The River of the Sun

Nearly 5 years ago I had the opportunity to introduce Shelby to one of my family's favorite vacation spots, Sunriver, to celebrate our college graduation. Sunriver is a beautiful little resort town nestled at the base of the Cascades just South of Bend. The first weekend in June, Shelby and I visited Sunriver again (along with my parents and Aunt Becky) but this time with our sons and Kiley (Shelby's husband). It was surreal to be there again with Shelby and reflect on how much our lives have changed over the past five years. Has it really been five years since we graduated college? It feels like just yesterday. We've both gotten married, had our own classrooms, traveled, moved, and most recently, had beautiful and healthy little boys (only two short months apart). Shelby is one of the kindest people I have ever known, and I feel so blessed to call her my friend.

The whole gang stayed in a rented home near Fort Rock Park, the largest park in Sunriver. We had fun taking the boys to the park to play (and let's be real, for photo opportunities), going on scenic bike rides (while my parents took the boys for walks), visiting the indoor pool at Mavericks, playing cards, the inevitable late LATE night chats, and simply relaxing at the house together.

The only missing piece to the perfect vacation was Pat. :( He was finishing up his contract at Bungie and could not take time off. In fact, in addition to working 12+ hours a day at work, he was working 4+ hours at home afterwards on an animation test for another company. We missed him like crazy, but had we been home, it would have been much harder for him to get done all he needed to that week.

Thanks for such a wonderful vacation, Loo family. We'll look forward to visiting Sunriver again in 2015! And the Gillettes will look forward to visiting you on your beautiful island (or one of your beautiful islands) in 2011! We love you!!


Fast friends!

It's no wonder we all got sick after this trip... :)

Quinn's first swim ever, at Mavericks in Sunriver!

Had to taste the water, of course.

He looks a little terrified here, but I promise he was having a good time.

Kia'i and Kiley

Mama and Quinn

The swimmers

Lovin' the nature in his PJs

Grandpa and Quinn connecting with the deer right outside our deck.

"Come on Kia'i, let's go play somewhere else."

Peek-a-boo with daddy's hat is hilarious!

Slides are fun.

Love them.

Beautiful family

We love Sunriver!

*Thankfully, Pat was able to meet Kia'i and visit with the Loos the weekend prior to our travels to Sunriver. The Loos were in McMinnville for Kiley's sister's college graduation and we were visiting Monmouth for Memorial Day weekend. Great times were had by all!