Last hurrah of the summer

Beaver's Lodge at Gillette Lake
Setting up camp
Colby and Grandpa fishing
Tracen having a ball getting dirty!
Grandpa's fishing buddy
Cameron, Vance, Shawnte' and Demi
Jayden, Kenzie and Shyane
Jayden, Kenzie, Shyane and Colby racing
Travis keeping up with Tracen
Grandma loving little Demi
Yeah! Braden caught one
Braden, Colby and Vance
Papa with Braden, Colby, Tracen Kaelynn and Vance
Shasta and Colson

Shasta with the kids

Brrr...

All the grandkids

Getting ready to go home

Kaelynn, Vance and Makenna (tired little girl)

We had a fun weekend with our daughters and their family's. The last hurrah of the summer!

Shawnte' had reserved us all camping spots at Gillette Lake near Colville. Karen pulled in second and we arrived late afternoon. Although we left early morning, we had too many sights to see on the way up! Shasta and her crew didn't make it until almost eleven p.m. The boys helped Owen set up the tent in the dark, while we got the kids all situated and then sat around the fire talking and eating smores.

Saturday was spent at the lake swimming, boating, fishing, and just having a wonderful time. It was awesome weather and was so much fun to watch Jayden, Cameron and Owen throw each other in the lake...as well as the other kids. The grandkids had a wonderful time.

Sunday, it was hard to say good bye, as usual. Little Kaelynn cried her heart out - not wanting to leave us. We took our time getting home as Dad wanted to drive by Eastern Washington University to show Jayden the campus. It would be wonderful if he went there. He'd be close to home, yet still independent. Ideal for ME...

Oregon Coast Vacation

Mom and Jayden in front of our yurt! John and KatrinaJayden Jayden loving the ocean breeze Mom, NOT loving the ocean breeze:) One of the characters we met while walking in Newport.He ran the espresso shop...and was he enthusiastic!

The sea lions - letting us know they were here first!

A "philosophical" couple we met on the pier

Jayden's encounter with the raccoons

Jayden with Mom and Dad

Jayden and Mom at Oswald State Park

Dad, writing in the sand like he did seventeen years ago.This time it reads, "The Three Nephites"

Jayden with a couple of Coast Guards in Astoria

Dad and Mom with Jayden in Astoria

Jayden and Mom at Ft. Stevens

Dad and Jayden in one of the forts

One of the more lush historical homes in Astoria

Jayden lovin' the speed

John and Katrina

Had a fun and fast trip to the Oregon coast. We started off in Reedsport in a state park where we rented a yurt for our first night. Super fun and so much better than a tent. I was exhausted and fell asleep while Dad and Jayden stayed up and watched Funny Farm with Chevy Chase on our little DVD player. Would've liked a shower but a ball cap will do! The weather was beautiful although the wind blew incessantly. We drove into Coos Bay to snap a picture of Jehkiah's old house and have breakfast.

As we drove on, the wind tapered off and we were able to enjoy being outdoors. There just wasn't enough time to do everything so we ended up in the car alot driving from one town to the next as we moved north toward Astoria--our final destination. But, the sight's were amazing. We stayed in a hotel in Newport our second night. Jayden called it the Midget Inn as the shower head was located under his armpit and his twin bed was only 5 foot long! We ate at our favorite Chalet Restaurant--clam chowder to die for. Later that evening we walked the pier and met some pretty unique people. One chatty lady was an archeology major and philosopher. What a combination! She was fun to talk to but boy did she wear me out...ha! While we were talking, we could hear the sea lions crying in the background so we snapped some pictures and the more we showed them attention, the louder they barked. I think they were showing off. Jayden also discovered a pack of raccoons hidden under the bridge. They weren't intimidated and he literally stared them down.

Saturday, we took off early and ended up doing a rough u-turn to grab some home-made goodies. The lady standing on the side of the road dressed like a sprinkled donut had a little something to do with it. On the road again, we stopped and shopped and kept on moving. We did a little beach time at Oswald State Park as Dad wanted to show Jayden where he proposed to Mom seventeen years ago. By the time we got to Astoria we were tired and hungry and had to find a hotel quickly. We ended up having to reserve one 30 miles up the road in Clakskanie, which is a beautiful town in its own right. Before heading out, we drove over to the Job Corps where I did a 3 month stint as a teenager so I could show Jayden. Then we went into town to look at all the awesome houses and historical buildings and down on the pier to admire the ships.

Sunday, we spent at Ft. Stevens, Astoria Column then onto Portland where we had dinner and treated Jayden to the Malibu Grand Prix cars. He loved it, of course. I went around three times and was done. Dad tried to go more but it wore him out too!

Good times.