after our family reunion was over, moses and ian got to go on an epic adventure with a bunch of cousins and uncles! they loaded in my brother’s big van and set off for a camping trip in oregon! gabriel and i stayed at the lake with aunts and other cousins. it was great for both ian and i to have some one-on-one time with our boys, and everyone had a great time with family.

here’s the oregon crew as they headed off on their long drive…! they stopped a few hours in to see the new lion king movie.
 
they stayed overnight at a hotel, and mobbed the breakfast room in the morning, ha!

they were headed to some land that my parents have owned for about forty years in the blue mountains of oregon. just before i was born my mom and dad took eight kids there for a summer, to live in the wilderness and build a log cabin with their own hands. we went back as a family several times after the first cabin-building adventure in 1985, and that place was woven into the fabric of our childhoods. here’s what the cabin originally looked like…

and here’s what it looked like when the crew got there this year…!

after all those years, and being taken over by pack rats, it had finally collapsed. my brothers have been taking their kids up to this spot in oregon, every summer after the bear lake reunion, for about 6 or 7 years, and every time they go they build something in the trees around the old cabin. it’s become quite the wonderland of platforms, slack lines, and swings!

i was so thrilled that moses and ian were able to tag along this year and experience this beautiful place and fantastic extended family adventure.

the dads and kids played in the woods, went fishing at the lake…
 
…ate ramen and tinfoil dinners around the fire, slept in tents…
 
and picked a lot of wild berries (mo’s favourite part!).


 
my brother jonah and his family stopped by on their way from bear lake to washington. here’s a picture of the whole group with moses looking at the camera…

…and another with talmadge having made it into the frame (i think he was running in after setting the timer on the camera!)

love that moses got this fun, rough-and-tumble, wilderness-living time with his cousins, especially these two, ezra and dean!
 
meanwhile, back at the lake…

the moms were enjoying the beach and conversations and just a little more quiet!

and the lake!! (bear lake blue is the best!)

gabriel went on his first tube ride…

…and absolutely, completely hated it, haha!

happier back in the boat 🙂

we enjoyed more perfect bear lake sunsets:

and the incredible bear lake night sky (my sister shawni took this long exposure photo and i love it so much!):

the babies (gabriel and his twin-cousin etta) enjoyed some time laughing with grandfather:
 
 
my sisters and i watched some cousin tennis matches and were photobombed by our parents, ha!:

one night the lake was pure glass at sunset and we ran out to the boat to have a “ski on the gold.” the second we stepped into the boat, the wind picked up and it was so choppy! but it was still such a beautiful night and we just had a quick ride around our beloved lake.

gabriel and his cousin-twin etta hung out a lot…

…wish i had more good pics of them together! born five days apart last spring.
the oregon crew got back and all ran straight from the car into the lake in their clothes! they were all pretty dirty after camping in the wilderness for a few days.

and then we all had one more sunset together before everyone started heading different ways, away from the lake.

bye, bear lake 2019! already looking forward to bear lake 2020.