The Ranch

Mike's parents are part owners of a ranch called Sundance Meadows located in Bend, Oregon. Growing up, this was always a destination for family camping and skiing trips. It's a wonderful ranch full of fun activities and relaxation. We had a wonderful time and it was so fun to see where Daddy has so many memories from. Click here to see the Sundance Meadow website but to give you an idea of what it's all about...

"Founded in the early 1970's, Sundance Meadows is solely owned and operated by its members. Ride horses, ranch, swim, play miniature golf, hike, canoe, or enjoy all of Central Oregon's recreational activities."

Just East of Bend, you drive in and see the Lodge and lots of open space.
Here's were we slept for 4 nights....The Bunkhouse. It was perfect. Rooms with beds (and heat), a common kitchen and family room and bathrooms. Plenty of room, toys and puzzles to keep everyone happy.
Lucas posing for the camera on his bunk.
Axel was being a little more cooperative with the whole camera thing. See all those bags...those duffel bags keep Mommy sane with all the traveling we do. Everyone has their own and they are all different colors. :)
Mini golf just out back.
Yummy food, thank you Grandma for all the wonderful meals!
One day after a token trip to REI, we headed to Red Robin for lunch. Axel was enamored by the helium filled balloons. Once he had his own, we had a pleasant lunch...well, until Lucas accidentally let his go and the ceiling was too high to retrieve it. All was good when Grandma got a new one.

Safe teething toy?! Mmmmm....
Happy boy until that camera comes out...stinker!
Then we were off to the ice skating rink. Last year, Lucas made it around the rink about 2 times and hated ice skating. This year, a WHOLE NEW STORY! He loved it and Mommy & Daddy loved the extra help from Grandma & Grandpa (expert skaters). Lucas skated on and off for 1.5 hours. It was my second time EVER to ice skate and after initial fears of falling, I didn't do so bad. :) What a fun activity!
Grandpa & Axel...don't worry Grandpa doesn't fall...Axel LOVED it!
Lucas loved it too although it took some time to get him to stand up by himself. We were impressed.
They went around and around and around.
After awhile, I got brave and helped out too. :)
We all took turns keeping Axel occupied. He was a real trooper!
Then it was back to the ranch for some R&R.
Grandpa's position most of the time. :) Smart Grandpa!
Axel loved the games.
Lucas loved the cookies and decorating is the best part.
Beautiful work!
We did a handful of puzzles...Daddy got addicted.
But not too addicted...he still made time for climbing at Smith Rock. It's about 45 minutes from the ranch and we had two kid-free climbing days with amazing weather.

Smith Rock, Oregon: A favorite climbing area of ours and so unique with the volcanic tuffs walls. Excellent climbing and amazing scenery.
Daddy getting ready to climb kid-free...wierd?!
Daddy climbing on Morning Glory Wall and oops...no picture of Mommy but I was there. THANK YOU GRANDMA & GRANDPA for taking such wonderful care of the boys. It was much appreciated!
After 4 days, it was time to head home and get ready for the rest of the family to arrive.

Here's a few photos taken out the window on our drive home: The Sisters - Cascade RangeMt. Jefferson
It was awesome!!!

Christmas in Oregon

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! We hope you all had a wonderful day and are enjoying all the goodies of the season. We've been gone for two weeks but back at home recovering from a great trip to Oregon.

On the 17th of December, we woke up at 5:15am and drove to Cincinnati to ride the big airplane. 4 1/2 hours later, we arrived in Seattle, WA and spent a 4 hour layover in the kid zone. Then, took a quick flight to Portland and finally after a two hour drive, arrived in Corvallis, OR.

We were headed to Grandma & Grandpa Anderson's house for Christmas. Lucas was elated and could hardly wait to get there.

Here is a photo of one happy boy after dinner in Seattle. This is where Lucas discovered that tarter sauce should not be opened with his teeth. If only I had the camera to capture his face when it exploded into his mouth. Mike & I laughed for a good five minutes while Lucas tried to figure out how to get it off his teeth without using his tongue...french fries, drool, fingers, napkins, sleeve...it was hilarious!
After a yummy fresh fish dinner, we headed to the kid zone for a few hours. We thought it would be a wonderful place to burn off some energy and catch a cold to take to the Grandparents. Boy, if only we would have known how good we were at catching and giving colds...sorry Grandma!

