To Camp or not to Camp...THAT is the question.

(Graham added some commentary, see if you can find it!)


A couple of weeks ago The Chaney Family (minus Max) went camping. We just got back from our trip to Southern Oregon on Monday morning and the Elder Chaney's came by our house to pick up myself, the munchkin, and the dog. We packed the car to maximum, including a soft roof rack bag, and headed off toward the mountain. Our first stop was Trillium Lake, it sounded really nice and small. Once we got there, we found that all the spots on the lake were taken and the sites in the middle of the campground were pretty exposed. Next we took off to Clear Lake, once again, not very exciting. Finally we decided to go to Timothy Lake which had been our original choice. We passed the first 2 campgrounds without even realizing that they were part of the lake. I think it was meant to be as the campground we ended up at was named Hood View.

We found a great campsite that was set back aways from the campground road, right by the entrance. We were only a few steps away from the beach area and the dock (not to mention the pottys!) We set up camp and got ready to eat some dinner.

At dusk we headed down to the logs at the beach to watch the sun set. Oliver played "Thank you" with Granny Nanny. He picks up rocks, or any foreign material he wants to put in his mouth, and then you say thank you as you either take it away or he places it your hand. It is starting to become one of his favorite games.

Graham was meeting us up at the mountain after he got of work. Luckily he got off early, as it was slow, and made it up while it was still light out. We hung out around the campfire and had some yummy yummy smores. It was all so exciting that it took Oliver awhile before he gave in to the fatigue. That night wasn't too bad for him, he woke up once and Daddy had to go heat up water for a bottle. He wouldn't go back to sleep in his crib so he slept with me for a couple more hours. I slept terribly, with a pillow at the wrong height, freezing, then boiling and always worrying if Oliver was warm enough and not rolling over him. Graham got up sometime before dawn to go fishing. I had him move Oliver to his crib and was able to doze for a little while longer.

That morning we had french toast, a first for Oliver!

After breakfast we got ready and loaded up in the car for a hike. We drove a couple miles to the Trail head, parked and headed on our way. It was about 3 mile round trip hike, mostly level and shady, my kind of hike! Once we made to the end we sat down for a light lunch while Graham went fishing, again. He's pretty rad.

The lake at the Trail Head.A sign at the beginning of the trail...we didn't see any snakes.

Oliver fell asleep in the back pack, on the way in AND the way out!


The water was so clear.
After we had lunch, and Graham was done fishing, we started back to the car. Poppa J, Daddy & I left Mr. Oliver with Granny Nanny and drove into Government Camp since they needed more beer. I used the opportunity to doze a little in the car and be off of Mommy duty for an hour or so. We had another lovely meal for dinner and Graham went fishing again.

Oliver went to sleep much earlier, when it was still light out, but woke up only after about an hour. That night also ended up being a terrible night I still feel bad for the other Campers! Oliver finally went to sleep about 1/2 hour after we went to "bed". I tried moving him but he wasn't having it so he slept with me again. Sometime early, early in the morning he woke up screaming, and screamed for at least 10 mins as Daddy made a bottle. Finally after getitng his bottle, a fresh diaper and some new, footie pj's he fell back to sleep and I didn't even try to move him this time. He woke up again at about 6:30 am with another scream fest and was happy once he was up and out of the tent. Let's just say he's not such a happy camper!


Lake Timothy at Dawn.

We packed up our car and hit the road by 9am, Oliver slept 99% of the way home. We got home, both showered and then Graham was off to work a full day. Boy is he dedicated. All in all it was a fun trip but a very tiring one!

we survived!

Oliver and I survived our first day with me at work and him in daycare. I am feeling the Graham has survived the day as well but his won't be over for at least 4 more hours. We had a pretty rough weekend, more will be coming on that after the camping post that I am still working on. All three of us have been lacking in sleep since Monday, hopefully we can catch up this week!

My day started in HR and then I went into orientation for the morning. I had a Sponser who showed me around and took me to lunch in the cafeteria. I share a cube space with a lovely girl that is an Assistant Designer for Accessories. In my cube, waiting for me was a Columbia backpack, a small water bottle, a nice wood pen and some sunscreen. My afternoon was spent reading manuals and trying to figure out how to switch from my Mac interface to my PC. I have one monitor, 2 CPU's and 2 keyboards, I was not successful and will find out in the morning at my computer meeting.

