Day 19: Country life in Oregon

Now that I've finally rested (and visited with church and extended family, gone kneeboarding, studied a LOT for the Bible Bee, and generally gotten back into everyday life) I'm ready to continue with pictures from the last week of our trip.

Friday (August 8) was our nothing-much day.  We had planned to go to the beach, but since we already had that experience in Washington, we opted for a day around the rental house.  Daddy rode the bus to his conference and the rest of us hung out at what we were beginning to call "home", B and B Orchards.

After a leisurely breakfast (and when I say leisurely, I mean that we older ones spent a good hour sitting around the table--we do this at home frequently and we had missed it on our trip) Mommy and the boys went apple-picking.  "Our" house was on forty acres and the owners told us we were welcome to anything that was in season, from the herbs to the fresh produce to the apples.

George loves picking and eating apples...

...and William likes little holes and hideouts.  A multipurpose tree-- how great is that?!

Thomas and Samuel, the monkeys of the family

James and William look like they're posing for a cd album cover, "Two Boys and an Apple" or some other such song.  Hey, that sounds like a top hit!  Or maybe not.  I'm not a singer--I'm a writer--so y'all will just have to bear with me.  :)

Interesting story behind this picture: When we were all talking about what we wanted to do on our trip, Samuel announced that he wanted to see a topiary garden.  After searching the web, we couldn't find any that cost less than a small fortune for us to tour.  Samuel graciously chose something else, and we moved on to other things.  

Fast forward to Thursday morning.  Our landlady came by to show us around and tell us about some of the area attractions.  After she had given us the general idea of Hubbard and its surroundings, Mommy asked her if there were any topiary gardens in the area.  Our landlady looked puzzled--I guess we don't really look like the topiary kind of family--but replied that there was a nursery about ten miles from us with some sort of fancy bushes in front of it.

And that's how we ended up in front of Bountiful Farms nursery, a real live (albeit small) topiary garden!

Samuel was thrilled to jump rope with the "people" in the garden.

My favorite part was the house; I wish we had had something like this when I was younger!  (Anna, I know you are going to read this and say, "You're STILL young, Joy" but you've got to admit it, I would have enjoyed this house more ten years ago).

Tennis--us against the bushes.  They're bigger, but we're a little bit more agile. :) Go team!

Samuel with his favorite "person", the lawn care guy.  He and George came away with dreams of filling our front yard with people, but I'm not sure what their Southern garden great-grandmother will say to that.  For that matter, I'm not sure what I would say about it either!

When we got back to the house, we all relaxed, read, studied, and I blogged (I think I blogged eight days of the trip in four physical days; I feel like I've been on a blogging marathon :) ).

We also did loads of loads of laundry.  Both machines were running nonstop all day; we hadn't washed since the Wards' and you should have seen our piles of dirty laundry.  No, you shouldn't have either.  It's a sight best left to the imagination.

When she wasn't doing laundry, Mommy took the boys to the park.  They've become quite the experts on playgrounds this trip; I think they could write a book called "Playgrounds of America".  Maybe they would pay me to edit it for them (I'll work for dark chocolate, the darker the better).

Thomas and Samuel on the twisty thing.  I'm sure it has a proper name, but I've never encountered it.  :)  Twisty thing is good enough for me.

Twice the slides, twice the boys, twice the fun

But the REAL fun was the sprinkler!  Water-based playgrounds seem to be very popular out here, and I can understand why--they look really fun!

George and John must not have been as enthusiastic about getting wet.  Or maybe they just wanted to catch up on some "guy talk".

But Samuel definitely got wet...

...and Thomas

...and William

...and--of course--James!

After the boys dried off (a little) they picked up Daddy at the bus stop and brought him home to a good ol' Southern meal of poppyseed chicken, fried green beans (fresh from the garden out back!), baked sweet potatoes, and rolls.  It was good to be "home" again.

Up next: nine children, two parents, and one big city.

Posted by Joy

We're home!

Hi, everyone (all two of you that read our blog, that is :) ).  I'm just dropping in to say that we finally reached home sweet home around noon today.  Everyone is safe, sound, and exhausted, but ready to hit the ground running after a nice long nap.  I plan to blog again in the near future with pictures from the rest of our trip, but now I think I'm going to curl up in my long-missed bed and sleep the night away as only an exhausted teenager can.  

So don't expect me to be fully conscious before 3 p.m. tomorrow.  Just kidding...I think.

