Enchanting Good Time.

Enchanted Forest.

Family pic at the Enchanted Castle

It's been quite a few years since I've visited the Enchanted Forest. Like middle school aged. Yea, ages ago I tell ya.

Since we had a few spare days off in a row... we were itching to get out of town for the day. And we had been hearing a lot of talk and praise about the fun that was had at the Enchanted Forest from several of our rafting clients. So we thought, hey why not. Our kiddos are the perfect age for a little mini theme park like the Enchanted Forest.

So we packed our own lunch and snacks and piled in the car and drove the hour and a half commute to the Enchanted Forest theme park.  So much to do for our kiddos who are 2, 4 and 7. Even Hubs and I had a blast. Our favorite by far was the Log Fall ride. We rode it multiple times. So Much Fun. There were several other fun activities to do too, some were free and some were not too expensive at all.

Calm and Cool… love it.

Brody's facial expression… priceless

We really liked this particular theme park because they actually allow you to bring your own food in. Not always the case for many huge theme parks across the nation. It's not always a big deal, but for this particular occasion, it was super convenient and totally awesome that we were able to dine on our own food and drinks. Big thumbs up from us for that convenience.

Lunch Break… Yum Yum

The adventures didn't stop for us that day. We spent all day there… almost up until closing. We had four tuckered out kids by the end of the day and that my friends is a sign of a very good day indeed.

Again… the look on Brody's face. He He

Pure joy...

Hanging out with "Chip"

Wagon fun in the Old Town

Humpty Dumpty

Mommy & kiddos in wonderland

Daddy & kiddos crossing a little bridge

Wonderland

Crooked House

Until next time… such fun Enchanted Forest

We are big fans of theme parks. Big fans. And this little one tucked away in good ol' Oregon… is the perfect place to enjoy a day of fun right here close to home. We didn't have to travel very far. We didn't have to spend a lot. But we had an absolute blast. And the smiles on our kiddos faces were priceless. Totally worth it! Totally!!!

Fourth of July

Land of the Free...

Home of the Brave...

So grateful for the many wondrous ways our nation is able to celebrate it's birthday.

For the last few years we have celebrated the Fourth of July a couple different ways...

For a few years in a row we attended a local parade as spectators, followed by a low key BBQ and a nice big firework show afterwards.

Then last year (and the year before) we attended the parade as participants... we floated in our bright red raft... adorned with flags, glitz and glamour... advertising our family owned & operated rafting business we take so much pride in. Our kiddos had so much fun tossing candy to spectating kids... even sneaking in a piece for themselves a time or two.

But this year we decided to try something new. And we are so glad we did. Even though we have always enjoyed the parade... we wanted a change of pace. New memories needed to be made and this was the perfect holiday to do so. So we woke up, filled our bellies up with a nice scrumptious breakfast, packed some coolers for a nice big river side picnic and we hit the road to enjoy an afternoon of some family rafting.

What a way to start our Fourth of July... it was so refreshing! We ended our evening celebrating at the Rodeo. Horses, Bulls, Cowgirls and Cowboys... fun, fun, fun!

And not to go unnoticed... but we enjoyed the most... hands down... SPECTACULAR firework show at the Ems Baseball game the night before. AND! The Ems even won! Talk about icing on the cake! We had a wonderful guest join us in the fun and we're so glad she did. It's always fun when Memaw is around!

Cheers!!! Another successful year celebrating the nation we love!

Memorial Day at the Beach!

The Beach; A place of relaxation, rest & tranquility.

And that's exactly what we set out to do...

And we did.

Brody Man is 4!

Our Brody Man is officially 4! 

But let's be real... he's 4 going on 15. Really. He is such a big boy. The way he talks, the way he jokes, the way he picks up on things, the way he does anything. He's been calling me Mom lately. Apparently, we've moved on from Mama or Mommy. I'm a little crushed to say the least. But there are still moments of "Mama, you're my best Mommy" from my big boy. And those are the moments that melt my heart and remind me... he's still my little boy.

Per his request we celebrated with another Monster Truck Birthday Bash. This particular passion has stayed with him... never getting bored with it, never straying very far from loving those good ol' monster trucks. We actually counted all of his monster trucks the other day. The grand total equaled out to a whopping 95 trucks!  Insane! We joke that our sweet boy has a monster truck problem, sorta like how his Daddy has a fishing problem. :)

We kept the menu simple... pizza, veggies & dip, watermelon, fizzy punch, cupcakes and of course a...

Monster Truck Cake!!!

Our Man of the hour...

"Start your engines" at the cake table...

Monster Truck races...

Parachute games...

Buttons the Clown and lots and lots of balloon fun!!!

And little monster truck playing here and there of course.

The party was truly a blast. There was so much going on there, we weren't able to capture all of it... but we had lots of fun "monster truck" theme activities going... we had our bouncy castle set up as the "Monster Jump"... as well as bowling that we called "Bad to the Bone Bowling"... we also had a Monster Jam DVD playing on the projector for our guests... all in all it was a MONSTER of a good time.

And on Monday, Brody Man's real birthday we adorned him with lots of fun activities throughout the day... yummy pancake breakfast... shopping spree with Mommy and Riley... lunch at Chipotle (one of his faves)... home for some back yard fun... before heading to Red Robin for our traditional birthday dinner. After dinner we came home for some birthday cake and let our birthday guy ride his new big boy bike.

He said it was the best birthday ever... we succeeded. Happy boy. Happy parents. We love our Brody Man so much. Happy birthday Bug, we LOVE YOU!