The report was that Oliver did well at daycare. He played a lot and got to spend time outside. He didn't hardly eat and didn't take a nap. He didn't seem to interesting in me either. We spent the mornings last week meeting potential day care providers and found a woman we really like. She has a 2 1/2 old, Noah and watches another little boy who will be 3 at the end of September. I think that "Wally" as Noah calls him, will learn a lot and hit his milestones a lot sooner now that he has examples to follow and boys to try to keep up with!

favorite moments

I thought would share a few of my favorite moments from the past couple of weeks. This should tide you over until I get the camping pictures up!

Oliver has graduated to Big Boy baths now that he learned how to use the ducky to climb OUT of the tub...
He loves to hold on to the handles and squat while splashing his bottom on the water, its pretty funny to watch, he can go hours!

Using his travel high chair at Granma and Poppa Rick's. Having a breakfast of fresh picked garden raspberries, scrambled egg & hash brown potatoes....mmm mmm mm

Finally! A baby swing!

Picking clovers in the park with Mama and Granny Nanny.

Asleep in his swing for nap time. Oddly enough, this is a common occurrence. I often find him asleep in his crib with the blanket over his head.

Southern Oregon and Grams' Birthday Surprise

On Friday morning, after our busy day and dinner in Portland, Granma, Poppa Rick, Oliver and myself loaded up in the car and headed out for Williams. Oliver did great, falling asleep before we made it to Hwy 34 and slept until Grants Pass. We made a quick stop there for lunch and then made the final trek to Williams to Grandma Lou and Poppa Joe's house (formerly Steve Miller's house) on the Pacifica Gardens property. There was a wedding about to take place, a groom in full Marine dress, in the hot sun, and a bride not coming out of the bride's room. Eventually all was taken care of and we heard the shouts of a newlywed couple off on their honeymoon. The property was really nice with a very large pond, and oak grove, fishing, and a very large house to accommodate a large family!

The house and pond.

The first night we got a visit from Auntie Stephie and Cousin Sofi. Then Cousin Jordan arrived with Oliver's new girlfriend, Rory. That night Oliver also go this first black eye, as he was fighting sleep, lunged out of my arms and into a headboard. oops! poor guy, the bruise is almost gone a week and a half later!

His first black eye

The next morning was a busy one as everyone was put to work getting ready for Grams' surprise 85th birthday party. Lucky for Mom and I, we had Oliver to entertain and we were spared from the heavy lifting in the hot sun. We took Oliver on a short walk along the pond in the morning and found that the borrowed jogger did a great job of putting him to sleep!

We made our way over to the Terraces for the party and awaited Ginny and Grams' arrival. Upon arriving and getting her special seat, Grams was serenaded by a local acapella group.

The birthday girl and Poppa Joe.

The Harts (Auntie Stephie, Cousins Sofi & Josh, Josh's girlfriend Tiffany)Grandma Lou and Rory (Oliver's girlfriend)Oliver and Rory

Dinner was served and then too many desserts to count as well as a giant birthday cake! Auntie Chelese (being revengeful i think, apparently i fed Eli his first chocolate ice cream at his first 4th of July, something that I don't recall...) fed Oliver his first taste of chocolate, and BOY did he LIKE it!! he had a death grip on her finger trying to get every last smudge of chocolate and gave her an open mouth kiss trying to find some in there as well! Next Grandma Lou thought he should try buttercream, and once Granma had her cake she couldn't keep his hands off of it!

mmm...chocolate...

Frosting is TASTY!

After Oliver and I said hi to Grams we took off his shirt to help him cool off. Granma was about to take him back when they found the tub of ice had partially melted and Oliver spent the rest of the party playing in ice water and learning to eat ice.

After the party we took Oliver back to the house in the jogger while everyone else broke down the party and he fell asleep on the way. He seemed to sleep better in that jogger than in his pack n' play. There was more wine drinking, some homemade limoncello brought out and a lot of laughter. it was really great to have the whole family together again, except for there was no Graham. Hopefully for Winter Solstice we will be graced with his presence and his food!

Sunday morning, we got up to a full house (Randal, Eli & Chelese stayed that night too & the Harts returned) for a tasty breakfast, loaded up the car and headed back to Lebanon to meet Daddy. Oliver was asleep before we left the property but only slept about an hour. I spent the next 2 or so hours entertaining him and trying to stop the screaming! By the time we made it to Corvallis (after Daddy picking us up and a trip to Auntie Marci and Uncle Chad's) he was finally happy taking a nap in his crib.