Christmas in October

It kind of felt like Christmas around here last weekend. Why exactly? Well, almost all of us in the Vaughn clan were together for the entire weekend (except Ethan, who was traveling with his tennis team). Travis was honored with an alumni award from our alma mater so Dev and Laris made the trek from Portland to join everyone in spending some quality time together.

Somehow we managed only to get some pictures from Greenbluff during the entire weekend together. It's okay. I think Jono did a lovely job capturing the morning spent there. As always, there are mostly Clara and Everett pictures. But who can resist? The two of them are so cute together. Clara as the bossy older sister type, ordering Everett around. And Everett, mostly wanting to be where Clara is but just doing his own thing.

Here was just a small slice of our time together...

Oh Greenbluff, how I love you. We will be back. And family, in just over two months we'll be together again. Hurrah for that!

Fall Train Ride

We have been wanting to take the fall train ride from Ione to Metaline Falls for a few years now. The first Sunday of October we did it! We drove the nearly two hour trip with the Pickerings and ate at a little breakfast spot along the way. The train ride lasted about an hour and a half, so I'd say a lot of the trip was just the beautiful drive. The day was perfect and the fall colors were beautiful - much more prevalent than they are in Spokane yet.

The actual ride was nice. Not thrilling by any means, but Clara loved it. We enjoyed it too. Here is our trip, in pictures...

Skydiving

On the first Saturday of October, Jono got to place a check mark next to an item on his bucket list: skydiving. Our friend Neal turns thirty in the next month and to celebrate, Carly surprised him with a trip skydiving. Even though it wasn't Jono's birthday, of course he had to join the action - along with Dan, Chris, and Kyle.

I must admit, I was a little nervous about the whole thing. My sister reminded me that it was more likely that Jono would get killed in the car driving to sky dive than jumping from a plane. But still. It was jumping from a plane, which is a bit scary sounding to say the least. And now would not be the most optimal time to lose a husband (as if there's a time what would be - now would be pretty darn bad, though). The boys opted for tandem rides so they were all strapped to instructors. That was somewhat comforting, at least.

And of course they all loved it. Jono says he wants to go again. My response? Ha! A bucket list item is a one time thing. That, or I said he must think of an equivalent for me. Like a spa weekend away. A shopping spree. A special trip to visit my sister. In other words, we probably won't be revisiting skydiving for a while ;).

But it was a blast - even for us "just watchers"! I'm so glad they all enjoyed it. Happy 30th Neal!

Enjoying our coffee as the boys went through training.

Watch out, world. Here goes Jono!

The plane...

It's Neal (can't you tell?)!

And Jono...

And all the boys. Victory!

The Oregon Coast

Last weekend we joined our dear friends, The Randalls, at their family beach house just south of Lincoln City, Oregon. We had a wonderful time relaxing, playing on the beach, walking around the neighboring town, listening to guitar serenades from the boys, competing at the very intense dice game of Farkle, getting lost (and nearly dying) on our neighborhood walk (Amy & I plus the kiddos) and enjoying time spent with people we love. Here is a very random medley of pictures from the weekend...

There is just something about the ocean. The sight, the sounds, the smells. I'm not sure exactly what about it brings me pure calm. But it was exactly what we needed after a fast-paced September at home. My only complaint is that our time at the beach was too short!

And we even had victory sleeping with our two year old without a pack and play for the first time. Clara successfully stayed in her "ocean bed" (blue blanket folded on the ground) during all naps and bed times. Hurrah for that!

On the way back home through Portland on Sunday we met Devin and Larissa for lunch at a local spot. It was short, but thankfully we'll make up for it with some quality time together next weekend. Clara sure adores her cousin Everett (and we do too)!