Matt and Family

You know how they show sometimes, on TV, those annoying people who take TONS of pictures on a vacation and make people sit through a slideshow while they explain every last picture? Well, just be glad you're not a captive audience on my couch...

I loved having Matt and Laurie and their kids here, and I took tons of pictures. Their kids are so photogenic and cute. We had such a good time with them. We have missed having them here in Oregon so much, as we miss all our Utah family.

Here's Ethan, their youngest. We all went for a walk around Mother and Gary's neighborhood. Connor liked pushing Ethan's stroller most of the time.

Everyone stopped to look at a caterpillar.

My mother got a badminton set for everyone to play with, and we all had a good time with it, though there was no real skill involved. Here's Connor paying some special attention to Eleanor. Eleanor loved Connor. She loved playing with all her cousins.

Here's Connor trying very hard to hit the birdie.


Callie serving...

Matt and his boys (minus Ethan).

Birthday cousins. Eleanor and Callie share the same birthday, only 6 years apart (I'm pretty sure it's 6 years). Callie is so sweet to Eleanor. She was so happy to play with Eleanor and to let her tag along wherever Callie went. It was almost like having a constant babysitter. Callie would jump to help me with anything she could for Eleanor.

Grandma, Eleanor, and Connor. Did I mention Eleanor loves Connor?

This was taken at the beach house. We took Matt and family and Mother and Gary to stay at the beach house for a few days so they could catch up on their Oregon coast memories. Mike and Holly came along, too. They stayed at a hotel so they were able to catch up with us during the day and have a break from us in the evening. I can't blame them :)

Eleanor and the kids had fun with the sidewalk chalk.

Then, we hit the beach. And, what does the Wallace family do when we get to the beach? We roll up our pants or shorts, expose our chicken legs and our pasty (but pretty) skin, and we run for the water. Then, we run from the water. Then we run into the water. It starts out as a love/hate relationship, but it's all fun in the end. Come on, that water is cold!

Eleanor loved the water as long as someone was holding her above it.

Connor didn't like the water. Matt is trying to encourage some enthusiasm about running into it. Connor only liked the water because it washed off his hands when they were covered in sand, and believe me, he really didn't like his hands covered in sand.

Gary, Laurie, and Ethan.

Ethan checking out the beach first-hand.

Another attempt to help Connor enjoy the ocean. There's Mikey! I didn't get many pictures of him and Holly. I guess I mostly aim for the kids. Sorry.

Callie and Brennan loved playing in the waves. Callie got really wet!

Grandpa must have thought she wasn't wet enough... But, he spared her in the end.
In spite of Matt's best efforts, Connor did not like the water.

Grant taught the kids to make sand sculptures.

Then we picked up our shoes and headed back.

Grandma and the girls.

The next morning, we played some more badminton before heading out to go crabbing. Even Ethan liked playing with the birdies.

Our action shot.

CUTE girls on the dock.

Eleanor loved being in the boat. She even got tired of just sitting on my lap and wanted to watch the water pass by as we moved along.

Here's Grant, our driver, Connor, and Laurie.

Eleanor getting a good look at one of the crabs. Eleanor started out really nervous about the crabs we pulled into the boat. It might not have helped that the first time she saw them get pulled in, Brennan and Callie screamed their heads off as soon as the crabs were in the boat. I taught her to say, "bye, bye, crabs," as we threw the crabs out of the boat, and she liked that. By the end of the trip, Callie's curiosity had taken over and she was getting more brave and touching and even picking up the crabs. I think this helped Eleanor feel a little bit more comfortable. Plus, Grant and I picked them up to show them to her or throw them out (and I suppressed any urges to be squeamish for the sake of my daughter). So, toward the end, Eleanor didn't mind looking at the crabs we held out to her. She even touched one a couple of times when we held it down on the seat of the boat for her. Oh, and in case you're wondering, we only caught one keeper, but it was a fun trip. I don't eat crab anyway, so it was fun no matter what!

Before they left, we had to get in a few hands of cards. Our game of choice this time around was Mormon Bridge, one of my mom's personal favorites.

All tuckered out after such a busy week. This was their last day in Oregon. Eleanor and Connor sat together to watch part of a movie. We are always sad to say goodbye. It's hard to see them leave Oregon. I wish they would all just move here to stay. We'll see them again soon, though. We're going to Utah later this month.


If you made it this far, thanks for sitting through my slideshow. You may not believe that I ruled out a lot of pictures in choosing these. I took over 100 pictures. I'm so trigger happy with my digital camera these days! Matt and Laurie's kids are the only blondies of my mother's grandchildren. It must come from Laurie. They are such sweet kids, and it was a treat to have them visit.