Palouse Falls

Over Labor Day weekend we squeezed in one more little family outing. We decided to pick somewhere we'd never been and just take a drive there. About an hour and a half from our house is Palouse Falls State Park. Neither Riley or I had visited there or heard about it, so we thought why not? We needed to get the kids out of the house for a bit and some quiet nap time in the car for the kids never hurts. The drive went through some pretty no-man's land stretches and at times was pretty hilly and curvy. We're talking no cell phone service for miles around in any direction. Not much in the scenery department to take in either, but upon arriving at our destination we had a beautiful site to see.

There are some trails you can hike that take you close to the falls, but as they are slightly dangerous we did not attempt them with the kids. We would love to go back and explore more another time. We also found another cool spot to go swimming/camping so we'll have to do that too.

Sometimes spur of the moment plans are the best and you just never know what you might find!

What a fun weekend

Our weekend fun started on Friday when we surprised the kids with a family day trip to Seattle to see the HarryPotter Exhibition  at the Pacific Science Center. Kendle was so excited and kept asking us the whole way there what it was going to be like. We had a great trip and luckily the roads were dry and safe. When we got to the PSC, we were told we would not be allowed to take pictures or video or anything of the sort once we entered the exhibit hall. We were so bummed! There were so many cool things that would have been awesome to have those memories of. The very first thing we encountered upon entering was an actor that was welcoming us and let some of the children try out the sorting hat. It was great! All the kids got a kick out of it. As a whole there were lots, and lots of interesting memorabilia and staged rooms from the movies. They also had a few hands on activities like pulling out mandrakes in the herbology lab and throwing quaffles through hoops in the quidditch display. Our kids liked those rooms the best. I think that is one thing that could have improved it a bit was more hands on activities and displays. My favorite room was Hagrid's hut. We got to sit in his big comfy chair. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there. I would recommend going if you are a big HP fan or if you were going to be in Seattle anyways and were looking for something fun to do with your kids. (Although, younger children might not find it as fun or interesting.) The tickets were a little overpriced in my opinion, but I think it was still worth going to.

After that we battled the horrible (and I mean, really, really horrible) traffic and finally got out of the city a little ways to stop for some dinner at Red Robin. The kids had been wanting a milkshake all day long. I think Morgan probably asked at least ten or twelve times. So finally we got them a milkshake. Because it took so long for us to get a table the manager brought us a complimentary appetizer. I have to say the babies were great up until this moment in time and then they were just starving. As long as we kept food coming their way and their little chubby fists stuffed with fries they were perfectly happy. After we were all done eating, we packed everybody back up in the car, changed them all into jammies for the ride home and took off. We got as far as the gas station to fill up when Riley realized he forgot his debit card, so back to Red Robin we went. Whew! Then had to stop one more time to get some milk for the babes and then we were really on our way. It was a quiet drive home. We pulled into our drive way around midnight, put all the kids to bed, and then I think Riley and I were asleep before our heads even hit our pillows. What an exhausting but awesome day! I can honestly say we really had a fun time. We were hesitant about taking the twins, but they are great little travelers and didn't make a peep during the whole time at the Harry Potter exhibit. Everyone slept in Saturday morning and that NEVER happens, so I know the kids must have been just as tired as we were.

Saturday morning we spent cleaning out the car and doing some house cleaning and laundry and hurried to get done so we could watch the Civil War game, which to Oregon football fans is the biggest game of the year.  Sad to say our team lost, but it was still a pretty good game and not too big of a blowout. Better luck next year Beavers. After the game we dropped the kids off at our SGB's (soccer girls babysitters) in Kennewick. These girls are awesome. They love to watch our kids and our kids think it is the biggest treat in the entire world. They are always asking to go over there. Then we headed to Famous Dave's to meet up with Johnny and Julie for dinner. Riley and Johnny received Famous Dave's gift cards from their team so they took us ladies out for date night. We kept joking that we are cheap dates. After filling up on delicious food, we all went and got pedicures. Yep, that's right, all of us. We enjoyed some pampering and the guys enjoyed the relaxation as well. I could tell Riley was looking kind of sleepy. After that we headed to the mall to do some shopping/browsing for a while and ended the night with some Cinnabon's. That was a lot we packed in and still picked our kids up by just a little after 9:00. That was quite the date. I think the guys definitely deserved an A+.

