The final days of summer

Not to be forgotten, here are the highlights from our two weeks in Corvallis. 

 

Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles!  Aberly loved helping Nana and Papa work on their big puzzles.

 

Russ and Karen stopped by for dinner one night after biking around the Corvallis and Philomath area.  It was a great treat and fun surprise.  Thanks for the text, Karen!

 

 

Baking, baking, and more baking.  The girls love helping Nana make goodies.  Emalyn probably wasn't the biggest helper, but she loved being around the sweetness. 

 

Fountain fun!  Always a fun time down at the waterfront fountains but man, that water is cold!

 

Morning reading with Papa.

 

Uncle Andrew was able to come from NYC for his own vacation and time to see the girls.  Unfortunately he got a cold and laid low for most of the time.  This left little opportunity for a good photo of all of us.  Aberly was not in the mood either!

 

 

We spent a lovely evening at the Schulze household (family friends since I was a baby) and basked in the glory of Colleen's magnificent yard (this is where we did our family photo shoot last yera).  My inspiration for my own garden someday!  We had dinner, played, and Aberly helped spread ladybugs.  

 

A visit with the Boucher family.  Andrea and I have been friends since high school and treasure spending time each summer with our girls.   We tried really hard to get a good shot of all of them together.  This was the best.  Honestly.

 

Fair!  We saw lots of animals, watched a magic show, and Aberly rode a pony!

 

Hands down, Emalyn's highlight from Corvallis was discovering Popsicles.  

Enchated Forest!

Aberly talked nonstop in the months leading up to summer about going here again and she was not let down.  She loved exploring, seeing the play, and riding rides!  I think she went on the Log Ride (her favorite) four or five times.  

It was an extra special time because Emalyn stayed back with Nana and Papa so Aberly could have a special day with just Mommy and Daddy.

 

A special visit from Great Grandma (to the girls) Diane.  We were so grateful she was able to come for a visit and spend time one afternoon before we headed out.

 

Not so much a highlight for Nana and Papa, but a fun last time having dinner with Nana and Papa before going to our hotel for our flight out to Oman the next morning.  One last parting shot from the hotel before they hit the road.  Good job, Nana, holding back the tears for this photo!

 

Oman, here I come..... snore....

Summer continued...

So I just realized how LONG ago it was I posted about summer since my initial post.  I imagined I had posted more about the rest of July and our time in Bend, but nope, nope I had not!

Here are some more highlights of our time home in Bend.

 

Happy 4th of July!  My parents came over for the weekend and spent the holiday with us in our vacation rental.  We went to the annual Bend Pet Parade, had a BBQ lunch, and did fireworks in the street.  

 

Colin and I got out for two great hikes this summer sans children.  We hiked around Sparks Lake and explored Newberry Crater.

 

Emalyn would tell you that one of her summer highlights was bike rides with anyone who would take her around.  She was tired in this shot, but I promise, she loved it!

 

The girls loved playing at any park we stopped at.

 

Thanks Aberly, for this great snap of us!

 

Aberly and Colin did the entire length of the Lava River Cave one afternoon with Connor and Nancy.

 

A quick overnight trip to the gorgeous Diamond Lake resort just past Crater Lake with Nancy and Connor.  Aberly loved jumping in the lake and we did some paddling as well.

 

A birthday dinner for Connor and Kevin and Chrystal came to celebrate too.  We were so glad to see them one more time before the summer ended.

 
Skip and Angie treated us (and Connor) to a special beer and dinner tasting at the Deschutes Brewery.  It was a lovely evening complete with fantastic specialty beers. 

 

I don't have photos of all our times with friends, but we were so thankful to see so many of our wonderful friends this summer and that we got to spend much more time with them.  We miss you all very much!

   

  

 

 

The girls had lots of fun playing with Papa Skip and Angie and spending time them during the summer.  We got this great shot of Grandpa and his girls during our last visit.  We wish them both a great year and look forward to a visit from Skip, or possibly both of them, sometime around the holidays.

 

And as you've seen, we had lots of highlights with Connor and Nancy.  We got this great shot after our last lunch together.  We wish both of them the best this next year as Connor starts a new job post graduation and Nancy is back in Chennai, India, teaching at the American School there.  We know Nancy will make it over to visit a few times (just a 3 hour flight for her!) this year. 

More summer adventures to come soon!

A little bit of summer

It's been a whirlwind since we got back.  The plane ride home was pretty good.  It would've been lovelier if Em would've slept a bit more, but overall, both girls did really well and even Colin and I got a bit more shuteye than we expected.

Here is a quick re-cap of what we've been up to since touching down stateside.

  Having fun at Nana and Papa's.  We stayed for 4 days to recover from jetlag and give them some fun granddaughter time.

 Thanks, Nana, for the fun new outfits!

 I was thankful to spend the afternoon with one of my besties (Kari Sue) right after getting into Bend.  Emalyn and Brandon were wary of each other but warmed up after a bit of time.

 

Happy 33 to me!  Colin planned a wonderful afternoon and evening for me while the girls stayed with Nancy and Connor overnight. 

 

Besides the gift of no children for a night, Nancy gave me these lovely pearls for my birthday.

 

Papa Skip and Angie came over one night for dinner.  The girls were full of energy and kept them smiling all evening.

 

We headed to Portland last weekend for Kevin (Colin's brother) and Chrystal's wedding.  Colin was a groomsmen (here he is looking dapper even at the rehearsal)

 

Aberly got to be a flower girl along with Chrystal's niece.  They were nervous but did a great job.

 

Officially sisters-in-law (honestly, I've pretty much considered her my sister-in-law for a few years now)!

 Aberly did take part in VBS again at our church and had a wonderful time.

MORE SUMMER ADVENTURES TO COME!