Oregon and the Eclipse

We love Oregon!! And this trip was especially fantastic because it was the first trip we've taken with extended family. The drive to Oregon itself was pretty uneventful. I was a little preoccupied the entire trip because of my pending miscarriage, and then actually dealing with it when it came, but more on that later. I don't want it to be the focus of most of this post.

We decided to make the trip in two days and stay in Eugene on the way there. That way the girls would get to swim in the hotel pool and we could be there plenty early when we were allowed to check in on Friday. It was there that my doctor called to confirm that my HCG levels were dropping. I'd had blood drawn on the Tuesday we knew something wasn't right (thankfully Nate was there and watched the girls while we went first to IHC and then to McKay Dee for an ultrasound) and so we had more blood drawn Thursday morning right before leaving for Eugene. So we knew that call was coming. It was confirmed to us what we already knew. Anyway, we were also a bit worried about the possibility of traffic so making the trip in two days seemed like the right idea. All the articles we were reading made it sound like everyone would be heading to the coast if that was where they were going to witness the eclipse. I didn't know it at the time, but Jon brought $500 in cash because there were predictions that ATM machines would be overwhelmed by the huge numbers of people gathered for the eclipse. Rumors of towns running out of gas were running rampant and Jon changed our route so that we didn't have to travel near the supposedly gasless cities. In the end, despite the rumors, the drive there was pretty uneventful as I mentioned earlier. Just chilling in the van listening to good music, watching animated movies and enjoying each others company. I love these people I call my family.

Once everyone was gathered (Grandma and Grandpa Blackhurst, Uncle Jon (He actually came!! Everyone was hoping he'd join us, but when I tried to persuade him he didn't give me much hope that he'd make the trip), Uncle Isaac and Aunt Amber, the Heiselts (Aunt Lizzie, Uncle Micah, Simon, Oliver, Elsa and Felix), Aunt Abby, Uncle Tophe, Aunt Sarah, Milo and Elora, Aunt Jess and Uncle Derek and Uncle Nate) we figured out sleeping arrangements and went to the beach!

We looked at tide pools, climbed on the rocks and built rock towers (Jon totally dominated this activity). We drew in the sand and ran around on the beach and in the frigid water. I don't think Lydia or Sophie care about temperature when it comes to running through waves. No. Matter. How. Cold it is!! On the way back to the rental home the girls turned into geckos and crawled along the beach. Love their little imaginations. Er, I mean big imaginations!

Saturday was another fun day. Jon took the girls to the beach in the morning while I baked Grandpa's birthday cake. We shot off rockets that Uncle Tophe brought later in the morning and got some pretty good height and distance with them. So fun watching the cousins jump on the 2 liter bottles to shoot off their rockets. Jon went to the store and came back with art supplies (we unintentionally left ours at home) which proved to be an excellent purchase. Lots of time spent drawing and writing stories with the cousins. Lydia wrote a book called Little Pup gets a Family and shared it with everyone. I love her stories! And we headed back to the beach later as well. I had a really great time chatting with Uncle Jon then. Finding out how he decided to come after all and just enjoyed spending time with him.

The food was awesome. Sarah spent a lot of time planning the menus and with the help of Grandpa and Jess it was super organized and super delicious. We had pizza that first night, and cereal, eggs, and muffins for breakfast each morning. That night we had taco/burritos and that went over really well too. Oh! And Sarah did a photoshoot with Jess and Derek showing off her beautiful pregnant belly. I opted not to join. I needed to be alone for a minute and just cry.

But once they were back we also celebrated both Grandma and Grandpa's birthdays. It was Grandpa's actual birthday, but with so many of us gathered we decided to do a double birthday party with carrot cake for Grandpa and Watermelon cake decorated with berries for Grandma. We sang the extended version of Happy Birthday and just had fun together.

My miscarriage started in earnest that night and so I didn't sleep much. The sisters had been notified before the trip (I realized what was happening on Leila's birthday. Or at least we were pretty sure at the time) but I guess word didn't make it to Isaac and Amber. I ran into Amber on the way to the bathroom at about 2 am. She put two and two together when she saw my stack of pads and burst into tears, which made me burst into tears. She was so sweet and it was really therapeutic to talk to her for just those few minutes, and then it was back to bed for another hour or so. The night went on and on like that and so I didn't attend church in the morning. But I did get some really sweet messages from the most thoughtful daughters.

