My nephew had played his trump card in the game of "My grandparents are cooler than your grandparents."
And I have to say...he's right.
He has a pretty wonderful grandma and grandpa.
The hot dog tree is just one of the many attractions at the grandkid paradise that is my parents' house.
Oh, you didn't know hot dogs can grow on trees?
Well they can...and at the Blake residence...they do..
The hot dog tree only blooms once a year and it just so happens to be the same week the grandkids are visiting. They grow on a fishing line-esque loop and the number varies from year to year. This year we harvested a bumper crop and had a great time during the ensuing cookout.
Last summer my dad had built a tree house in their backyard forest and kept it a surprise until the grandkids arrived. This year, the surprise was a zipline and big slide attached to the tree house. Needless to say the boys were ecstatic. As were the adults...ziplining is a blast!
From ziplining to dance parties, strawberry picking to hot dog cookouts and sleeping in the tree house, my parents make every visit one to remember.
No wonder I never want to leave.
Cooking up the hot dog harvest.
Hours of fun for everyone!
There were some nights that my mom and I enjoyed the slide without any kids in sight. One evening we decided it needed to be a little faster so we sat on pieces of wax paper and waxed that baby down. Boy howdy that wax paper worked like a charm and we almost got bucked off into the bushes. There was lots of laughter and only a little yelping.
My dad built this and put it in the forest overlooking the creek. They eat a fair amount of meals out there during the summer.
I adore strawberry picking. The fields smell good, it's nice and warm in the sunshine, and you can eat as many as you want!
The babies did a great job supervising our second strawberry outing.
I love this place!
Strawberry picking turned to strawberry jam making.
Love these siblings of mine. (Jared had escaped to somewhere during this photo op)
There were lots of people to play and snuggle with.
Lawn mower rides, swinging, climbing trees and dance parties with Grandma...like I said grandkid paradise.
Being a wonderful grandparent runs in the family. I loved every second that I got to hang with these two! We ate lunch at a little bakery that is housed in an old church. It was so delicious that we took the babies and ate there again at the end of the week.
Tate enjoyed dining al fresco.
One day we decided to have a picnic at the rose garden. We thought it would be the perfect end to a day that had been sunny and fairly warm. It started raining as we were driving to the picnicing spot. In Oregon, if you don't picnic in the rain you may never picnic so we soldiered on and had a delightful time.
We drank some bubbly in honor of Matt (it's his favorite) since he was all alone in Arizona.
Ice cream sundaes at Hazelnut Hill. Hazelnut shells are used as their ground cover.
Whew...this party stuff gets pretty exhausting!
I'm so thankful that I have a family that enjoys being together! I can't wait until next time!
2 comments:
So glad you had fun. You went on so many adventures. THat is my favorite reason for going home. You guys sure look like you have a good time.
What wonderful memories to have.
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