Oregon Trip - Part 3

We made it to Ben and Lindsy's house around dinner time.  They had made pulled pork sandwiches (yum!) so we ate outside.  We checked out their new house.  The kids loved the yard.  It is so big and has lots of different places to explore. 

Eating dinner with cousins.  It was so great for the kids to be with their cousins.  I so wish we lived closer!  My kids still tell me they miss their Oregon cousins!

Emery loved this little "tree house".  It was really just a little platform, but she went to town sweeping it up and taking care of it.  

The next day we went for a little hike where there was a water hole to search for and try to catch salamanders.  The kids had nets and were ready to catch things. 

At the start with the whole group.

I had a hard time keeping up with the group, so Rob and I brought up the rear.  :)

Riley took a pretty big spill and had to be carried for a little while...in fact, that fall kind of put a damper on her whole hike.  She was pretty grumpy after that.  Poor girl.

Emery and Hallie were such cute little buddies.  They were always walking together and chatting on the trail. 

We made it!  I loved that it was so shady.

The kids got to work right away...wading into the water and trying to catch the little goldfish and salamanders.  We weren't finding a ton close to the edge of the water, so they ventured in deeper.  They were all pretty much wet all the way up to their waist by the time we left. 

The salamanders were so gross looking (to me).  They look slimy, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

All of the kids except Riley caught one.  Riley stuck with this weed that she found. 

Yeah...we should have just had the kids wear their swimming suits.  ha ha.

After we finished at the water hole, we walked back to the cars and got the kids a free lunch at the park.  We stayed and played for a while and then went home to rest for a bit. 

Running in the sprinklers. 

I don't know how these kids have so much energy.  I was always ready to just sit down and relax for a minute and they were always wanting to go go go!  

The played some video games for a bit.  Apparently Emery loved the game they played...I don't even know what it was called, but she wants us to buy it so she can play it again.

These three cousins have birthdays each one week apart.  Brent is 4 and the other two are 3.  So we had some cupcakes that Taylor made in celebration.  

Then Lindsy put together their new fire pit and we made s'mores.  I love how Emery is trying to guard her face from the smoke.

The next day we headed to the coast!  We were so looking forward to this day!  So we packed up some snacks and water and headed to the coast.  

To be continued...

Oregon Trip - Part 2

We left for Portland the next morning and we were going to meet up with Taylor and William at Multnomah Falls.  Unfortunately when we got there the exit for Taylor to get off at was really crowded.  There was a looooooong line of cars that she had to wait in and then the road took her way far away.  So they just went back home.  :(  It was sad that they didn't get to enjoy the waterfall with us, but we decided it was best to just meet them at their house later.  So we explored the falls on our own.  Taylor said she had never seen it that busy before.  It was pretty crowded.  But well worth the stop.  It was so awesome to see and to feel the mist from the waterfall.

Looking at the tiny fish swimming around in the river.

Left: the smaller waterfall near the bottom.  Right: the taller waterfall.

There's the proof that I was there picture.  :)  Then Zac found this cool tree trunk and wanted a picture inside it.  Then the girls wanted to get in.  Then the people walking behind us wanted a picture in it.  Ha ha.  Zac started a trend.

WE walked back down the path and found a good place to eat our lunch which consisted of luncheables and pre-made sandwiches that we bought at Walmart that morning.  :)

I think we found a pretty good spot.  

Then we continued on to Luke and Taylor's place.  We rested for a bit and then instead of going to the pool at our hotel, we decided to swim at the pool at their apartment complex.  Score!

These two were so cute.  Holding hands down the stairs and enjoying snacks right next to each other.

And they stayed close together in the pool too.  I kept taking pictures of just these two because they were so cute.  :)  So I didn't get any of the other kids or Rob swimming.

Later that night, Taylor and I went out to try Salt and Straw, a well known ice cream place in Portland.  There was a long line, but it wasn't that bad of a wait.  They had some crazy flavors, but I stuck with chocolate brownie.  Pretty traditional.  I think Rob would have liked the flavor that had some kind of hot pepper in it.  

The next day we went to the Adidas outlet store and Rob got some new cleats and tennis shoes.  I didn't find anything I liked for me, but we did get a cool new soccer ball.  As we were walking around we spotted these cool huge shoes to look at.

Before I let the kids climb on them, I walked all the way around them looking for a sign that said "no climbing on shoes."  There wasn't one, so I gave them the go ahead.  Not ten seconds later a lady who worked there poked her head out the door and yelled "You can't climb on the shoes!!!"  Oops.  They should really put a sign up. :)

So we just snapped a few pictures in front of the shoes.

Then there were soccer cleats over by the soccer field that apparently they could climb on...that or nobody said anything.  

It was hot a sunny out there.  But thanks to Taylor for keeping the kids occupied while I was inside with Rob and Luke shopping.  I joined them out there when I realized I wasn't finding anything good.

After that outing, we went to a place called PDX sliders.  It is a hamburger/slider place that was so so good.  I still think about my sandwich and loaded fries I got.  YUM.

This is how we entertained ourselves at the table while we waited for food.  ha ha.  

After we ate...we were all so full!  Well, the adults were anyway.  

The kids played ring around the rosie while they waited for us to finish eating.

This was my sandwich that I got.  So delicious.  A little bit spicy, but so yummy.

This was the loaded fries.  Like I said I still think about these fries.  I need to fins a good equivalent in Utah..so if you know of someplace that makes fries with pulled pork, peppers and a yummy sauce on top, let me know!

The crew.

We stopped for ice cream on the way home...I don't know how we managed to eat it after that meal, but we had been promising the kids ice cream for a few days, so we had to.  :)

We got home and then promptly went to the splash pad.  IT was an awesome splash pad.  And the kids had a great time.

The buckets kept these two occupied for a long time...then William started pouring water on random strangers.  It was hilarious.  Ha ha.

The splash pad had so many different parts.  Water shooting out of the ground, waterfalls, a little river.  It was so fun.

Here the kids are blocking the water from going downstream. 

William and Riley literally ran around and giggled the entire time we were there.  I loved watching them.  

When we were done at the splash pad, we drove about an hour or so (maybe more...i can't remember) to Ben and Lindsy's new house where we would be staying for the next three nights.  

To be continued...