A trip to Wallowa County

I love taking the kids back to Wallowa County, where I grew up and Marsha and Dad now reside.  It is totally worth the 12 hour road trip!  This time I really did try to remind myself that it is about the journey and not the destination.  So, on the way there we stopped a little more and played a little more, and we still made it!  Along the Clearwater River the smoke was truly awful.  In fact, Dane and I both were feeling quite ill by the time we got out of it.  You can see how thick it is in the picture below, and it was like that for at least 80 miles.

Once the smoke cleared a little, we stopped to play in the River...  First, Dane asked if he could get his feet wet. "Sure" I replied "but don't get your clothes wet"....  So we all had a great time playing, finding minnows, and snails or anything else we could locate.

Hmmmmm....  So much for the "don't get your clothes wet" part of our conversation!  Oh well, being the over prepared mama that I am, I had a clean, dry pair of clothes waiting in a bag on the front seat of the car!

We got there in one piece, got settled in and then the next day Dad, myself, and a friend named Noel did a trail run up to the top of Aneroid Mountain.  It was a blast and SO BEAUTIFUL!  Marsha was kind enough to watch the kiddos for me!

Back at the house we had a lot of fun as well...  Here Gramps is giving Dane lessons on how to use a sling shot.  Dane was intent on learning how to work that thing, and by the time we left he was doing pretty darn good!

Of course we had to get a drink at "cold springs".  That water is so cold and delicious!

Mastering the slingshot

Of course the kids got to ride on the back-hoe and Dane took a couple motorcycle rides with Gramps.  

Kimber wouldn't go near either of them without me...  so here we are on the back-hoe for a little while.

Dane had NO trepidation at all...  so here he is on one of his rides with Gramps.  

 Then Gramps let him drive the tractor, not from Gramp's lap, but actually in the seat all by himself.  He felt SO PROUD!

Here he is getting a little instruction.  Notice the look of concentration!

 and we're off!

 We met Noel and her family in town one day for a picnic.  Dane and her son, Bridger were total buddies and couldn't get enough of one another!

 The even built a really cool "beaver dam".  Here is Dane showing off his muscles, and his cool dam!  Notice how wet he is again!  That boy is drawn to water like crazy.  It actually wasn't really that warm, maybe 65 degrees...  and he played in that creek with Bridger for a solid 5 hours.  

Back at the house, Grammy and Dane are catching some grasshoppers

 A little frog with his tail still attached.

 Another little frog

We all had such a wonderful time!