Little Dumer News: Hello Oregon!

No picture we've taken this year captures summertime happiness quite like this one!

Cygni, Jordy, Maddy, Claire, Evan, Jackson & Hayden

all rockin' some ice cream cones!

For our final installment of exciting summer getaways, we headed down to central Oregon, to the resort community of Sunriver, where we rented a house we shared with The Leatons and our new friends The Duringer family! It was lovely and warm in this part of the Deschutes National Forest, a short drive from Bend. We spent some time at the famed SHARC (Sunriver Homeowners' Aquatic & Recreation Center) splashing in the water and playing in the sand, explored some of the volcanic landmarks in the area and generally had a fun time with lovely people who we can't wait to see again! Even our dear friends Clover and Ira and their kiddos found a way to meet us in Sunriver for some dinner and playtime on their way home from their own summer vacation roadtrip across the US.

Entering the Lava River Cave!

Some of our super spelunkers

Mommy, Cygni, Stu, Evan, Tim, Jackson, Tina, Jennifer & Maddy

One day when it was a little too cool to hit the pool, we ventured to The Lava River cave, one of the many recreational sites within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, operated by the US parks service. To be honest, when we read as we drove into the park that they recommended allowing an hour round trip to explore the cave (it's a one mile walk in and a one mile walk out,) we did not think the kids would allow us to participate in this activity! But we decided to get to the cave's mouth and see how things went, turning around when we needed to. Well, Jordan was intrigued right away and we headed in. Cygni didn't really start fussing to be carried either until we were about 4/5 of the way in. We all happily reached "the end" and had a little photo-op and poked around a bit.

Unfortunately, it all kind of fell apart about half way on our way back, when Jordan slipped walking on some rocky uneven ground and asked to be carried, which Daddy did do for a little while, and by this time, Cygni was in full-time carry mode. Little kids get heavy to carry around, even if they are little, but J-man weighs about 60 lbs. so no one is carrying this guy a half mile without having to shift, re-arrange, take a break, etc. And bear in mind, we had to carry a propane lantern too! It was an arduous journey back! We had to take lots of breaks, and the kids were pretty cranky with Mom and Dad, and Mom and Dad were getting a little cranky with each other too! Times when Daddy would have just taken his momentum and briskly walked, were not do-able for Mommy because she had to stay close enough to watch her footing in Dad's lantern-shine, but she can't keep pace with Dad in full stride even on a great day! Just when Mommy thought her arms would fall off, the cave became a little less dark, and soon we could see daylight. It was exhausting but we are very proud of Jordan having gone as far as he did on his own! We later found some weird marks on his ankles and legs which we first attributed to the fall among some rocky bits even though they looks a bit like burns. But a couple of days later when Daddy was checking them out he asked Jordy how he got the owies and he replied, "lantern in cave." Yikes! We felt really bad at that point, trying to juggle the kids and the lantern did not work out as well as we thought it had. But knowing what we know now, it begs the question: why did Jordan not scream or freak out when the lantern touched him, apparently multiple times!? Bad parents of the year award, right here!

To other parents who might consider venturing there with small kids, I will say it is without a doubt the highlight of our trip to Oregon in Jordan's mind; he still talks about it! But be prepared, you need one adult more than the number of kids you are carting around if they are remotely likely to stop wanting to walk on their own. I know, we DID have that, right? But by the time we realised we could have used another set of hands for the lantern, the rest of our party was too far ahead of us to ask for help. OR Bring your own non-propane lantern, maybe make it a headlamp! Don't be too discouraged, we really did enjoy the trek and the kids did too, I'm just saying we could have made it a bit easier on ourselves.

Even Jordy had to crouch down in this part of the cave!

The expedition turns back

While we liked exploring the local sites, we also liked our rental home.

It was nice kicking back at #27 Yellow Pine Lane!

"Scotland The Brave" will forever have a new meaning for us,
this goes out to you: Tim, Jen, Stu & Tina

goofing with Auntie 'Ginia

Hanging out with Maddy

heading out to see the river

Golden mantled ground squirrel,

not to be confused with the very similar looking yellow pine chipmunk!

The next day we went out to Lava Butte, a cinder cone on yet another part of Newberry. We were grateful for an easier day, for sure! After a little walk about the visitor's centre we drove up the butte and although it wasn't the clearest day we still got a lovely view.

You can see a rain shower pass over the area in the left side of this panorama

and the crater of the cinder cone

A shot of Mt. Bachelor

Tried to snap one of The Sisters range, but it was just too hazy

We also did a little exploring in The Village, which had lots of cute shops and reminded us of our own Whistler Village, though on a smaller scale. The kids loved the train ride.

It was a lovely stay in Sunriver and though the weather was pleasant as far as we were concerned, it sounds like we got lucky it wasn't a blistering week. In fact, it was warmer in the Willamette Valley the whole time we were in Central Oregon, and during the summer, it is usually the other way around! The only downer for Mommy was that she caught some kinda 'flu and the last night we were there she went to bed early with body aches and switched between fever and chills the rest of the night. The drive to Eugene the next day she slept most of the way and missed a lot of scenery and then as soon as they got to Stu & Tina's she and Cygni took a nap! After that she was fine though, and luckily Daddy is the only one who got a scratchy throat and a bit of fatigue.

Here's the gang!

We spent five days in Sunriver, and though we were getting close to needing to be home, we had to try to squeeze in a visit to Eugene! That Friday we got into town, we went for dinner at Lola and Grampa Tom's. For those of you who don't know, Lola is the filipino equivalent of grandma. Lola had THREE big stuffies for the kids and even though we could only really fit one into the car to take home, the kids had a fun time playing and cuddling with them.

Lola pulled out all the stops, making mac'n'cheese, corn dogs AND chicken nuggets

for the grandbabies. Then she gave them ice cream!

What happens at Lola's, stays at Lola's!

Lock up your daughters, here comes Quincy!

The next day would be our only full day in Eugene, so we did the same thing as last year and had a picnic at Emerald Park! It was lovely to see some of Mommy's dear old friends again! Thanks to everyone who came out to see us, we wish we could have spent a little more time in town. Maybe next year! We love you all!