Over the River and Through the Woods...to Grandmother's House We Go!

We left on August 3rd for the long drive down to Redding, CA to visit David's parents and grandparents. Actually, it's only 700 miles, which is less than half the distance from Nashville to New Mexico, so I'm not complaining. We split the distance in half and spent the first night just south of Portland, OR. This was the first time that I had traveled through Oregon. It's a lovely state with wide rivers and densely wooded mountains on western side (we won't mention the eastern side, it wasn't quite so awe inspiring). What's with the gas station attendants who pump your gas?! The first time, it was charming, but after that, it was a bother to wait around for them.
For this trip, we changed up the seating arrangement in the van a bit. Sarah moved up to Kathryn's place, and Joseph moved over to Sarah's old corner. Kathryn occupies Joseph's former space. Sarah kept little David entertained the whole trip -- she enjoys making silly faces at him and talking to him non-stop. For the most part, David appreciates the entertainment. Joseph and Kathryn got along quite nicely in the backseat - they kept mostly to themselves and were relatively quiet.

Mt Hood River, along I-84 through Oregon

Before passing this dam, I thought the massive river was a lake - it was so wide and still.

It was easy to tell when we were getting close to Portland -- suddenly there were trees everywhere... 

and they kept getting thicker and taller.

And Sarah got sillier...

Day 2, new coloring books keep them entertained for varying amounts of time.

Sarah: 10 minutes, Kathryn: 20 minutes, Joseph: 2 hours

One more improvement to the seating arrangement: 

Move Sarah's chair toward the door. 

Now she can still entertain the baby, but can't poke him in the eye or pull his arm.

See Joseph and Kathryn hiding under their blankets?

Little David chewing on Sarah's stuffed dragon's tail - she learned very quickly not to hand him anything unless she wanted him to put it directly into his mouth. Mom and Dad learned to not give Sarah anything that shouldn't be in David's mouth.

Road trip sing-a-long, anyone? We sang a few rousing choruses of "Old MacDonald" and other 2 and 3-year-old favorites along the way. 

Getting close to Medford. Less trees and more brown.

Can anyone name that mountain in the southern skyline?

Still smiling after two days on the road??

We stopped to visit David's grandparents in Medford. Grandpa Asay is around 92 years old and still walking around on his own. He loved holding the baby.

(I caught him blinking - sorry Grandpa!)

Sarah is chatting away with a second cousin who called while we were visiting.

Eating lunch with Grandma Asay. She is 89 and she seemed to really enjoy chatting with David.

The last 2 hours driving down to Redding were the worst. I was sandwiched in the back between two car seats and a very cranky Kathryn. So, we took lots of pictures with the camera on my phone.

It's such a small space that I couldn't sit all the way back.

Story time with Grandpa Kent. I love all the kids' facial expressions, especially Kathryn's.

Check back soon for Part 2: Joseph's Birthday and the trek home

Mmmmm, Key lime pie. 

I was so bummed about not eating Key lime pie in Florida, that I had to make one for myself.

Sarah's new big girl bed. I found this at a thrift store for $10. It's in great condition and Sarah adores it.

More birthday presents. This is from Auntie Ashley - beautiful butterfly wings and skirt.

So cute! She got them from some online store for about $2 a piece (+ shipping). I don't think I could buy the materials for that price.

She even got a pair for Sarah. Thanks Ashley!!

We also got some new toys from Grandma Carol. I love quality, educational, multi-use toys like these.

The little bear board has snaps, buckles, zippers, buttons, etc. for practicing.

These fountains are at one of our favorite city parks. Just perfect for a hot summer day.

All FOUR kids!

Kathryn wanted to "hold" David, but he's big enough now that he sort of sits up next to her while she puts an arm around him. Check out her tan -- where did she get such great skin? Not from this freckle-faced mama.

Joseph wanted to hold David too, but by this time, he was getting a little tired of all the squeezing.

Kathryn still adores her baby doll, and Sarah is still trying to convince Kathryn to give her the stroller.

This has been a nice week. We've gone to the park three times and to story time at the library. I baked bread, rolls and pizza dough (all from the same recipe/batch) and muffins last night. Most of it turned out great. I'm trying to bake bread to use for sandwiches. Now that David is eating lunch, we go through three loaves of bread a week. I like to buy 100% whole wheat bread without any nasty additives, so that can get kind of pricey. I also started making our own yogurt. It's so much easier than I thought it would be. I made yogurt once about two years ago and let it get a little too tangy, so I gave up because I didn't want to waste a ton of expensive rice or almond milk while I learned how to do it. This time around I bought cheap cow's milk to practice with. So far I've made three batches of yogurt and they have all turned out wonderfully! Using a gallon of cow's milk I can make 4 quarts of yogurt (or 128oz) for around $2 -- compare that to the 4 small cups of yoplait that usually cost around 50/ea (or in other words $2.00 for 24oz). My kids LOVE yogurt and the pro-biotic cultures are really healthy, so this is an easy way to save some money and give them more wholesome yogurt (no added sugars, artificial flavors or colors, etc.) Once I feel really confident in my yogurt making skills I'll try using Almond milk (maybe vanilla - yum!) to see how it turns out. Almond Milk costs just under $3 for a half gallon here, so I wouldn't be saving much money, but the yogurt would then be dairy-free. (And free of any hormones or unwanted additives commonly found in cows milk).