trip to Oregon -- Black Butte

We arrived at Black Butte Ranch on Thursday afternoon. Marc's family has some friends who own a vacation home on the ranch (which is really a misnomer as it's actually a golf resort). Marc and I stayed in the home for a few days on our honeymoon. It has been expanded and entirely remodeled since then, which is not too surprising considering that was 17 years ago!

This is where you check in to the ranch! The weather was just gorgeous -- 80s and sunny -- a refreshing change from Utah's heat.

This is just a partial view from the dining/family room. It has floor to ceiling windows the length of the room. The golf course is just a few yards beyond the deck.

All of the kids just loved Black Butte. There was so much for them to do: ping pong in the garage, a giant closet full of bikes and plenty of bike paths, a giant hot tub on the deck, tennis courts, a fabulous pool within walking distance. They had a lot of freedom and they really enjoyed being all together in one house, while the adults enjoyed having several bedrooms for privacy.

Uncle Bob took Max & Nicole to play tennis.

Eva really loved the little sandbox on the deck. (Especially when Grandma sat by her and joined in the game.)

In the evenings, the kids would walk out and play on the golf course. They loved the freedom of being able to run all over the place in the soft grass.

Grandma being indulgent yet again -- playing tag with Eva. Somehow I never want to do that.

Grandpa gave Lucas a little swinging instruction.

We walked over to the pool. I think the kids would have stayed there all day, if there weren't so many other fun things to do. Eva particularly loved the kiddie pool with a beach entry. I snapped this picture of her "taking a mermaid" (this has been cracking me up at Seven Peaks, but I never have my camera there).

By the last day, she got brave enough to play in the fountains!

On Friday, Max and Lucas had been playing -- for a long time -- in the giant hot tub on the deck while Eva took her nap. They were just getting out when she woke up wanting to get in with them. Max agreed to stay in with her and ended up spending probably another hour and a half in the tub!

This is what his feet looked like when I rescued him.

...and this is the face I got when I wrapped her up in a towel.

I don't know if this is moss or some form of parasite, or both, but I found it very intriguing. A beautiful addition to the trees!

Black Butte was beautiful, and very relaxing. Lucas loved it so much, he didn't want to leave. He said he wished the beach was just on the other side of the house -- then we could stay put and have the best of both worlds.

We left late Saturday morning for the final leg of driving to the coast, about 3 1/2 more hours. As Marc was backing carefully out of the driveway, he just couldn't seem to avoid one pesky tree, and he had to keep maneuvering to get a wide enough berth. He actually exclaimed "I hate nature!" at one point, which made the rest of us laugh hysterically. (He was only kidding a little bit.)

Unfortunately, Lucas got carsick about an hour into the drive, despite the aforementioned prescription motion sickness medicine. (We've tried Dramamine and Benadryl in the past. I've asked about getting a patch for him, but apparently you have to be 18 for those. We also use those acupressure wristbands. The poor kid just gets really sick.) I prayed and prayed that it would be an isolated incident, since we've had nightmarish experiences in the past with him being sick for hours until we finally reach our destination. Luckily, he was okay the rest of the time, but I'm sure it really reinforced his desire to remain at Black Butte.