Back to school baby!

I can’t believe this boy is in 4th grade! Or maybe it really is that I believe it,  but I don’t want it to be so. Kids grow so fast I tell ya. He is such a great kid and I love seeing him grow (even if I tell him to stop!). 

This guy needs to stop growing too. He’s off to Kindergarten and so ready to be in school (he was counting down the minutes)! He is a great kid and I just love what his 5-year-old self comes up on a daily basis. 

Then there’s this kid who just celebrated becoming two! I’ll say it again, stop growing. He’s using full sentences and every week he’s got some new skill to show off. “Hold you” is still a common phrase however, and I love it! He’s 20% in height and 8% in weight, yet he eats whole avocados and can’t stop with the string cheese. 

I live with four of my favorite people and that’s the best. 

A visit to Oregon

Ever since my parents went to Oregon for a friend’s graduation from Lewis & Clark, I’ve wanted to visit Oregon. When they came back from their trip, my mom spoke of beautiful pine forests and green everywhere. I was nine then, so yes, Oregon has been on the visit list for quite some time.

My little family and I were able to head that way right before school started and it was a wonderful trip. Still, it started off with a bit of a hitch. I forgot my phone. Then, after Jess dropped me off and was on his way to long term parking, a large screw found it’s way into his tire. As he parked he could hear the thwap, thwap, thwap and showed up to security somewhat frustrated and exclaimed sarcastically that the trip was off to a good start.  

This however was the last of our difficulties and we had such a great time. We were upgraded to a mini van and my kids were amazed by how much space there was! We hit the ground running and went to Multnomah Falls. Wow! 

We skipped rocks on the river.

Then we decided to drive along the old highway and found another awesome waterfall. In the photo below can you spot Jess with the boys? The waterfall was huge! And the natural basalt formations behind the falls, they were hexagonal in shape and so cool. 

Ollie wanted a optical illusion photo. He was thirsty!

The next day we ventured to the beach. Cannon beach and Haystack Rock did not disappoint. 

We saw starfish and sea anemone.

We also saw lots of cool birds including the Tufted Puffin. Jess played with the boys in the chilly water. They ran from the waves and had a great time. 

We visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Ian, being the cheese loving boy that he is, totally loved sampling the cheese. We bought ice cream here too and the large bunch of napkins in my hands should give you a clue of how messy it was with the kids. That was my third bunch of napkins. Still, worth it. 

The next day we headed to Rockaway Beach. Lots of kite flying here and wave chasing. 

Ian got soaked and was loving that Dad was with us 24/7. 

After stopping there we went berry picking. We were there at the end of blueberry season, the peak of blackberry season, and the beginning of raspberry season. We picked many of each. 

Ian ate most of what he and Jess picked. Look at that berry mouth!

Jess and Ollie were the master pickers. These blackberries were huge and delicious. 

The next day we visited an awesome Japanese garden in Portland. It was beautiful and we tried channeling the zen, even when our kids were not as peaceful as many people would have liked. 

We stopped at the temple. The visitors center had some cool activities for the kids.

That evening we were able to visit with some good friends who live near Portland. The kids loved playing and Jess and I loved chatting. We went back the next evening and my kids were so excited. Their hospitality went above and beyond. 

Our last stop was at the OMSI, the Oregon Museum if Science and Innovation. We were there for three hours and could have stayed for three more. 

It was a great trip! 

And since we had had so much time to prep mentally for fixing a flat tire when we got to the airport, that went pretty smoothly too. The kids were troopers. 

That same day Jess got new tires and I got my battery replaced (it had died the day before). We were so proud of our efficiency. And we were ready to go back to work and school the next day. 

And might I just add that not having a phone for five days was a-okay.

Thank you museums

First, a big thank you to the Leonardo for allowing us through their illusion exhibit these laugh-out-loud photos! 

This museum is a treat and has a lot of good stuff for kiddos. We specifically liked the illusion section and the airplane area. Using a green screen was a real treat. Plus, it wasn’t too busy and that’s a double thumbs up!

We love the Discovery Gateway Museum too. I always love going downtown. The parking is easy and the exhibits keep the kids interested. From what I can tell, they remain the same from year to year. 

The Curiosity Museum is great too! Ian could not get enough of the Waterworks area. By the way, that waterproof vest did nothing to keep him dry. I guess that size was for the big kids. Ha!

That poor place is so busy and is constantly used and abused. I always leave realizing they’ve had to take something out and replace it with something simpler (or nothing at all) because kids have used the heck out of it. I guess that’s a testament to how fun and creative it is. 

The Dinosaur Museum in the same spot is cool as well. Never as crowded and never gets old. They have one room with a rotating exhibit and I think they do a good job with the material presented. 

The Aquarium is a hit. We had a season pass for a couple of years and I thought we were done. But the kids wanted to go this summer and it was good to be back. They keep adding new stuff and the baby penguin was fun to see. Plus the shark tube is no longer filled to the gills and one can actually take a decent photo. 

The Tracy Aviary is always cool and the bird show is a must see. It is exceptionally big even though it seems like it’s in this small space within Liberty Park. 

We’ve enjoyed these fun places, only one of which was around when I was a kid (the Aviary). It’s crazy how much this area is growing. And I don’t know how this post became my poor commentary on the museums we’ve visited this summer.  Needless to say, we’ve had a good time visiting these spots. 

Fourteen years!

Man, am I glad I met this guy several years ago! We were freshmen in college, trying our best to be confident, cool, and look like we didn’t care too much about anything even though we cared about most everything. When I met Jess, after a few outings, it just clicked. He was so easy to talk to, so funny, so cool without being full of himself. We had lots of fun and we both thought we were hilarious. 

All these years later and we still have fun and think we are hilarious.