Meeting Em and Brody in Bend

Hi Blog!  We finally made it to Bend, Oregon.  We've been on the road from Philadelphia for over a year and half now.  We had our sights set on getting to Bend in time for the Labor Day Weekend.  It feels great to have finally arrived.  Our niece, Chelsea (from New Zealand), has been working in New York City as a nanny this past year.  It just so happens her charges are on vacation this week with their mom in the Hamptons.  So, Chelsea was also able to fly out to join our little family reunion.

Leslie and Chelsea came and picked us up at the RV park.  We got a mini-tour of the south side of Bend and stopped at a really cool Farmers Market.  We enjoyed an early dinner, since we were still on Idaho time, which is an hour later than Bend.  We got to visit our first Bend micro brewery, 10 Barrel Brewing Company.  After dinner, we all stopped over our niece Megan's house to visit with her two kids - Emerson and Brody.

Here is Chelsea getting a tour of the new playhouse by Emerson.

Em and Brody were a little uncertain about these two new strangers in their lives - Great Aunt Kathy and Great Uncle Dave.  While she would talk to Kathy, she did a pretty good job of letting Dave know she was ignoring him.

That is, until Kathy didn't just break the ice - she EXPLODED it - by running over to the kids' little play slide, and SLIDING DOWN HEAD-FIRST ON HER TUMMY!  Well.  After the two kids stopped laughing, Kathy asked Em about her playhouse.  Em noted that it was actually called a cupcake restaurant.  Dave chimed in an said HE wanted a peanut butter banana ice cream cupcake, and Em dished it right up and handed it to him.  Soon, everyone was getting a serving of their favorite ice cream cupcakes and Em had a thriving new business started.

Dave also took a turn manning the playhouse/ice cream palor/bakery/snack shop.  Here is Em ordering one of her favorite treats - ice cream cone with sprinkles on top. She explained to us that there are no jimmies in Bend, only sprinkles.

Dave is taking his job very seriously - making sure everyone got what they wanted.

Here Grammy Leslie is waiting patiently with Brody for their turn to order.

We had a great time catching up with Leslie, Chelsea, Megan, Emerson and Brody.  We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the rest of the clan.  Stay turned for more fun filled adventures.