August 11

Today on the way to the coast we stopped in downtown Portland at Voodoo donuts. The donuts are famous and we stood in line for an hour before we even got into the store to purchase them. They were DELICIOUS though. Our favorite was the maple bacon donut - a maple bismark with a slice of bacon on top. It was a fun stop and we all tried different donuts!

August 10

Morgan, Brooklyn and Bailey were so awesome about planning craft projects for all the kids to do. Morgan picked out all of these ceramic figurines for the kids to paint and they had a fun time working on them this afternoon.

August 9

Today we drove to Mount St. Helen's for the day. The drive was absolutely breathtaking - so lush and green. We went through the visitors center tour and it was fascinating to hear the story of the eruption in 1980. Unfortunately, it was totally cloudy and we were unable to see any of the mountain. Welcome to PNW, right!

August 8

The big girls were so nice and willing to play with the little girls during this reunion. I often heard them directing the kids in pretend school - complete with homemade worksheets - and in Little House on the Prairie. I loved seeing them interact together and have fun with each other.

August 7

Today the girls were filling up balloons for a water fight and I came outside to see them stuffed down their swimsuits. It was hilarious. The funniest part is that Makenna didn't really understand why it was funny and just kept stuffing more balloons in. Too cute!

August 6

We've had so many late nights already this past week, especially because we've let the kids have slumber parties in the bonus room every night. They've been going to sleep at 10 or 11 every night so far. Tonight we let the kids watch a movie and Kenna crashed out on the couch. She didn't look very comfortable but she slept like this for a long time.

August 5

Today we took advantage of the gorgeous warm weather and headed down to the Hood River beach for the day. It was a perfect day and the kids enjoyed playing in the water, having sand/mud wars and exploring in the trees. After a few hours we reluctantly packed up to head home and hope for another beach day before we go home.