum.
While I was super-excited to visit the Art Museum, Lynette was very into the Aquarium.

Next time I visit Chicago, I definitely want to visit this . . . the Field Natural History Museum.

So beautiful! This view is from the Aquarium, at the end of Museum Park.

I was such a tourist, snapping pictures of cool buildings/structures on every street corner.

Interesting work of art in Grant Park. We decided that it maybe represents the busy city, everybody walking in different directions, nameless, faceless.

We ate great meals, except for this one. A friend had recommended a restaurant called "Xoco," run by one of the Food Network guys. We walked a number of blocks to find it. The food was not at all what we expected for a Mexican restaurant, and we were seated literally ON THE STREET. We were overhanging the curb, watching the cars go by. They did have great Mexican hot chocolate, however!

We were lucky to enjoy great, non-humid weather for the duration of our trip. It was unusually cool for Chicago. This was a memorable trip, and I hope to return with Dan soon!