Disclaimer: Certainly, pictures have taken on increasing blog importance in the last five years, but there are a lot in this posting. Be forewarned—it's my freakin' blog. I'd like to take credit, but I can't. Jason, Elizabeth, Earl, and Heidi took most of the snapshots. I just requested and appropriated them. Jason, the amateur photographer, actually got up in the middle of the night and drove to Paulina Peak to get photos of the Central Oregon sky. That's dedication...
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| Kyle and the bike stamp |
Our annual family vacation took us back to Caldera Springs
(next to Sunriver) and
may become the permanent go–to place for now. I know there are many
beautiful places in Oregon. But the weather is nice, the biking is
family–friendly, I can scoot without a guardian, and there is so much to
do**. We had the usual bike accidents, head injuries, and sunburns,
but nothing major. Kyle wore his 'stamp' proudly. He did tell me not
to use the word 'boo–boo' with him any longer. "Seriously, Gigi–I'm
fine. Take a picture."
We're still in search of the perfect house***. This one was pretty
great, but as the ataxia progresses, my needs increase. Entering and
exiting the house and garage was perfect and that's easy to spot for
future housing choices. Main floor living with mostly flooring
throughout was helpful. Deep carpet presents more challenge. Earl and I
had plenty of navigable space in our room, but there wasn't much in the
other bedrooms. The game center
(ping pong and foosball) in the garage and the upstairs bonus room were big hits. Adults were welcome by 'invitation only'.
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| Grandchildren are the best |
We learned last year that if you don't want children to use idevices for entertainment, you better have plans. Having a disability and a wheelchair, I couldn't help much. However, the kids saw the chair as a new toy and were happy to push me around. What I found remarkable was how their increasing maturity was changing the game*. What worked in earlier years, just wasn't enough now. Given how frequently we have gone to that part of Central Oregon, I naively thought there was nothing new to do. But children can find adventure in anything and some vacation activities are always new. Always having opinions of their own, they seemed to be more decisive now. Sarah is 12, Zoe 10, Kyle 9, and Lexi nearly 7. At the risk of sounding very cliché, "How did they get that old? They were just born!"
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| Sarah, 2003–2015 |
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| Zoe, 2005–2015 |
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| Kyle, 2006–2015 |
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| Lexi, 2008–2015 |
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| Horseback Ride |
The traditional horseback ride now can include all four grandchildren, the pony ride a thing of the past. Elizabeth did have to fudge a bit on Lexi's age and she did need to use special stirrups, but this child can handle any animal. However, next year has to be a private ride, so they can run the horses. Apparently, group rides are too tame and
boring.
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| The pool |
Whether swimming, shooting water cannons, pretending to be a beached dolphin, or lounging poolside, there was always something for everyone. This year, all four grandchildren could bike to the pool, so that was a new adventure. On the final day, they were very excited to be old enough to bike back alone
(blissfully unaware of lurking parents).
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| Mt. Bachelor |
The chairlift ride to the snowfield on Mt. Bachelor was new this year and the
hands down favorite adventure. There was some initial anxiety about getting on the lift or falling off, but they got over that quickly enough. A 'girl' chair and a 'boy' chair, playing on a snowfield in the sun, and the awesome setting added to vacation memories. Kyle slipped into 'penguin' mode to better slide down the glacier. The adventure ended with a picnic overlooking the Three Sisters peaks, Broken Top Mountain and the Cascade Lakes at 8000 feet.
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| Earl at the Pacific Coast Event |
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| Walking/scooting by the lake |
Lest you think it was all about the kids, the older generations had their share of activities. The week coincided with Heidi and Michael's 17th anniversary, our 44th anniversary, and most importantly the Pacific Coast Triathalon. It's one of Earl's favorite athletic events, but since he isn't much of a swimmer, he opts to do the duathalon instead. Depending on the chosen length of the event, it's a combination bike ride and run of different distances. He's done several over the years and, at 70, has settled on the Olympic (28 mile bike/10K run) over the long distance
(58 mile bike/13 mile run). He finished hydrated, upright and ate dinner that night—that's his criteria for success.
Eating and drinking
(ice tea, lemonade, chai, coffee, beer, wine) is always popular, and we did plenty of that, but having an event photographer was an unexpected bonus. Jason actually cared about composition, lighting, and quality photography. That's not one of my strong suits.
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| Life is better with beer, wine & pool drinks |
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| Family Dinner |
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| Jason & Central Oregon skies |
The lesson: I wondered when the grandchildren might 'age out' of the family vacation, preferring to be with their friends. Earl and I decided to prepare ourselves for that eventuality and get the perspectives of their parents
(our children). Much to our pleasure, the general adult view was, "Too bad. If that ever happens, they can just suck it up."
*Previous post: Family Vacation 2014—Deviceless!
**Previous post: Family Vacation 2012–the beach house
***Previous post: Family vacation 2013–the "door" house
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