Wallowa Lake, Oregon

We had just gotten back from Crescent Bar on Sunday, I had gotten everything unpacked and all our clothes washed and was looking forward to relaxing at home. Dave had taken the week off of work and we had plans to get some serious yard work done. The heat ruined those plans, our air conditioner hardly works in temps this high (100's) and our house was miserably warm and we both knew that we wanted nothing to do with yard work. Then Dave suggested a little family mini-vacation in Wallowa Lake, in less than 2 hours I had rented us a cabin, packed our bags and we were on the road. Wallowa Lake is surrounded by mountains, trees and cooler weather. It is only a 2 hour drive from our house and such a fun family place to visit. We had never been to the lake together (though both of us have been with our families when we were younger) and now we want to make it a yearly tradition with our kids. We had the best time, it was relaxing, cool and full of fun activities. We stayed in the cutest little 1 bedroom cabin right off of the main road and only about 1/2 mile from the lake. We spent our time exploring, feeding the fish, catching hundreds of ladybugs, tadpoles, frogs and snakes, rode on bumper boats and go-carts, played a game of mini-golf, went hiking, swimming and had some yummy treats. It was a perfect 4-day getaway and something we all really needed. We can't wait to go back!

 We arrived Monday evening about 7. We quickly put all our stuff in the cabin, unloaded our cooler of food and set out to walk around a little bit before bed.

 This was our cabin, it was perfect size for us but as these boys get bigger we are going to need something with 2 rooms.

 I took the younger 2 boys running the next morning, you can tell from their sweatshirts that the weather was a little cooler. It felt so nice to run with a breeze and the trees surrounding me.

 Next door to our cabin there was this little pond with a bunch of trout in it. There was a little machine that you could pay to get fish food and feed the fish. The boys LOVED this, we must have done this 6 times in our short stay and each time we would have to beg them to leave.

 There were so many ladybugs around our cabin, the boys probably spent 50% of our time there catching ladybugs.

 They also caught tadpoles, frogs (Colt had 5 frogs that he let go in that water bottle) and snakes (ewww).

 Baby froggy.

 Ladybug catchers.

Case still did not feel great, whatever he has it has hit him hard.

 After all that exploring the boys wanted to do bumper boats. Colt was thrilled when they told him that he could drive his own boat. The smile never left his face.

 After bumper boats we walked down to the river to walk around and get our feet wet.

 Ha! This just makes me laugh.

 Case loved picking up rocks and throwing them to make a splash.

 Colt acting like a ninja??? I never know who he is trying to be these days.

Case wanted to run off on his own but he kept tripping over rocks and falling so I refused to let go of his hand which resulted in ........

 .....tears.

 Colt hiking with a walking stick (like his Papa).

 My middle man Jax looking for tadpoles.

 Gorgeous view!

 After we were done walking around we went back to our cabin for lunch and a failed nap from Case. We finally gave up on trying to get him to nap and walked down to the lake for a swim. The water was a perfect temperature and the boys had fun playing in the water.

 After swimming they were right back on the beach looking for more bugs.

 The sickies. Dave came down with Case's cold/cough/body aches on Monday and didn't feel great for a couple days. He is a tough sick guy though and never took a break from all the fun we were having.

 After a very full day we headed back to the cabin for dinner and then bedtime. We put all the boys in the bedroom and Dave and I slept on the hide-a-bed so we could watch the Olympics after the boys fell asleep. It was the perfect plan!

 Wednesday morning we woke up and drove into Joseph for breakfast and walked around. Joseph is a small, quaint town with cute little shops and a very relaxed atmosphere. We walked up and down main street for an hour and checked everything out.

 We drove back to the lake and the boys practiced their ninja moves on a tree while I worked out in the back yard area.

 Then we put Case in the backpack and got ready for another fun filled day of activity.

 Me and my baby.

 Love him!

 First stop was mini-golf. The boys had a great time and Colt was pretty decent at it. Jax was hilarious to watch. Dave and I kept looking at each other and asking what in the world he was trying to do.

 Both Colt and Jax got a hole in one on the same hole. Colt was very excited.

 We finished up the mini-golf game, I gave Dave the backpack and we walked up the road to our next activity.

 Go-Carts! Colt and Dave went first and as expected Colt had the best time.

 Case hanging out in the pack while everyone else has fun. Next year buddy!

 Mommy and Jax's turn!

Colt posing like Batman.

 After go-carts we walked back down the road and stopped at an arcade so the boys could play some games. Once we got back to our cabin I convinced the older boys to come hiking with me. Dave and Case stayed home so Case could nap and Dave could enjoy some quiet time.:). I pushed the boys in the stroller to the trailhead which was a mile from our cabin then parked the stroller and we all started on our hike.

 I was not sure how the boys would do, I love hiking and really want it to be something we do a lot as a family when the boys are all older. My hope was that they would enjoy it and not complain about all the walking.

 Jax started off a little grumpy but soon warmed up once he realized the trails were filled with more bugs to catch!

 We hiked for probably a mile and found a really pretty waterfall and then turned around and went back down.

 Colt got pretty good at taking pictures of Jax and I during the hike.

 Every time he would take a picture of Jax and I he would say "Hey Jax check out the booger on my head" so that Jax would look up at the camera. It was fun hiking with the boys and I was so happy that they had fun and enjoyed it. I am looking forward to lots more of this as they get older.

 Our last morning at the lake we had a visitor as we were packing up the car.

 This deer was very friendly and ate the granola right out of the boys hands. Every time we went out hiking or walking we saw deer standing less than 5 feet from us. Even on my run this morning when I went up on the trails I saw a mommy deer and two of her babies. They don't even run away, just look up at you and then go back to eating. We were sad we had to leave but are looking forward to coming back next summer if not sooner!