The Glynn's Go Bend!!!

Ok, so the title.. it's an inside family joke involving a nice old man once who didn't speak English well and gave driving directions to my Grandma to "go long... go Bend... go Albany."

So I had to incorporate that. :-)

Sometimes I get a bug up my ass and tell Neal we need to be better about doing this-or-that... whether that may be spending more quality time as a couple, or more quality time as a family, or whatever.

My newest thing is... we need to get out of the house and explore more. Go on more day trips. We live in this gorgeous state that has an ocean, a desert, mountains, trails, waterfalls and more... and our day trips had consisted of one (yes, ONE) trip a year to the coast. And that's about it.

Sad, in my book.

Time to make memories. Get out of the house. Show Austin (and soon, Owen) the great state of Oregon. Burn some gas. The toddler can nap in the car... so let's go!!!!!

So we went to Bend on Memorial Day and it was the best day!

The drive out there went smooth, we had some breakfast on the run, Austin played some games on his Kindle and just chatted our ears off.

Our first stop was the High Desert Museum. If you've never been, GO!!! One of the best places for kids I've ever been! Super interactive, interesting and with outdoor space to run!

Statues to play on, caves to explore, fish galore.. and trails to race Daddy on!

There was even a quiet spot to sit and watch the chipmunks run around...

The outdoor area of the museum had a homestead area and Austin loved it! There was replica of a high desert house from 1900 (totally decked out inside, and a guy dressed in period garb playing the part of a homesteader!!) where kids could scrub the porch, pump water, do laundry, and dig up potatoes.

Austin was quite a good little homesteader and worked real hard!!

There was also a replica 1900's sawmill, barn, outhouse, pantry..... It was very cool!

There was also modern equipment on display and we had to get a picture by the "big digger!!"

Inside there were exhibits about the Native Americans who used to populate the high desert, replicas of their camps and homes... a little "main street" of a founding town back in the turn of the century (complete with store fronts and all that!) and native animals.

Again, super impressed with this museum and how much there was for kids to do and interact with. Austin got to pet a real tortoise too!

At the snake exhibit all he kept saying was "I don YIKE SNAKES. I don YIKE snakes."

I taught him well. :-)

After the museum we grabbed lunch at a local burger joint. This was BEFORE I knew I had gained a bit too much weight... so call it my "last supper" if you will...  because it was GLORIOUS. And I probably won't eat anything like this again for the rest of my pregnancy...

We ate lunch in Drake Park and brought along some of Austin's toys.

He and Neal played baseball, golf, had a water gun fight (which I was the target of!) and monkeyed around in the sunshine.

We will definitely be doing more day trips like this... it was one of the best days we've spent together as a family!

After the park we were going to make one more stop, up on a look-out point.... but little man passed out in the car immediately and started snoring. So Neal and I just drove up, snapped a pic from the car, and then headed home.

Thanks for the gorgeous day Bend! We heart you!!