Cooking & Crafts with Curren: First Family Vacation

We have enjoyed getting to know our Bennett as a little guy. He is 5.5 months old already and attempting to crawl and loves watching his big brother storm through the world. Curren is talking more each day and is a full fledged two year old. He is tearing up mom and dad's clean house, learning how to swim and almost potty trained (GO MOM).

Curren celebrated his second birthday in Minnesota with family. Grandma Nancy did such a nice job arranging the party. She themed his party around 'The Little Engine That Could' and monkeys, of course. It meant the world to us that so many loved ones came to celebrate our sweet boy. Once we returned home, we rode Thomas the Train with his best friend Luciano and Bennett.

Great-Grandma GG came for a visit in May to celebrate Elizabeth's college graduation. We got to visit with her for two great weeks. She also got to see Bennett roll over for the first time.

We enjoyed the beautiful Texas spring by swimming and getting outdoors to play. Now it is desert hot with temperatures reaching 107 some days. We try to get out early in the morning for some fresh air before we are confined to the house. The crafts, play dough, and trains are keeping them sane.

We recently went on a trip to Oregon to celebrate Nik Chourey's marriage to his lovely bride Erin.

They have an eight month old son, Soren that we were happy to love and squeeze.

We stayed in the high desert at Camp Sherman in a cute cabin near the Metolius River. The couple had a traditional Indian wedding with family and friends.

We made a road trip to visit the Painted Hills. The area is named after the colorful layers of its hills corresponding to various geological eras, formed when the area was an ancient river floodplain.

We had such a wonderful time getting to know Erin's family and spending time with Prem, Mary and Sarita (Nik's parents and sister).

After the wedding celebrations were over, we drove westward to the coast. Along the way we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory to see the mill in action and taste the various cheeses made. Curren choose a two foot pepperoni stick over ice cream as a snack. Yes, he ate the whole thing within twenty minutes. No judgements please, it was a vacation treat.

We stayed in Gearhart in a quaint hotel close to the ocean. We built sand castles and hiked the Ecola State Park. We geeked out and visited Astoria where The Goonies was filmed. I got a pitcure in front of the house, which made my day. Mom and Dad had a great time tasting tons of local beer, wine and food. The fruit was amazing.

On the Fourth, we celebrated by watching the local Gearhart parade and had scrumptious pastries. Afterwards, we drove back to Portland and BBQ'd with the Choureys and watched the Vancouver fireworks from our hotel room. We had such a wonderful time reconnecting with friends family and just husband and wife. It was hard to come back to hot Texas.

We are sad to say that Gary and Dail moved to Greenville while we were gone. They are happy to be back on the coast with grandchildren close by.