Deer sightings are common in my mom and dad’s neighborhood – we saw a doe with her three fawns our first day in La Pine and since then Juliette had been constantly asking “baby deer?  baby deer?  baby deeeeer?  where arrrrrrre youuuuuu?”.  On Wednesday my mom and I strapped Jules into the stroller and set out on a deer hunt.  Just as we were about to call it a bust and head back to the house, we spotted another doe with a couple of fawns.  The great outdoors for the win!
We passed the afternoon at Elk Lake, bobbing in the calm, cool water.
Shane couldn’t resist the paddle boards for rent at the dock and rowed over to pick up Jules.  I had my doubts about how this would go down – she isn’t one to sit still for more than about 15 seconds at a time.  But she was amazing, perching so perfectly on the front of the board for half an hour while she and her dad toured the lake.
I hopped on for a quick spin, a little nervous when I realized I didn’t have a dry change of clothes with me, but I managed a short (wobbly) trip to the buoy and back.
We ate dinner on the patio of the lodge while Juliette ran circles around our table – all that sitting still had her wired!
We spent Thursday morning hunting deer and jogging down the wide-open dirt roads. Â What a relief to not have to get after this girl to stay on the sidewalk and watch out for cars!
Juliette helped Grandpa with some watering, washed some rocks, scooped some dirt. Â This is the stuff of a toddler’s dreams…
Another day meant another lake – after naptime, we hauled my dad’s boat up to East Lake for a spin. Â We motored out to the middle of the lake and just let ourselves drift, as Juliette was eager to take the wheel.
Hey, Gilligan!
Juliette eventually let me sit in the driver’s seat and I put the pedal to the metal. Â I want a boat.
We spent the rest of the day just hanging out on the back porch – Juliette cozied up with her new best buddy, Bernie, then rummaged around in the tool shed and passed a good 20 minutes sweeping the sidewalk.  It felt so good to spend the bulk of our waking hours outdoors every day, enjoying the simplest of pleasures.
We loaded up our car on Friday morning and said good-bye to La Pine after one last stroll through the woods. Â I miss this place already.
Thanks so much, Mom and Dad, for a perfect week!
We made a stop at Mohawk Cafe in Crescent for a hearty breakfast before hitting the long dusty road to Portland. Â We’ll see you next summer, Central Oregon!
