One of the trials we have been going through has been going on for many years now. One of the downsides of this trial is it has caused some family relationships to be non-existent. A few months ago, we learned that your Uncle Shaun felt like he didn't know us, we were saddened by this. We invited him to come stay with us for a month. He wasn't able to come for an entire month, but he was able to come and visit for six days.
We played really hard with Uncle Shaun while he was here.
Monday
Monday was beautiful and sunny, we decided to hike up Spencer Butte. It was a relatively easy hike. We had to stop a lot for me to catch my breath. I'm not used to hiking with a twenty pound baby strapped to my front.
On the top of the butte we took in the view and Uncle Shaun fed the squirrels.
Tuesday
We went to pick blueberries only to discover that the field was closed. We made the best of the situation and decided to drive up the road a little bit further to the Leaburg Fish Hatchery. Uncle Shaun had never been to a fish hatchery before. He enjoyed looking at the fish and feeding them.
Then we went to Daddy's work for lunch. Uncle Shaun spent the rest of the day with Daddy at work- he thought Daddy's job was very boring.
We tried to go swimming that night but swimming lessons were going on. We opted for playing at the park instead. We put you in the baby swing and you hated it.
Wednesday
We started the day off with story time at the library. We all enjoyed listening to the stories and singing songs with the storyteller.
Then we drove out to the coast. We spent the afternoon at the Heceta Head Lighthouse. We enjoyed looking out at the ocean and watching the waves crash in. We all put our feet in the water, it was cold but we all had fun getting wet. This was your first time to the ocean, Bubba.
Thursday
We made a trip down to Winston to go to Wild Life Safari (this was the one place your uncle really wanted to visit). We learned that Uncle Shaun's favorite animal is an elephant and we thought we would surprise him by making arrangements for him to touch an elephant. He was really surprised when we told him what he would be doing. Not only did he get to touch an elephant, he had an elephant paint him a picture!
Then we drove through the park to see all the animals, we let your uncle drive (he just got his learners permit- don't worry he has been driving farm equipment since he was about eight years old). He did pretty good driving, except for when he hit the gas pedal too hard and peeled out next to the bears lol.
We walked through most of the walk through area of the park and then piled back into the car to drive through the park a second time (Daddy drove this time). We like to drive through the park just before it closes because it's not as busy and you can often get a better view of the animals.
For the first time ever we saw the rhino up close! Your Daddy was so excited to see the rhino, he drove on some staff roads so we could get closer to it (ssshhhh don't tell anyone).
On the way home we pulled off on the side of the road so Uncle Shaun could try fresh blackberries- they grow like weeds here. He loved the fresh berries! He said he didn't like blackberries before, but these were nothing like the berries you buy in the store.
Friday
Mommy got smart and called the blueberry farm to see if they were open this time, they were, so we went berry picking. Daddy and Uncle Shaun at so many berries off the bushes that they felt sick. We let you eat some berries too, Bubba, you loved them! We came home with 32 pounds of berries.
Saturday
On Saturday we went up to Blue River Reservoir and went stand up paddle boarding. Uncle Shaun and I went out on the boards first. We saw a few salamanders swimming in the water as we were out on the lake. While we boarded, Daddy played with you on the shore.
Then Mommy and Daddy switched places and Daddy went out on the water. Daddy and Uncle Shaun had a great time. Daddy even fell in. Oops!
That evening we had a bonfire in the backyard and roasted smores.
Sunday
We were up at 3:50 am to take Uncle Shaun to the airport. We were sad to see him go and he seemed sad to leave. We hope he had a good time and that we comes to visit us again soon. More importantly though, we hope he feels like he knows us a little bit better.
