Yesterday the little one and I had a special one-on-one outing that involved library storytime, the mall playspace, and a shared pretzel. Later we picked up her sister and two friends and headed over to the park where the city’s parks and rec department had some summer activities set up. The little paddling pools with the oversized sponges, just perfect for soaking and throwing, were a huge hit!

The little one is growing dreads, which I think is just awesome!

I’m off to Vancouver for the weekend now, I’m sure there will be a TON of photos to share soon, Happy Canada Day for today and Happy Independence Day for the 4th (which is also Happy My Birthday), enjoy the celebrations!

She was gorgeous, bubbly, and an extremely friendly little one. She also lasted incredibly well in middle-of-the-day heat with lots of new things to see, explore, and play with!

Her lovely mom also brought along her handsome 10 week old boy.

Who is clearly much loved by his big sister.

Even if she did want to shut him in a suitcase!

We started out in Corvallis and drove down 99W & along 36 to Florence. We saw this little guy on the disused train tracks running alongside 36:

In Florence we stopped for lunch at Mo’s, followed by ice cream and a stroll around the little waterfront area.

From Florence we followed 101 all the way down the Oregon coast and into northern California. We made a few stops including at Cape Blanco State Park, which was beautiful, and to watch the sunset over some Pacific Ocean rocks near Brookings.

We turned off 101 at 199 and drove through the Redwoods and back into Oregon in the dark, eventually landing for the night in Cave Junction. An short, winding, drive the next morning had us at the Oregon Caves National Monument, where $8.50 each bought us a Ranger-led tour of the caves (well worth it).

From the Caves we moved on to Grants Pass and a pit stop for a very late lunch. We sped briefly down I-5 to Gold Hill and then followed 234 to the Crater Lake Highway (62). A pretty drive through the Rogue River National Forest got us to the Natural Bridges Campground for the night where we took a couple of beers and the camera and followed the short trail down to the natural bridge to watch the sunset. We followed that up with a few more beers, a campfire, and some marshmallows.

Next up was Crater Lake, it was the perfect time to visit, with many of the park roads plowed and the hiking trail down to the edge of the lake clear but with plenty of snow still around to make things look extra pretty.

We drove out the North Entrance of the park and follwed 97 up to Bend where we stopped for far too much food and ice cream, and a view ing of Toy Story 3 in the Old Mill part of town. We set up camp in the dark at Fort Indian Campground just north of Sisters on 126 and even though it was after midnight we had a little campfire and spent a happy hour watching the starry sky. Next morning we went back into Sisters for a huge diner breakfast and a little wander around downtown. McKenzie highway was still closed for snow so we headed back onto 126 and followed it to Eugene, stopping on the way to run around in the forest and marvel at the Sahalie Falls.

It was raining hard by the time we hit Eugene (we lucked out with the weather, it was dry and pretty warm up until then) so we hopped onto I-5 for the rest of the journey back to Corvallis, where as it turns out, the sun was waiting for us.

In a couple of days we’re borrowing a larger tent and heading down to the Oregon Caves and Crater Lake. I can’t wait!

Because really, how could you not fall for those baby blues?

This week’s iheartfaces challenge is baby themed, check it out.