June and July Recap and Congrats to Nicki

Early on in June we had made the long drive to the Oregon Coast.  On the way there we stopped to see Grandma Lissy for a couple of hours.  She seems to be doing quite well and the kids had a great time visiting her.  As we left Boise, we ran into a storm to beat all storms that stayed with us all the way to our hotel in Pendleton, OR.  It let up a little over night and then started again, in earnest all the way until we reached Multnomah Falls.  We hiked to the top of the falls, only to discover that the part of the trail to the Falls overlook had been closed.  It was still a fun hike and a nice break from the drive.

 

After Multnomah Falls, we headed directly to Pacific City, OR to get our place at the beach.  We have stayed in this place twice, and it has always turned out to be clean and in great shape.  The next day turned out to be the only sunny day on our whole trip.  So we took advantage and spent time playing near the water (not in because it was COLD).  We flew kites and built sand designs and art projects (this was mostly Grace's doing).  It was a great day and it did not go wasted.  Though we were dead tired by the end of the day and pretty cold. 

 

 The rest of the week turned wet and more cold weather set in.  We did get a visit from Great Grandma Delamarter and of course Gram Cracker (Lucy's new nickname for grandma).   It was fun to have them with us.  We did attempt to go out to the beach in a moment of no rain, but after 20 minutes we got caught in a deluge.  We all got soaked on our front sides.  It was so windy that our back sides were dry as could be.  It was still fun in its own strange sort of way.

After the fun at the beach, the following day we decided to try some indoor stuff so we went with Great Grandma and Gram Cracker to the Tillamook Air Museum and to the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  It was fun to look at all of the air planes and then head over and eat an over abundance of cheese and ice cream.  It was fun but after the factory, the Grandmas (as Lucy called them) had to head back to Canby.  After they left, the following day we made a run down to Newport and went to the aquarium.  It was fun to see all of the sea life that we were missing because of the rain.  One of the highlights of the coast trip was seeing a California Gray Whale just below us from the cliffs at Cape Kiwanda.  It seemed so huge.  Lucy is continually asking when we can go back and see it again.

We had such a great time on our trip.  It may have been cold and wet but it was so nice just to spend time together seeing and doing new things. 

This whole summer seems to be flying by, with the Fourth of July already having come and gone.  It was great to spend that time with siblings and cousins.  We never seem to get together enough.  Grandpa Gray took all of the kids and what appeared to most of the neighborhood and tractor rides for the good part of a day.  It was really fun to see how proud he was to be towing the kids around.

Now we come to my favorite part.  Every year I get caught up doing cycling events.  The training for these events take up a lot of time and mental effort, much to the dismay of my family.  This year, however, Nicki decided she was going to train for a 10k.  This would be the first organized running event she had ever done.  In the weeks leading up to it, she started to doubt if she really wanted to.  She decided to keep at it and on the 24th of July (yes, pioneer day) she started the Deseret News 10k.  She happened upon 7 other friends from the neighborhood who happened to be doing it as well.  So for her first race, she was amongst the best of friends and it all made it so much more fulfilling.  To top it off, she ran an average of an 8:40 mile which is not bad in my book.  I took the kids and we watched her come by at the halfway point.  We were all so proud of her.  Congratulations Nicki.  You did awesome.