Sunday, July 22, 2012

redding...

[we had a date to a wedding last night.love him.]
 
late last friday night we got home from a road trip to redding, ca. we, nor ben's brother and sister, were able to attend ben's grandparents memorials in april so we all decided on a date to gather together and hang. ben's aunt graciously offered up her home to all of us! we decided that since i was the only one driving that we would spend the night on the way down. it is about an 8-9 hour drive and it was quite hot so a stop was needed. ben and i went to our friends lil girls b-day party on a saturday and we took off about 4 that afternoon. we were going to stop in a little town sutherland, or but decided just to eat dinner there, gas up and move on. medford, or is where we stopped. i actually could have kept driving but ben needed to stretch and be done for the night. well, we didn't know if we were going to be staying the night anywhere on the road so we didn't book a hotel. little did we know they had baseball tournements there and so by the 3rd hotel we finally got their last room!

we took our time on sunday getting up and getting ready, of course finding a starbucks was a must! we only had about 2.5 hours to go so it was not a long jaunt at all. it was a clear hot day so mt. shasta was out very clearly and lake shasta was super aqua in color! loved the view!

all in all we had a great time with ben's family. the boys did some things, the girls did some things and then we all did some things together. it was HOT! thank goodness ben's aunt had a pool because we spent alot of time in it and around it! i couldn't get enough drinking water down us but somehow we didn't get dehydrated and were just fine!

photo dump alert...

[on our way...8-9 hours and counting] 

[you know just a lil heat] 

[holler!! had this a few times!] 

[pool time!] 

[ben and his brother joe getting their aunt] 

[sundial bridge] 

[hey ben, a parrot on your head!] 

[i got one on mine too] 

[his tail feathers were a tad to close to our faces]

[they were so hot they needed ice chips] 



[at turtle bay]

[stretching]

[i sat here alot] 

[brothers working out] 

[with his brother and sister} 

[corn]

[wrestling with his dad and brother] 

[working on walking and balancing] 

[taking a shade break] 

[went for a run and this hill at the end was the death of me] 

[ben was so tired one night i found him resting at the dinner table until we said ice cream!]

[ben loved his noodles] 

[brothers wrestling]

this past tuesday ben and his ot decided to go on a hike! they went to one close to the house and went for 2 miles with no walker or wheelchair. ben's ot pretty much walks behind ben to support him. they had to go up hill, down hill, climb stairs and sit back to back on a bench to get some rest! while they were gone i got an insanity workout in, they are no joke y'all!
ben said he loved it and they are going to another location this tues! i think i might just join them!






 [he was a bit tired after his hike and shower!]

[sweat, sweat and sweat! love insanity just for that!]

one more lil fun thing we did is meet our friends sweet new lil baby A! she is amazing and adorable! ben loved getting some cuddles in with her too!



thanks for being patient on the blog posts! summers are busy and i don't want to stop posting but i know they are a bit more few and far between! don't worry you lil hearts out if you don't hear from us! if anything were to go wrong you would know!!

next blog post is about ben and his boat!

7 comments:

Mariette VandenMunckhof-Vedder said...

Dearest Ben & Katie,
You two have been very active and that all in the summer heat.
Glad you had some great family time, that works good for body and soul!
Wishing you well and a great remainder of the summer.
Love to you,
Mariette

Unknown said...

I stumbled upon your blog after the accident. It is so amazing to see Ben's progress! Seriously...hiking??? Amazing!!! Keep up the great work! I think it is so great that you guys were able to spend some quality time with your family. I have family in Redding and Shasta, as well as in Southern California, so I totally relate to that drive down from Washington! I am always amazed at the beautiful color of Lake Shasta. Some day I want to take a vacation on a houseboat on that lake! Glad you guys got a well deserved break!

Caroline said...

So glad you spent some time with Ben's family - I'm sure that was good for his spirit (I hope!). Ben and his brother look so much alike!

Brigitte said...

Just happened across your blog and I love, love, love Olympia and also Shasta too! I used to travel that way every year as a kid and you brought back some memories :) take care!

Brigitte said...

Just happened across your blog and I love, love, love Olympia and Shasta area too :) I used to travel that way every year as a child and it brought back some memories! Take care!

sharon said...

Thanks for the update & all the cool pics. You guys have been so busy!!!! Excited to hear about Ben taking a hike. He continues to make progress. He is such an inspiration. love ya, Aunt Sharon

Anonymous said...

Katie, I enjoyed the pictures. I am so glad you are having such a good summer. Ben looks good. Before you know it, you and Ben will be posting pictures of another little one. I love you and continue to trust Father for both of you. Marion