Other than Jenny's wedding, and spending time with my extended family, our big goal for this vacation was to see Robyn and Stephen and Christopher as much as possible. I sincerely wish we'd had another night or two in Portland, but I'll take what I can get, and I was thrilled to get to see them as much as I did (getting to spend the afternoon with them on the coast in Newport was an awesome bonus). We arrived in Portland later than planned (due to our very long drive up the coast in search of the puffins), hung out at their house for a while, then went into the city for dinner at the
Hopworks Urban Brewery, where we met our friends from Louisiana, Brice and Karen, and their son Sam (who is near the same age as Christopher). The next we went right back over to their house for breakfast, played at a local playground (our kids were very much in need of that energy expenditure!), then drove up to the northeast side of Portland to visit Multnomah Falls and the
Bonneville Dam and
Fish Hatchery. We finished off the visit with Chinese takeout back at their house, then left for California right around the kids' bedtime, making it halfway home before stopping for some sleep in Yreka (our planned stop in Ashland was cancelled due to the lack of hotel rooms, due to the Britt Festival). Saturday morning was ROUGH, with 5 hours of driving in 100 degree heat without air conditioning. Pretty sure my parents' Equinox needed a steam cleaning of those seats, in addition to fixing the AC...
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| If you have at all doubted the unending energy of Christopher from his CaringBridge updates, let me assure you that it's all true. In fact, I'm pretty sure he has more energy than both my kids put together. It's no wonder Robyn and Stephen are exhausted even on their "off days" at home from the hospital! |
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| HUB had an awesome play area for little kids in their upstairs seating |
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| Sam was a little shy (and I think our kids overwhelmed him a bit - imagine that), but was completely sweet and seemed to take a liking to Robyn (can't blame him there!) |
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| Cora gave Auntie Robyn a workout... |
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| James looks so serious here talking with Karen |
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| I would not normally take a photo in a bathroom mirror, but I thought this reflection was pretty cool |
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| Jay, Stephen, and Brice, chatting after appetizers, dinner, and beer (we went home VERY full and had some delicious stuff) |
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| Poutine and the 10-beer sampler (which was a bit too much - had to give half to Jay just so I could drive home!) |
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| Posing with the Adams Family (I always wanted to write that...) |
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| With my bestest buddies! |
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| Robyn was a hit with all the kids. James and Cora both wanted to hold her hand wherever we walked. |
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| Late night play session at the hotel. These kids are so not on schedule... |
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| Getting ready for the day. Teeth brushing on our suitcase. |
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| Breakfast with Christopher. The kids were totally spoiled with whipped cream for their french toast. |
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| That boy makes me smile so :-) |
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| Playing with Christopher's play kitchen. My kids served me a second "pretend" breakfast, complete with tea and beer. Who do they think I am? Wait, don't answer that... |
Jean, these photos are for you. Phil's garden (that's Robyn's dad) hosts some AMAZING hydrangea. The pink was HOT PINK and the blue was so deep it looked purple. These photos don't do them justice.
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| Christopher didn't want to ride in his stroller on the way to the park, so Cora jumped in (see her head looking back at me?) and Christopher took the high road up on Jay's shoulders. |
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| And they're off! |
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| This toy was CRAZY cool! You could hang by your arms or sit up top (if you were little like our kiddos). There were some scared faces at first, but they loved it and wouldn't get down. We had to beg them (so they wouldn't throw up like one of the other girls at the park...) |
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| Kids passed out for 2 hours worth of stop-and-go bumper-to-bumper traffic (likely due to folks leaving town for the weekend, plus construction, plus your usual Friday afternoon commutes) |
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| Out of traffic! And with a view of the Columbia River Gorge! |
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| The kids hiked up to the upper bridge. And that's saying something, since Cora usually makes us carry her for anything over 50 yards... |
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| Cool view... |
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| ...but perhaps not the safest of viewing areas... |
Christopher and Cora found a lamprey at the underwater viewing area at the dam
After dinner, Christopher showed James some of his favorite videos on the computer. And you know what? There's just something incredible about seeing your kids happily in the arms/laps of your best friends...
At 8:10pm we hit the road and headed south. Cora lasted through one movie...
The next morning was long and hot. Getting off the freeway and opening the windows was crucial...
As was stopping for cups of ice...
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| Yup, hot enough to melt a crayon in the dash... |
