The Oregon Chronicles Pt. 1

A few weeks late but here it is....our trip to Oregon!!

We had been talking about our trip to Oregon for months....it was definitely a much anticipated trip. Gisele had a checklist that she had been rambling off to every person she told about our upcoming trip to Oregon. Promises of visiting her best friend Kevin (aka my little brother), her first flight on an airplane, birthday presents that were waiting for her, blueberry picking, fishing, forest explorations, bonfires, new kittens, the list goes on and on. Needless to say when the day came we were all jumping out of our skin excited. 

Our flight up to Oregon was great! We were both so impressed with how well Gisele did. She likes Papa to drive fast so she did a great job when the plane took off on the runway. Once we were up in the sky....looking down was not her favorite. "I don't want to fall!" She moved to the middle seat and liked the window shades shut. As she warmed up, peaking outside every once in a while was enough for little G. Other than that she was the perfect traveler. She didn't like the way her ears felt but she was a toughie and we had gum. We were greeted by my mom and brother as soon as we passed through security. From then on began the Kevin / Gisele hip attachment. Holding hands everywhere we went. We got to what we called the Drake Woodland Escape aka my parents house on a beautiful 10 acres just in time for a walk around the property and to have dinner with the family. The next morning our Oregon Chronicles began....

Gisele woke up nice and early ready to go. Sneaking out into the living room to see who was awake aka wake everyone up; she managed to get my mom and Kevin to go outside and pick berries for breakfast. Papa scrambled to get out of bed and take some pictures.

We spent the morning relaxing; Juan and my step-dad John went out to get fishing supplies. Gisele and Kevin played with the 9 baby kittens (pretty much any chance she got, Gisele asked Kevin if she could hold the kittens). Once our cooler was packed with picnic stuff and the fishing gear was ready we headed out for Trillium Lake.

I think Trillium Lake is a little touristy but man was it beautiful! In the 12 years I lived in Sandy I had never been to Trillium Lake...I'm so glad we went. It has such a beautiful view of Mt. Hood! I have so many childhood memories of John and my Grandpa Jack fishing. It was so fun watching John and Kevin teach Gisele how to fish. I know my grandpa Jack was smiling down :) Sadly we didn't get a bite but we had fun trying and of course we enjoyed eating our lunch with the beautiful view of Mt. Hood in front of us. We even had a little leftover lunch for Gisele and Kevin to feed to the ducks. ^^^Love her faces in these pics. So determined to catch a fish! Puckering her little lips to feed the duck. And then my loves...I just wanna squeeze them!

My wonderful family. Mom, John, Kevin and I...missing my sister Bethany :(

Next stop...Timberline Lodge and promises of playing in the snow! Being a San Diego native...little G had never been to the snow. We pulled up and guess what...no snow at the lodge! We were all determined to make it to the snow. My mom put Gisele on her back, Juan took over once the terrain got rough and then we made it!

What a payoff! Gisele loved the snow! Her reaction was priceless. Eh...what is this? First couple snowballs...a little nervous. A couple more...pure joy!! Look at that smile! Gisele loved throwing snow balls at all of us and of course we ate it up. Who wouldn't take a snowball to the face for that smile?

After our snowball session we made it back down to the lodge, enjoyed some beer, wine and chocolate milk. It was perfect. Last summer Juan and I visited Timberline Lodge with my mom and he loved it (who are we kidding he loved everything about our trip last summer...Juan is a huge fan of Oregon and my fam...makes me so happy). It was really special sharing some of our favorite parts of last years trip with Gisele. Her glowing smile made our hearts so happy. We really are so blessed to be able to share these wonderful times as a family. We are very blessed and I thank God every day for our many blessings.