A Fun Trip

We recently drove to Ashland, Oregon to visit my brothers Doug and Jeff and their families. San Diego is a long way from them, and we've missed them dearly.

Being at Doug and Angela's house is like staying in a posh cabin on a forested mountain. So gorgeous. Seth got to drive a tractor and go 4-wheeling in a sweet old Jeep. It was pretty funny to watch this Jeep navigate the rough terrain with car seats rocking back and forth in the backseat with a couple of smiling four-year-olds (Seth and his cousin Johnny).

Between Doug and Jeff's houses, there were plenty of pets to love on--dogs, cats, kittens, a hedgehog, chickens (although Seth was too distracted by the pool to request his usual chicken coop jaunt). There was even a menacing bear lurking near the trash cans at night to keep things exciting.

Doug was very interested in showing his niece and nephew a good time and winning their affections. He didn't mind exhausting himself towing us back and forth on the zip line, taking us on forest tours, motorcycling, and telling the kids awesome bedtime stories.


Doug took the kids to the candy aisle at the drug store and said "get whatever you want". They started grabbing two and three things each -- I immediately corrected them and said "no, just choose one." Doug said, "no, get WHATEVER you want". Wow, the kids had a great time collecting armfuls of candy and putting it in the shopping cart. (Sometimes the kids had no idea what it was they were grabbing, so I admit I plucked some chocolate cherries back out of the cart. Those just aren't fit for consumption). I realized I hadn't ever let them go to the the candy aisle and choose even one thing before. They loved it of course, and they really loved Doug. When we were in the check-out line with over $60 in candy and soda, Doug realized how ridiculous we looked and had to make a joke of it to amuse the cashier and fellow customers who were led to believe the kids were diabetics.

This last photo is probably only funny to me. Doug and I thought Ada in this blanket looked like a Russian baby waiting for her rye. Anyway, we had a great time. We got to meet our newest nephew, had some good laughs, and I was even treated to a really cool rendering of the Shakespearean play "Measure for Measure". If you know anything about Ashland, they do Shakespeare right up there. It was such a treat!