Summer 2016- Part Two

We seemed to squeeze a lot in the last little bit of summer. Paul's brother, Bryan and his family live about 15 minutes away but it's definitely "country" with the open land, barn animals and "dirty boots" lifestyle. They just installed their pool and we were lucky enough to check it out...actually only Reina did. I had to take care of Rowen and Baelor likes to play in water as long as he can touch the bottom and play with boats and such, so he opted to play with cousin Corbin's toys instead. Reina had a good time playing with cousin Degan in the pool. She is our little risk-taker and really doesn't have much fear, except for water slides. For some reason it takes her forever to finally decide to go down, but once she goes that's all she wants to do! I can relate as I am pretty much the same way when it comes to cliff-jumping and whatnot. I have to see that the person before me didn't break their neck before I jump! Hehe.

After the pool, the kids got to ride the horses! Reina rode Lulu. Penny was in time-out so nobody rode her. Baelor rode Lulu and the third horse who's name slips our minds. Baelor did NOT want to get off. He is a committed boy who will stick to a task. It was so cute how Corbin was coddling Baelor like he was a little baby that needed constant attending to. You could tell Baelor was getting pretty annoyed, but he isn't one to fight back so he just stuck through being treated like a baby. Corbin even had to watch over Baelor going potty in the field...I had to take a picture!

We picked blueberries, but only twice! I know crazy me usually picks 80 lbs. but we still had plenty of past years so I had to limit our freezer space. We just haven't used blueberries as often lately, but we all rediscovered how much we love them so we might actually run out this time before the 2017 picking season returns! Yay for antioxidants! Reina and her BFF Lily did really great picking over 9 lbs. themselves! Baelor did not want to leave the field and be done. He is a very dedicated individual if it is something that interests him.

We took a couple trips to Cottonwood beach. We love how it is only 15 minutes away and much warmer than the Oregon Coast. Baelor discovered the boogie boards keep him afloat and had a good time with those. Reina likes to get wild and soaked with whoever is there: Jeanette, Lily, and Karter. During a short hot spell we did manage to escape the heat to Oceanside near Tillamook, OR for the day with Grandma and Grandpa Guinn. Every year we like to go the Oregon Coast at least once. Usually it is Pacific City which is a weekend event, but this year we stuck closer to home for a day trip. We had some 100+ degree days and since we don't have an air conditioner we thought the coast would be perfect. The day prior was the perfect beach day.

We went on a Saturday so Paul could go and it was actually foggy the whole day! The plus side is that there was no wind at all, so all in all it was not cold, just not clear like we expected. In fact, there wasn't any wind to even fly the kite! Grandma Guinn recently had a fall which broke her hand and sprained her other hand so she had been in a funk which is totally understandable. We thought the beach would do her good since she grew up in Newport, Oregon. It was a good day. Grandpa helped Reina make a fence around her castle and helped create a river for Baelor's boats. Rowen enjoyed grabbing the sand, rolling it through his fingers and eating it. Paul and I just relished that we were not working! We have been so busy with projects at home on our spare time that just playing together felt like we were sneaking behind the boss' back! I'll get to the projects hopefully on the next post? Although now you'll be expecting something grand and spectacular and it's not. Even simple things take a lot of work and time!

Cousin Karter turned 5, so for his birthday gift I took him and Reina and Baelor to Oaks Park for the day. It was such a hot day but they still enjoyed all the little rides that I cannot stand! I only participated in a handful of them because those turny ones really make me sick! I just can't handle the spinny ones anymore like Tilta-Whirl or Gravitron.

My favorite part was going to the roller-skating rink there. Reina got some roller-skates for her birthday (like classic ones that I had growing up) and has enjoyed them at Mummi's house and around the school where the ground is smooth, but we don't have a roller-skating rink super close by like we used to in the elementary school days of "Roller-skating parties". I always loved those but they just tore down Goldenskate right before I was going to take the kids. Reina absolutely loved it! She enjoys ice-skating too so I knew this would be right up her ally. I was hesitant about the boys but they did quite well! Thank goodness it was not super crowded for the boys to go at their own pace. I wanted pictures/video on the rink but I got in trouble for taking one or two pictures...apparently it's a safety hazard so I couldn't take any on the main rink.

The last weekend of summer was Hood to Coast relay run. This event has gone on since 1982 originating with just 8 teams but now has a max limit of 12,600 participants! Wow! I had to look this up. This was my first year running it. Paul did it a few years ago with my friend's team, the D'feeters. He had to fill a male spot which is why I couldn't do it. She wanted me to do it last year but I was pregnant (in fact delivered Rowen the weekend of HTC last year), so this year was finally my year to do it! Paul was going to fill in someone's spot but just a few days before the race his back got SUPER inflamed; to the point that he had to get a muscle relaxer. So he sadly didn't get to do it. I was so looking forward to doing this together so hopefully in the future we can do an intense race together- we even got matching shirts that still have the tags on them. My experience was really good! I knew only a couple of people in my van, van 1, but by the end of the two days we were like BFF's, or something like that.

We started at Mt. Hood. The weather was so perfect up there, which made it in the mid 90 degrees for later in the day runners. Luckily, my first leg (runner 4) ended right as it was nearing 90 degrees. My first leg was the longest of 7.11 miles and the hottest. It was tough with the heat, but I survived. My goal was to keep a good pace and not walk. Happy to report I did not pass out or walk. My second leg which was around 10 pm was my favorite run. I just love running at night! It was a short run so I picked up the pace a bit and completed 4 miles in 29 minutes. It was a great experience. We'll see if I can tag along with another team next year. I'm up for trying it again.