Labor Day kickoff

I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend.  Even though we're almost to the end of the first week of school, last weekend felt like a great last hurrah to Summer break.  As a spur of the moment idea, we decided to take the kids over to the coast after Ken got off work, to do the Sweet Creek Falls hike (if you ever are in the Florence, OR area - it's a beautiful, kid-friendly hike along the creek that eventually leads you to the falls and only about 2miles RT.)  It was just what we all needed.  Everyone was sort of fritzing out - you know how those days go where you just know getting out of the house will be better for everyone? ;)  It was so soul refreshing, I can't even put to words here just how unexpected & special, that late afternoon/evening as a family was.  We had a ball on the hike & the kids & Ken even jumped into some of the chilly waterfall pools (once the sun starts setting behind the trees, it gets a bit nippy in the forrest but they all braved the water & I think it was the most fun part of the hike for the kids! :)  As we headed back in towards Florence to get dinner, we stopped at our favorite Italian place for pizza. (If in the area, you must visit Restobar 1285 - their brick oven pizzas are outta this world!)  Best idea though, was Ken's call to take it to go and enjoy dinner on the beach --- what a blast & absolutely beautiful night.  I forget how refreshing being at the ocean can be.  The evening lighting that night was surreal.  And, yes, I know, we are totally spoiled that we can literally be in the woods hiking to beautiful waterfalls one minute, and a twenty minutes later, be sitting in the warm sand staring at the sun setting on the Pacific.  My dear friend & college roomie, Sarah W., once said that she felt like Oregon got a triple portion of beauty & she's completely spot on.  It does feel that way - it is so utterly breathtaking.  We do feel spoiled with all the natural beauty literally right out the front door.  Sunday we hit the Umpqua river here with close friends and had a blast exploring on the rocks & jumping in.  (pics of that to come soon - haven't uploaded that batch yet.)  And Monday, we headed to Crater Lake (just 2 hours away to the lodge itself) and soaked in that amazing beauty, stopped to swim with the kids at Diamond Lake on the way home, and even snuck in another waterfall hike en route home - pj's n' all - checking out Watson Falls, the largest waterfall in Southern Oregon.  I really need to upload pics. ;)  But, for starters, here are some from the beginning of the weekend.  I miss Summer break already.  Our first week of getting back into the home school routine hasn't been as um, seamless or smooth transitioning into, as I had hoped/thought it would be. ;)  Here's to hoping next week goes a little better.... :)  Lots of love & hugs from us!