Oregon Trail

We took the opportunity Memorial Day weekend to travel West to Ashland, Oregon to visit Kaija's grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins. Natalie did a great job on the 8 hour trip - we were lucky enough to snag an extra seat on the first leg so she could sit in her car seat and then on the second leg we had a very friendly woman across the aisle that kept Natalie entertained. When we arrived Aunt Rita and Uncle Bill were there to greet us!



Sunday was family reunion day! In addition to spending time with Kaija's Oma and Opa, we had cousins come from Seattle (Kirsten, Mark and Sonja) and Portland (Sara). The weather wasn't very cooperative, but we had a wonderful time catching up, watching the girls play and celebrating Josh's 33rd birthday!

On Monday the sun decided to come out, so we went to Lithia Park for a walk and a visit to the duck pond and the playground! Afterwards, we stopped by a local winery where Natalie promptly decided it was time to nap. Aunt Rita and Uncle Bill took turns sitting in the car so Kaija and Josh got to enjoy the wine tasting!

Monday morning we went out to breakfast and were lucky enough to meet a local children's author. He stopped by our table to comment on what a happy baby Natalie was and a couple minutes later came back with a signed copy of his latest book! That afternoon Rita and Bill watched Natalie while Kaija and Josh visited with Oma and Opa at their lovely retirement community, Mountain Meadows.

The trip back Tuesday started out with some excitement as Rita and Bill's house lost power in the middle of the night. Thank goodness we had packed the night before and make our 6AM flight in plenty of time! Natalie also managed to pick up a cold and cough during the trip, so she slept alot of the flight back. We had a wonderful time (although way too short!) and hope to make it back to Ashland very soon!