This is a Long Post - The Vacation

So "Steve" went on a four wheeling trip with his friends. He was gone for about six days. I didn't want to hire a babysitter so I decided I would take vacation as well. I had a few ideas such as Disneyland... I figured that would go over like a ton of, er, rocks. Go to the beach somewhere... the boys can't swim so that's out. I called Auntie Dena for some advice and she suggested we go to her dad's house. Oh what a great idea. She called Junior, that is what I call her dad, don't know why just always have. Anyway, she called Junior and he was happy to have all four of us come out to visit. Dena was roped in at that point she was part of the plans.

I was a bit nervous about flying with Logan and Castle, but Dena is a true life saver. She made the trip so much easier for me. I told her when asked Logan could be mine with the dark-er hair and the less pale skin tone. Castle could be hers with the toe head and blue eyes.

The first part of our adventure started with the flight. Logan was soo very excited, he followed instructions and behaved wonderfully. Castle was crawling over the three of us and playing musical laps, but all in all he was pretty well behaved as well. When we arrived in Portland Junior, known by Logan as Papa Jerry, was waiting for us. Logan was glad to see him. Dena asked Logan if he recognized Papa Jerry and he said "Yes, but he looks different from last time.". "How so?" she asked. "His belly is smaller.". That was GREAT! I will always remember that, and I will make sure Papa Jerry remembers as well.

Logan was so excited to arrive at our final destination, Papa Jerry's house. Logan had his first up close and personal introduction to a cow. He pet "Red's" ear. She is currently the boss lady, but soon will be hamburger and another will have to take her place. (I put that in here for Dena). Castle sat on my lap as I pet Red's head. Surprisingly he didn't try to encourage her to give him a kiss. Logan played with the dogs, Homey and Tazzy, I am sure that is a surprise to all of you. Castle was pretty afraid of the two dogs, after a few sniffs Homey left him alone, but Tazzy that is another story. Tazzy is about three months old and she thought Castle was the perfect size to play with. No matter how persistent Tazzy was, Castle just didn't agree.

Papa Jerry had all sorts of cool stuff for Logan to play with. Logan helped Papa Jerry clean the hay baler. Okay he didn't help at all but he had a blast playing with the pressure washer and air compressor while Junior attempted to clean it. Logan was very good and tried to stay as clean as possible. I am sure you believe that.

Later on Junior took Logan and Castle for tractor rides. As you can see that was a hit. Whenever the tractor started up both of the boys were running to it eager for their ride. After all the tractors are not for work they are for enjoyment!



One of the days was set aside for a trip to The Enchanted Forest. This is an amusement park designed for younger kids. We went with Dena's nieces, Romy, Jenna and her Sister in Law Adrianna. Everyone had a lot of fun, it was the perfect venue for the kids, and the adults had fun too. One of my favorite parts was the Cinderella play. It was a 25 minute play put on by 3 actors. They did such a wonderful job at entertaining the crowd. Romy, Jenna and Logan belly laughed a few times, it was a hit. There were not many rides Castle could ride as he was just a few inches too short, but next year he will be golden.

Logan got along famously with the girls, you would have thought they saw each other all the time. Here is a rare family photo of Dena's brother Jeremy with his wife Adrianna and daughters Miranda, Jenna and Romy.

Dena took the crazy trio on a ride around the property. They were yelling "I am Iron Man/Girl.". It was hilarious.

I asked Dena to recount a story about Logan causing a cow stampede. It is told best by her, maybe she will post the story of Homey's toot as well for you all to enjoy.

So Logan makes a beeline for the barn - I am not sure if he wants to see Homey the dog or if he saw that there were cows lounging in the shade and wanted to try to pet them. I wasn’t too far behind him but he was running…then I saw one of the cows get up quickly and I yelled to Logan to stop and wait. Too late..at this point all of the cows in the barn were spooked and had gotten up and were making a run for it, which scared Homey and he bolted. Homey was actually on a chain and pulled so hard that he broke one of the links and was free. Logan saw all of the animals running and dust flying and heard me yelling and stopped short and looked a bit scared. I caught up to him and pulled him back a bit and explained that they got scared and I yelled at him to stop so that they didn't run him over because they were a lot bigger than he is. I think Logan learned a lot about cows on this trip... don't run at them because they are scardy cats that can drample you, don't stand behind them because everyone tells you that they might kick you - but you never really see that happen so you think they are all just strying to ruin your fun, you cna bet the big lazy ones who just lay around in the dirt, and you can drive around them on the 4-wheeler – which they all kept calling a quad for some reason. -by Auntie Dena

In case you ever wondered what a true farmers tan looked like check out the difference between Juniors arm and leg!! HOLY CRAP that is WHITE!!

Papa Jerry and Dena deserve some recognition, they got Logan to try several new foods, and he even liked them! I was so impressed with their patience. Logan even liked a lot of what he ate including the man size steak he devoured.

Sunday morning we were leaving early to catch our 6:50 am flight. As you can see the boys were exhausted. When it was time to go home Logan was very sad, he wanted to stay for a few more days without Dena, Castle and I. This vacation was packed full of fun and new experiences for all of us. I do believe we will be going back again soon, that is if Junior will have us.

While I was writing this post Logan made this comment about Papa Jerry's house. Picture him waiving his hand to illustrate his point.
"He was in the middle of nowhere, with Christmas trees, no city on front or back!"

"Steve" went four wheeling he had fun, I think.