I haven't blogged in a while, partially because we've been driving. And driving. And driving. Mostly through "scenic" southern Wyoming and southeastern Idaho on our way to Oregon and back. ("Mom? Is this STILL Wyoming?") And singing "skinamarinky dinky dink" 89 scrillion times, with subsituted lyrics becoming more and more common as we went along. (Upon googling for the song, I came across this guy doing a Star Trekky version of it on You Tube. Picture this song being sung about 5 octaves higher, and you'll get the idea.) "I love you" became "I smell you" (giggles) and then degenerated into "I smell poo" (which, with Gen in the car, was sometimes an accurate description of the situation). My attempt to have "quiet contests" didn't work. There was plenty of "Mom? She won't stop breathing at me," and "Mom? She called me bumpyhead." I had to stifle a giggle on that one.

We then shoehorned ourselves in at my Mom and Dad's house on the Oregon coast (ooh, ahh... Oregon coast...) with my sisters and their families, and great-grandpa too, making a total of 17 people sleeping in closets and bathtubs and who-knows-where. But you know - we really had a good time. There were WAY too many people trying to do WAY too many things at a time. Mealtimes were a real undertaking. Outings were more like Expotitions (to quote Winnie the Pooh).

But for three days, you kind of want to cram in as much as you can. And I felt really glad that folks love us enough to want to be with us the whole time, even if they ended up sleeping behind the couch instead of on it. Grandma took Sarah out to look for sand dollars during early-morning low tide. They found a hundred and thirty intact ones. We showed Eleanor the ocean for the first time. Everybody got pink around the edges in the sun, even after sunblock. We got lots of sand in our shoes, and liked it. We went to a parade and picked up the salt water taffy they threw. We sat around a bonfire on the beach on the evening of July 4th, and watched all the crazy people setting off what were probably illegal fireworks (I was always panicking that they were too close to us, and that the next one would bean somebody in the head. We were fine.) We finally dragged the exhausted kids up to bed with the smell of the ocean and campfire smoke in their hair. It was really good.

We got to have lunch with the Clark family (with whom we traveled in China) on our way to the beach, and Vicki Paulson of Heritage Adoption Services to give her a personal thank you for her help in bringing home our newest blessing. We saw most of the Nashes, including Grandma Barb and Aunt Courtney (who was busying herself with coaching her fellow brave women mountain bikers in Park City).

The kids had a great time, Dave and I are exhausted but happy, and our own beds feel SOO good. I honestly like being at home, and would rather be at home than anywhere else most of the time. Hopefully we can lure my Oregonian relatives out to Colorado next time. (Maybe one family group at a time? We only have one closet big enough to sleep in, after all).

Here's the photo fun:

Eleanor on the beach for the first time, ever. Fourth of July girls
At the Cannon Beach parade with the whole crew.
Yep, that's us.
And here's the whole fam damily.
Genevieve on the coast
Sarah gathering shells
Gennie and Eleanor take a ride
On the Seaside carousel
Why we love Uncle Dustin and Aunt Meg (and silly cousins, too)!

Anyway, I'd better go to bed now. There's that whole reality thing I need to get back to ASAP, and some sleep would help!