silver falls

Oh, Silver Falls... you made for a camping delight.

We planned a last-minute camping trip to Silver Falls State Park. Stace and her family were going to join us, but the brakes on their truck had other ideas. They had to turn back, but we carried on.

It was as stressful as camping with kids always is, but still pretty idyllic. After staying up late for s'mores, Grace fell right to sleep while Addy sang to herself with the cover of the tent pulled back so she could look at the stars (her request). Darling.

(What was NOT darling was realizing Doug and I forgot to bring the warm blanket we'd planned to cover us. We had flannel sheets and a thin blanket, so whilst our girls slept great, we did not. Son of a gun.)

The next day we hiked to three of the ten falls in the area. Addy maxed out on all the walking, but all the hiking was worth it. The falls are absolutely beautiful.

Silver Falls was originally pegged to be a national park in the 30s, and I can definitely see why. We'd definitely go back.

silver lake-ing

Our Shafer family reunion was chock full of boating this year. Doug's parents live on Silver Lake, and they added two wave runners to their boating arsenal. We had a LOT of fun.

 

bowling beauty

What a doll.

hug point

We tried out a new beach the other day, and we'd like to give Hug Point a huge high five (or maybe a huge hug?).

It had cool caves, water falls, soft sand, and a stream running to the beach, perfect for toddlers to roll around in (literally). We will definitely be going back!

Addy and I started the sand castle, but Doug really ran with the idea. He added a lake, an approaching sea serpent, and a neighboring Mayan step pyramid. If only you could support a family of four by sand sculpting.

what's up, doc?

Our garden produced its first food item last night, and these wimpy 4-inch carrots have overwhelmed us with pride.

fresh local berries=1,000 points for oregon

Recent berry picking has inspired me to invent a way to eat local berries naturally year round. I'll let you know how that goes.

BFFs

We were unbelievably spoiled the weekend of the 4th. Some of our dearest friends in the world made a ton of sacrifices to meet up at our house. OUR. HOUSE.

Words can't describe how great it is was to see these Virginia friends again, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

4-week-old sweet baby James

the 4th

We like 'Merica around here.

Children's parade with the cousins

Visiting with a friend at the Hillsboro 4th of July Parade

Fireworks at home

Visiting with our dear friends the Hutchisons (Charlie, our future son-in-law joined us for this pic)