4th Of July Festivities

This year we broke tradition. Instead of going to the Hillsboro parade we decided it was time to rough and tough it camping in the great outdoors. We have tradition to celebrate the 4th of July with the Oberg family, so of course they had to be there roughin' and toughin' it with us. We ended up at a campground called Barton Park in Clackamas, right next to the Clackamas River. We had to laugh because we seemed to be surrounded by some major red-neck people. We ended up adopting two little girls who played games with us until well after dark and ended up eating breakfast with us on our last morning. When I told them they should probably make sure their parents knew where they were they said , "No, they don't worry". Sophia informed me later that their father was in prison. On our last morning there we woke up to the people across the way packing up to go. The whole time the Mom was yelling at her little son, "Shut the *&%* up!" or " Shut your little *&#* up" or " Hey! Stop yelling Conner! It's to *&** early"! The funny thing is that she was the one yelling. Crazy people! It takes all types to make the world go round:0)

Allison was on top of researching the local festivities going on, so we ended up driving into Clackamas and hanging out at the Happy Valley Park 4th of July Day. We were amazed at

all there was to do there and for free! At night we drove into Estacada and went to their local high school firework show. It was sponsered by Shari's restaurants and some other big companies and turned out to be a very cool show. The night before we were to set off over the river and through the woods, we went to the airport to pick up our foreign exchange student from France. Her name is Anaelle and we loved having her there with us. I guess a great way to get to know total strangers is to go camping with them. She got to see us in the raw and was such a trooper. She really seemed to fit right in. We were in awe as we watched her partake of her first s'more, her first Oreo cookie, and her first Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Yeah, camping is all about the junk food! After she took her first bite of the peanut butter cup her eyes lit up and she put her thumbs up and said, "YAH!".

Rylie, Rachael, and Eli roasting marshmallows by the toasty campfire. We love campfires!

Hanging out at Happy Valley Park. There was so much to do, so much to see, and was really all free. Hey, that rhymes:0) Very cool!

The kids loved this inflatable slide. Go Eli!

Ivy on this huge rocking horse.

Sophia on a real pony ride.

They even had a mechanical bull. Hang on Rylie!

Ride em' cowboy! Matt didn't hang on for too long. The guy operating the bull was not going easy on the big boys.

Our crew waiting for fireworks to begin. Where did Scott wander off to?

Splishin' and splashin' at the Clackamas River.

Swim suit beauties.

Eli and Zach. What cute boys:0)

Matt got this crazy idea to swim across the river. This picture is before his insanity set in. He did make it across and back, but I was fearful for his life and did not capture it on film.

All in all we had a great 4th of July. We got rained on as couple of nights, but it did not dampen our experience at all. I'm not sure about breaking tradition again. We did miss the excitement of the Hillsboro parade and since it's the only parade we ever go to I think we might just stick on this side of town next year. Thanks to Oberg's for a fun filled weekend!