Life sure changes a lot when you have a 6 month old puppy to worry about. Gone is our ability to go wherever we want, whenever we want, because we have to consider the dogs needs before we make any plans. It's definitely a big change for us, but we are slowly adjusting and at the same time, looking forward to next year when he is able to be left along for longer periods of time. Not that we don't enjoy being with him and taking him places, but there are some places we want to go that he just isn't able to join us at, so we have missed out on quite a few fun events in the last couple of months. A great example of that is our Fourth of July plans. We were invited to a few parties this year that we really would have loved to go to, but none were places that we could have brought Ruger with us. Since we didn't know how he would react to the sound of fireworks going off in the neighborhood, we decided it would be best to stay home that night to be with him.
We didn't want to stay home all day though, and since it was a beautiful warm summer day we decided that it would be fun to go cool off in some water. But where? The lake closest to us is dirty and gross, and we didn't want to drive very far from home. In my Internet searches I found directions to a lake that was right in the middle of Sauvie Island. I had never heard of such a place, so with our curiosity peaked, we packed up the kids and dog and headed out there.
We quickly found out why nobody ever talks about the lake on Sauvie Island...its because its all but inaccessible. Online it had claimed that it was a great place for swimming and boat launching, but after we got there and started talking to some people who were hiking around, we learned that there was no nearby access to the lake, unless you wanted to hike 3+ miles from the parking lot. By the time we figured that out, we had already walked at least a mile in, carrying all our picnic stuff and sweating under the hot sun. With no cooling water play in our immediate future, we decided to forgo finding the lake in favor of a quick stop in a shady meadow to come up with a new plan:
We decided to go to the river that borders the island instead. The very same river that I claimed I would never go to again. Desperate times call for desperate measures - when you have two kids and a puppy looking forward to a day splashing in the water, you do what you have to do. I felt slightly better when I finally realized that the river water we would be playing in wasn't actually the dirty Willamette river that I had always thought it was. It made me feel much more confident that the turn of events a couple years ago really was a crazy fluke, and not worry so much about it happening again.
When we got to the river we picked a nice spot and the playing began!
I joined the kids in the very cold, but highly refreshing water:
These two are so cute and love each other so much, they are really the best kids I could have ever hoped for!
The dog of course was in heaven - having not only water to splash around in which he just loves (and has me wondering if he is part lab) but also SAND to dig in!
He dug and splashed, and splashed and dug until he was thoroughly worn out:
We packed up two wet kids and a very sandy dog, and headed across the island to Kruger's Farm, our very favorite farm on the island. We picked up some cherries from their farm store, and got everyone changed and dried off before heading home to get ready for the evening activities.
Usually we head up to Washington to buy fireworks, and also buy a big box of Oregon ones from Costco. This year we didn't plan on having a bunch of people over, and since our neighbors always do loads of fireworks we decided to go a different route. We gave the kids each $20 bucks and let them pick out their own fireworks at a stand down the road from our house. They agonized over their decisions, and after much debating they each walked away with a great selection of fireworks. This is Rowans haul:
And Killian's selections:
Its hard to take pictures while eating yummy food and drinking margaritas, so I didn't get any more pictures for the rest of the evening, but we had a really nice relaxing time. Some friends and their kids came over, and while the adults visited the kids ran around lighting things on fire...what a perfect way to celebrate our freedom! ;) We watched fireworks late into the night, and enjoyed ourselves immensely. The dog did fine with the loud noises, the kids had a fantastic time blowing stuff up, and we got to spend a wonderful evening in the company of good friends. Even when things don't turn out the way we had hoped for, they always manage to turn out for the better just the same. We are truly blessed and thankful for all we have!
We didn't want to stay home all day though, and since it was a beautiful warm summer day we decided that it would be fun to go cool off in some water. But where? The lake closest to us is dirty and gross, and we didn't want to drive very far from home. In my Internet searches I found directions to a lake that was right in the middle of Sauvie Island. I had never heard of such a place, so with our curiosity peaked, we packed up the kids and dog and headed out there.
We quickly found out why nobody ever talks about the lake on Sauvie Island...its because its all but inaccessible. Online it had claimed that it was a great place for swimming and boat launching, but after we got there and started talking to some people who were hiking around, we learned that there was no nearby access to the lake, unless you wanted to hike 3+ miles from the parking lot. By the time we figured that out, we had already walked at least a mile in, carrying all our picnic stuff and sweating under the hot sun. With no cooling water play in our immediate future, we decided to forgo finding the lake in favor of a quick stop in a shady meadow to come up with a new plan:
We decided to go to the river that borders the island instead. The very same river that I claimed I would never go to again. Desperate times call for desperate measures - when you have two kids and a puppy looking forward to a day splashing in the water, you do what you have to do. I felt slightly better when I finally realized that the river water we would be playing in wasn't actually the dirty Willamette river that I had always thought it was. It made me feel much more confident that the turn of events a couple years ago really was a crazy fluke, and not worry so much about it happening again.
When we got to the river we picked a nice spot and the playing began!
I joined the kids in the very cold, but highly refreshing water:
These two are so cute and love each other so much, they are really the best kids I could have ever hoped for!
The dog of course was in heaven - having not only water to splash around in which he just loves (and has me wondering if he is part lab) but also SAND to dig in!
He dug and splashed, and splashed and dug until he was thoroughly worn out:
We packed up two wet kids and a very sandy dog, and headed across the island to Kruger's Farm, our very favorite farm on the island. We picked up some cherries from their farm store, and got everyone changed and dried off before heading home to get ready for the evening activities.
Usually we head up to Washington to buy fireworks, and also buy a big box of Oregon ones from Costco. This year we didn't plan on having a bunch of people over, and since our neighbors always do loads of fireworks we decided to go a different route. We gave the kids each $20 bucks and let them pick out their own fireworks at a stand down the road from our house. They agonized over their decisions, and after much debating they each walked away with a great selection of fireworks. This is Rowans haul:
And Killian's selections:
Its hard to take pictures while eating yummy food and drinking margaritas, so I didn't get any more pictures for the rest of the evening, but we had a really nice relaxing time. Some friends and their kids came over, and while the adults visited the kids ran around lighting things on fire...what a perfect way to celebrate our freedom! ;) We watched fireworks late into the night, and enjoyed ourselves immensely. The dog did fine with the loud noises, the kids had a fantastic time blowing stuff up, and we got to spend a wonderful evening in the company of good friends. Even when things don't turn out the way we had hoped for, they always manage to turn out for the better just the same. We are truly blessed and thankful for all we have!