Joy

Day 18: Bible Bee Hive Meeting

On August 7th, we went to the McMinnville Hive Bible Bee meeting. We had met the Cooksey family at the National Bible Bee, so we were excited to get to see them again and come to their Bible Bee meeting.     

The Cookseys had us over for supper before the Bible Bee meeting. 

We really enjoyed getting to visit with them and talk about Jonah, the changes to the contest, and all things Bible Bee :).                                                                    

Eating supper and talking.

                                       

After supper, we went across the street to their church for the Bible Bee meeting. 

Once the Opening Ceremony was over, the children split up into two groups.

Half went to play Bible Bee games and the other half went to be tested on verses. 

We really appreciated the chance to recite our verses to someone.

  

The games were very fun! First, four people (one from each team) came up to answer a question.

The first one to answer the question correctly got to answer a new question (or recite a verse) by playing some sort of game. 

This was the most popular choice. After answering the question, you shot a water gun at the choice that was correct (A, B, C, D,). I was such a bad aim that I shot A, B, and C (meaning to hit B).

 Like I said, the games were a bunch of fun!                                                                                           

When we were done playing games and reciting verses, some people played volleyball... 

...while others talked.

We really enjoyed the meeting!

~Anna

Day 17: Portland at last!

On Wednesday we packed up our home away from home (a.k.a. the tent) and set out for Portland.

It was a little bittersweet to pack up our camping gear for the last time, but we were all so excited about finally being in a house that we didn't care!

Well, you'd be excited about staying in such a pretty house too!  Acres of hazelnut trees, a garden of veggies and herbs, apple trees, and a kitchen, laundry room, and the works.  We all LOVED it!  And did I mention that it was less expensive than two hotel rooms?!  The house wins over a hotel every time.  (And, no, there is no such thing as exclamation point overuse; the house really is that good.)   I hope to post more pictures from it soon.

But for now I'll just leave you with a picture of us eating real food in a real kitchen (exciting!).  There's no place like home, but this comes pretty close.

P.S.  I'm behind on blogging by about five days, so I thought I'd give you a brief update about where we are really going.  We're in Rapid City, SD, and plan to drive straight home from here.  Please pray for us as we drive the last thousand miles between here and West TN.   I plan to blog tomorrow, Lord willing, from home sweet home!

Posted by Joy

Day 16: Olympic (Lake Crescent and waterfalls)

Tuesday was our last day in Olympic and we wanted to make the most of it.   So we went to the water.  Tennessee is beautiful in its own way, but our end of it runs rather short in the waterfall and lake department.

Olympic has no shortage of waterfalls, however, and each is more beautiful than the last.

Mesmerized...we had a difficult time getting his attention when it was time to walk back to the van.

Who would want to leave such a beautiful spot?

But we finally tore ourselves away for a picnic by an even more beautifuller--double modifiers welcome here--place, Lake Crescent.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but I believe that a truly beautiful one is worth a million...maybe more.

We had originally planned to swim, but as soon as most of us so much as stuck our big toe in we changed our minds.  Wading--that is, barely going past our ankles--was the water sport of choice for most of us.  We're so tough.  Not.

John was brave and put his feet in--and then had fun kicking water at his not-so-hardy sisters.  I think he was trying to show us how fun it was, but the plan backfired when he fired on us. :)

James on the pier

A super-size grin from a super-fun boy.

Daddy did a good job as life guard, although I think he was glad that he never had to brave the frigid waters to rescue someone.  :)

James and William (or William and James, I'm not sure; see what I mean about their passing for twins).

William on the pier, Thomas on the ladder, and Samuel trying to get into the water, according to their various levels of adventure.

And according to my desire of adventure (and even more, my dislike of frozen clothes) I stayed comfortably on shore with Mommy, John, and the girls.

Samuel went so far as to go under!  Yay, Samuel!

After the boys dried off we went to one last waterfall.  This one was very thin, but so tall that we weren't able to get a full picture of it.  So we got George instead; he's as good-looking as a waterfall, and much more exciting.  :)

Thomas, Samuel, and William

And that is the end of our camping days.  We had a wonderful time in Washington, but we were looking forward to a Portland, the land of washing machines and real beds.  Check back for pictures of our new abode (hint: it was not a tent or the parking lot of a rest area or a hotel room, all of which we have done on our trip). 

 

Check back soon for pictures!

Posted by Joy