Hide-n-seek was a hit.
Axel learned how to slide too. So brave!
Finally, we were on our way to Oregon. This was Axel's second time on a big airplane and much more aware this time around. He was a little charmer flirting with all the pretty ladies!
This was old stuff to Lucas so he slept.
After 17 hours of traveling, we made it!
First on the agenda: Decorate the Christmas Tree
Serious business.
Okay, not too serious. Grandma does an AMAZING job decorating the entire house at Christmas. She makes it so magical!
The cranberries only kept Axel distracted for a moment.
Then, he wanted in on what Lucas was doing. This was Axel's first Christmas and he sure was a real helper when it came to "decorating."
And re-decorating with Daddy's help. :)
16 stockings and yes, we had all 16 people home on Christmas morning.
Lucas still hard at work.
Axel hard at work too especially when he thinks no one is watching!
This is round one of all the photos. Still to come...trip to The Ranch, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Morning, etc.

We love you.

My Boys

Until today, it's been chilly here in Ohio. I know, not as chilly as Colorado and Montana and other places but this cold...a wet cold = colder than normal...that's my story anyways.

Regardless, it's winter so we've been playing inside more and doing a little decorating for the holidays.

Our little elf. Both Lucas and Axel LOVE the bells! I personally, love the PJ's...Thank You Grandma J!
We opted for no tree this year. We are going to help Grandma A decorate her tree in Oregon. However, to keep on excited 4 year old content, we decorated a pole. It's our first ever Christmas pole filled with lights and ornaments. Definitely not the same but pretty practical for this year. Most of our other decorations are homemade by Lucas. There are even a few old ones from when Mike and I were kids, like a little sugar bell I made in 3rd grade. I can't believe it's still around after all these years.

Oh, notice Daddy on the TV? He's a movie star and featured in a new rock climbing movie called The Continuum. (Click on the title to see the movie clip) It sure is fun to see Daddy climbing!
The Play Doh Fun Factory has kept Lucas occupied for days!!! The best $5 I've spent recently! Here he is making stars in outer space and yes, we even counted them.
We even tried to get a cute photo of the boys. It's cute but not what I was looking for. :)
Happy December everyone!

Star Wars

Daddy found tickets for Lucas* to Star Wars in Concert! Click here to see more. We thought this would be a great evening to spend with Lucas. It was our special night.

I sure had some excited to boys yesterday afternoon as we made preparations for the big evening. Axel went to our friends house to have fun with their 14 month old, Adian. Lucas, Mommy & Daddy headed to Cincinnati for the big show at the U.S. Bank Arena. We stopped for dinner at Panera Bread and then sat in rush hour traffic half expecting to miss the start of the show. Luckily, things picked up pace about 7 miles from downtown so we made it!!

Here Lucas, Yoda & Daddy are hiking down to our seats.Lucas was a little confused but very excited. I think he was expecting a movie theater, not an arena. We had great seats on the floor with great views.
Lucas was trying to figure out the lights, the smoke, the music...taking it all in!
*I think the tickets were for Daddy too.
Here's a view of the orchestra.
Anthony Daniels (actor who played C3PO in Star Wars) was the narrator and yes, he sounds just like C3PO.
After everything set in, the smiles came out. Lucas stood up for almost 2 hours watching the orchestra and movie clips. It was very dramatic and really neat to see.
Here's what the stage looked like.
Fire too!!
Lucas still loves Darth Vader.
Oh, the smoke machines were a huge hit too!
Everyone loved seeing our little Luke with Yoda on his back.
Best view in the house.
Look who we spotted...
C3PO
Chewy
Yoda
Darth Vader
Oh, and the Death Star...as you can see, Lucas was tired of the camera by this point.
Opening clip: Click Here
It was such a fun night.