The Roads Less Traveled

On Memorial Day weekend the Cascade Highway opened up to the public to allow access to all the amazing lakes that lie untouched in the winter months.  How exciting!!

The snow was 10 feet high in some place on the sides of the road.  

The water at Devil's Lake was crystal clear and frigid..  

But the kids still splashed around in it.

Elk lake, which is a favorite for many during the summer months for concerts, camping and swimming, was stunning!

What a bad ass truck!!

Lava Lake was also very beautiful...

A few weeks later we ventured back up to the lakes to see how things were progressing.. Devils lake was completely void of snow and was the most beautiful clear, green color I have ever seen!!!

Probably still a little chilly to swim in, but again the kids were loving it.

Finally at Elk lake we found a little swim hole that was pretty warm.  The kids had fun finding garter snakes and tadpoles.

warming up...

On our way home we saw a huge "cloud" in the sky.. which turned out to be a plume of smoke!

As we drove toward Bend, the smoke seemed to get closer and closer.. great...

Well as it turns out Bend isn't perfect after all. It might not have tornadoes or hurricanes or flooding of any sort, but it does have its share of fire.  The fire was only 6 miles from town which put us on alert to be ready to evacuate.  When it came down to figuring out what we should take with us, we realized there's not much "stuff" that's too important to us.  We need very little to survive and that most of what we have is just "stuff" and doesn't hold value.  It was a nice lesson learned.

As for the fire, the firemen worked day and night for days to get this beast of a fire under control.  I have so much gratitude for these men and women who fought so hard to keep us safe.  I feel honored to have them as our firefighters.

After the smoke cleared we ventured out to another road that closes during the winter.  A road that leads to the beautiful view of Paulina Lake. It was just gorgeous up here.  The lake again was a deep blue/green surrounded by green pines and snow patches dispersed throughout.  

Family photo op

We headed back down the treacherous one lane road that should be mentioned on the show, The World's Most Dangerous Roads and was glad to be going down hugging the inside of the road and not the cliff side!  Pretty scary!!

First Fourth

Getting ready for the fourth of July Pet Parade!!!  

Fresh fruit stands and arts and craft vendors were everywhere on our walk to the parade.  One of the things Erik and I looked for in a place to live was to be where things were happening and not feel like we were missing out on anything.  Bend is definitely the place to be!

All sorts of pets were being escorted down the road in the parade.

Lots of ponies...

cows...

and BIG and small dogs..

even dogs they could fly!!!

Not sure he was having too much fun up there.  But he was real cute!!!

After the parade we had a few people over for pre fireworks fun and food!

I was sooo scared Autumn's flammable dress was going to catch fire...

Thankfully we made it through with no fire injuries and lots of fun fireworks to watch..

Happy Fourth!!

Woodland Fairy Birthday Party

I swore I wasn't going to do a big birthday party this year but as time goes on you forget how much work they really are and end up saying, "OK, you can have a party this year," just to see your daughter's eyes light up with excitement.  So the theme for this year's birthday party was Woodland Fairy. And since it is the summer we needed things to keep us busy and what better way than to plan for a party.  We made...

little fairy doors...

Wooden mushrooms that Erik cut out from left over wood..

And paper lanterns.  The kids had a blast making all of this and it kept them very happy all week. 

Happy kids, happy mom.  :)

Here we are all set for the guests to arrive.  Mira, Josslyn's friend from down the street came by early to help out.

I am not much of a Pinterest person, but it definitely was fun to look for unique ideas for the party.

                                     

For a fun arts and craft project we decided since it was a full moon, we should make fairy wish bottles and fill them with all sorts of herbs.

                                      

  

Here they all are filling their bottles so carefully really putting thought into which herbs they wanted in their bottle. 

Here is Auty overflowing her bottle with fairy magic glitter, which was a favorite among most girls.   

As the party moved on we realized time was moving slow and our ideas for what to do with the kids were running out.  I couldn't believe how long 3 hours was when needing to entertain a group of kids.  

So we decided to open up gifts.  

Auty trying to steal the lollipop off a gift before handing it to Joss.

Mira gave Joss her bike for her birthday.  What a perfect gift!

Joss making a wish before...

Blowing out the candle.

The party I think was a success, but was happy to see the 3 hours come to a an end.  

And as always I made the same vow I make every time we have a party, no more for another 2-3 years at least! :)

Full Circle...

Mother's Day marks just about the one year anniversary of when we first came to Bend on our trip cross country.  I can not believe it has been a year already!  It's really neat to see the springtime in Bend for a second time.  Last time we were here at this time, we missed out on seeing lots.  This year we are gung-ho about seeing as much as possible.  One of those places we weren't able to visit, due to lack of time were the Painted Hills, about an hour and a half east of Bend.  I decided this was where I wanted to spend Mother's Day this year!

Mitchell, Oregon was the little town right outside of the Painted Hills that allowed for gas fill-ups and food before heading into the colorful, sandy hills of the desert.   Here is Erik trying to figure out how the hell to work this old school gas pump.  We found out 5 minutes later that this pump was not for public use, but for "special" card holders.  The people in this town were some of the kindest people we have met.  

Looked like a very small cowboy/ghost town.  

Our first views that we drove up to, of the painted hills.  WOW!  The colors were so vibrant and full of life!  

A picture with my two little girls on Mother's Day is a rarity these days with how fidgety Autumn has become.

Joss our little photographer is still taking amazing photos.  She has such an eye for it.  

A family photo that lasted two seconds before Auty was off and running.  She just doesn't want to be still for any length of time.

I find it hard to believe that something so drastically different from the climate and landscape of Bend is less than two hours away.  One of the many reasons we chose Oregon as our home was for all the amazing landscapes you can visit within hours time.  It has the lush, thick forests laced with dripping moss of the Williamette valley, to the rugged and majestic awe-inspiring coastline, to the quirky, food mecca of Portland, to the sandy canyons and hills of the deserts, to the crystal clear, blue and green lakes of the Cascades, to the crisp white snow capped mountains off in the distance to the black, hardened lava lands that are widely dispersed throughout.  This place has it all!!  

The only way to keep Auty still is to feed her.  She was loving the trail mix.

Spring time wild flowers are alive and kicking in this harsh environment.  The beauty that perseveres is magical.

The little lizard hoping no one sees him burrowing his way deep into the hardened ground of these colorful hills to make a home.

A beautiful little trail getting close and personal to the painted hills.

Love the colors nature is showing off in this picture.  

I think everyone was starting to get a little tired of exploring.  I could have gone all day!  Being out in nature anywhere, always makes me feel alive.

Our last look, for now, of the sublime patterns and spectacular colors of Mother Nature's beautiful artwork.  She leaves you speechless.