Hot Hot Hot!

The past several days here have been "rather warm." My new mantra is that I will not complain about the heat because Eric will soon be in a place where the forecast is 122 degrees. On Sunday evening we were getting a little warm in our house and Sophie needed a distraction from teething so we decided to take a little drive. We took the Hilgard exit and drove up a long the river and found the cutest little picnic and campground area called Red Bridge. I had been there once in college but it had been a long time ago. It was beautiful up there! It was 10 degrees cooler than here and we saw deer, elk, and a cottontail rabbit on our trip (not to mention a snake by the river...yuck!). The picnic area/campground is right by the river. We weren't sure if she would want to get in the water because earlier in the day she was not a fan of the cold water in her pool. However, the river was surprisingly warmer than her pool and it had rocks....which Sophie LOVES playing with and throwing! She spent at least 30 or 40 minutes sitting in the water and playing with the rocks.

We had a wonderful summer evening up by the river. I think I have Eric convinced to let us go on a one night camping trip up there while Audri is here visiting this next week!

Chief Joseph Days

We spent the weekend up at my mom's in Wallowa. Grammy and I took Sophie to the children's parade on Friday. She seemed to be more interested in the bouncy ball that Cousin Chance found than the actual parade! And of course she wanted to walk WITH them in the parade instead of sit down and watch. Needless to say mommy got her excercise chasing Sophie. I'm thinking when she gets faster I may need to get one of those backpack harness things for her to wear! On Saturday Eric got off work and came up to join us. Grammy and Grandpa Larry watched Sophie and Eric and I went to dinner and the rodeo. It was lots of fun!

Wishing I would've got some pics at the parade of Sophie and her cousins Chance and Gage but Sophie wouldn't sit still or even let me get the camera out of the stroller! So, here are a couple of family pics that my mom took before we left for the rodeo.

Fun at the lake

Sophie and I went up to Wallowa Lake for the day to visit our friends with Dearingers. They were camping for four days up there and invited us to come up and play in the water. At first Sophie was not excited about getting in the water but after it warmed up a little she LOVED playing in the sand, rocks, and splashing around. She and her friend Taylor had lots of fun!

Quick trip to Idaho

Sophie and I did not get to go to Montana with Eric and Audri this past week. Eric thought that 12 hours driving home from Bozeman in one day would be a bit too much for Sophie and he was probably right. I was a little sad since I've never been to Yellowstone before. We will have to make a trip when Sophie gets a little bigger.

While Eric was gone Sophie and I did a quick one night trip to visit friends. Sophie had so much fun with my friend Gina's girls. And it was great having so many girls to help out with feeding, changing, and playing with her! We also had the chance to see Jenny, Michelle, Larrissa, and JJ and their kids at the Vale pool. It was a hot day and it was great to meet in the park for lunch and then hit the pool!

Trip to the Beach

Recently Eric had some time off of work so we decided to take a trip to the Oregon Coast. On the trip over we decided to give Sophie a little break from riding in the car (chewing on her toes!) so we stopped at Arlington. We had a nice picnic at the park and then Daddy and Sophie played in the Columbia River. It was kind of dirty but both Eric and I played in it as kids and we survived! ;) After having fun splashing in the water she fell fast asleep in the car.

Eric's parents were at the coast with their 5th wheel so we decided to stay at a hotel nearby in Rockaway Beach. The weather was very good while we were there. It was only about 65 degrees but no rain or clouds. And for the Oregon Coast that's great weather! We visited the Tilamook Cheese Factory which was fun because our whole family LOVES cheese! Sophie really liked playing in the sand and even enjoyed walking in the surf (brrrrr!) with us. She of course tried to put some sand her her mouth but quickly told us that it was "uck." We warned her! Sophie enjoyed visiting with grandma and grandpa in their 5th wheel at the RV Park. She doesn't remember when she was little last summer and we spent 6 weeks in the 5th wheel in La Grande! We had a nice trip to the beach and look foward to going back in the future.