Sunday Mom was really supportive and so great to talk to about my miscarriage and Jess stayed home with me while everyone else went to church. She was so sweet to do that and wanted to cancel her baby shower that night due to what I was going through. So thoughtful, and so not going to happen. I just had to compartmentalize things. My situation didn't lesson the joy I felt for her and Derek (especially since they've waited so long for this little girl!) and so there was no chance of cancelling the shower. We got the baked potatoes cooking for the potato bar, but later realized we should have got on that sooner. It turned out just fine anyway, and we learned that there weren't nearly the amount of visitors at the ward there as were expected. They planned for Sacrament meeting and cancelled all the other classes because they didn't think they'd be able to accommodate so many people. It sounded like a good meeting and the Sisters dropped by later to take some of our excess food to families that could use a little help. Jon took the girls out to the beach again. Soph loved collecting shells and why not get as much of the beach as possible??

There had been talk of a cookie bake off months ago, so Lizzie, Sarah and Jess each baked a batch of chocolate chip cookies and we all tasted them that afternoon. I was off the hook (as was Abby) because we were in charge of cake baking. Both for Grandpa and for Jess's shower. They were all very different and all super delicious. I vote for a no vote in the future. Just a thought. But I'm always in favor of cookies! And while the cookies were baking Sophie make up a sea shell matching game. She'd been collecting them at the beach and then she traced and colored them with the art supplies, before showing them to everyone and challenging them to match each shell to it's drawing. Creative little doll! So cute and so fun!

And dinner was grilled tuna and cheese sandwiches. It was a bit late getting started because of lunch being late, and then the cookies, but once we were done we partied some more with Jess's baby shower. Derek wasn't able to join us because he'd gone home for a baby blessing, but Abby put together an awesome matching candy bar game and because Tophe is super generous everyone got to take some candy home. Jess walked away with some great gifts. Clothes, toys and nursing pillow and (though not present) a rocking chair. She was, of course, so cute with all the gifts! And so grateful. And the cake afterward was so tasty. My girls would have loved the party but we put them to bed so they wouldn't be grumpy girlfriends in the morning.

And then I had a great cry sess with the sibs. Totally cracked. So funny to see the Sarah/Nate dynamic. And we just talked about life and parenting and relationships. It was awesome. I really needed that in the middle of miscarrying. And it was so fun to just be able to laugh like crazy for a few minutes even if I was crying hysterically the next.

Monday morning was spent cleaning and packing. I was pretty weak but we figured things out. There was talk of going to the beach to watch the eclipse but ultimately we decided to stay where we were. Our view right in front of our rental home was incredible!! The Heiselts and Isaac and Amber chose to drive closer to totality, but the rest of us stayed and did laundry and totally geeked out once the eclipse finally happened. It was so awesome!! It was amazing leading up to it, and I loved hearing the gasps from my girls, the cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Grandma and Grandpa. Not sure you could ever be prepared for the glorious beauty that is an eclipse. It was fun seeing everyone in their special glasses and Lyds and Soph turned into professional photographers while we were all out there waiting for totality. When it actually happened it got misty and really cold. The birds were quiet and it was just super dark. I couldn't believe how much the temperature dropped! Crazy! And then we went inside and finished off Jess's cake from the night before. And then we said our goodbyes. Grandma and Grandpa and the singles were heading to Washington to visit more family, so their vacation was just beginning, but they were going to drop Jess off at home first. Such a great weekend!

And then we were on our way. We stopped at the Chocolate Frog store on the way home and bought some chocolate frogs and taffy. Sophie was so excited about going there!!

And we stopped in Mountain Home Idaho on the way home so that we didn't have to drive all night. Plus it was another opportunity for the girls to swim and enjoy the wonder that is a hotel. Our booked room wouldn't open for us so they upgraded us to a nicer room and Jon ended up in their second room with a big bed all to himself. I think everyone slept pretty well and we swam for a bit in the morning. There was some construction going on right by the pool which added to the adventure of it all, but didn't stop the girls from having a good time. And then we were headed home. Traffic wasn't an issue at all. Not until we were about thirty miles from home. Ha! That was the slowest part of the whole trip, but we made it and have so many great memories to look back on. Glad Jon didn't need to use that $500.00! And so grateful for the tickles with the cousins, the sights, the beach and the waves as well as all the awesome conversations had with everyone.