I told Riley, see this is what every weekend could be like if we had an unlimited amount of money and you weren't coaching soccer every Saturday. Ha, ha.

December Surprise

Today along with some new makeup and the new Pottery Barn catalog with all the beautiful Christmas ideas inside, I received one more piece of happy mail. Our family tickets came for the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle.

When I saw this was coming to Seattle as it's final stop in the tour, I knew this would be just the type of thing that my family would love to go experience. Riley and I thought it would be a fun surprise for the kids and sort of a reward to all of us for getting through soccer season. It will be so neat to look at many of the authentic costumes and props that will be featured, and do some of the interactive hands on activities as well.

We are huge HP fans in this family. We can't wait to see the new movie coming out and then go to the exhibit a few weeks later to top it off. I'm so excited to take the kids for a little family day trip and have a fun time. I hope we can keep it a secret until then. They really put up with a lot and are really just troopers with all the long hours their dad is away. They deserve it! Can't wait! (ok, really I think Riley and I will be more excited than anyone) Is it bad for a 30 year old woman to wish she lived at Hogwarts?

Just one more reason December can't come fast enough.

Perfect Getaway

Wednesday afternoon Riley and I took off for a little overnight stay in Portland. A month or so ago, I saw that one of my favorite bands was going to be coming there and since they hardly ever tour, I didn't want the chance to pass me by. So I ordered tickets online and we decided to just have faith that we could make it happen. Yes, there are more famous artists on my list to see in concert, but this husband/wife duo was on the very tip-top of my "absolute must see if they come anywhere close" list. It felt like fate that the date of the concert worked out, child care worked out, and Riley's soccer/work schedule allowed us to leave.

Upon arrival in Portland, we decided to check into our hotel and then get something to eat before the show. We were staying downtown right by the Convention center. As we got closer and closer we noticed streets blocked off, police everywhere and crowds of people. "Was there a bomb scare?" I joked to Riley. Then we started seeing people holding signs and it suddenly dawned on us why there were thousands and thousands of people making their way to the convention center  - President Obama was coming to campaign for the Governor of Oregon and having a huge rally - right across the street from where we were staying. Wow, totally didn't do very good planning on that one. The only reason we stayed where we did was because Riley's work uses them for business trips and we got a good deal. So just getting into the parking lot for the hotel took lots of maneuvering and was quite the adventure. We saw lots and lots of interesting folks waving their signs around (some of which made absolutely no sense whatsoever) hoping to catch a glimpse of the president. I think they said there was around 8,000 people or so.

{Side note: Every time we go to Portland, I always come away with the distinct impression that they want to discourage as many people from driving there as possible. It is seriously annoying.} Luckily we found a good parking spot across the street from the venue for the concert and there was already a line wrapping around the outside of the building so we thought we'd better hustle over and get in line. It was a beautiful warm night and we marvelled that it was nearly Halloween and we could stand outside without coats on. It was held at the Aladdin Theater, which only seats around 620 people. What a cool place to see a live show. Since it is on the smaller side there isn't really a bad place to sit. All the floor seats have a good view and then there is a balcony up top as well. The only thing I could complain about was the lack of air conditioning so it was pretty darn warm in there. I couldn't believe all the people that were still sitting there in their big wool coats and sweaters. Crazy! We had good seats in the middle section about 6 or 7 rows back and the sound inside was great.

The lovely Lucy Schwartz was the opening act. She came on stage to get things started  at 8:00 sharp.

She plays the piano, guitar, and harmonica and was backed by another lady guitarist and an amazing woman percussionist who sat on a wooden box and made the coolest sounds with her hands, feet, and all sorts of little instruments. They did a 30 minute set that went by way, way too fast and was simply a - ma -zing. I had only heard a few of her songs before, but her song "Life in Letters" from her new album of the same name is definitely my new favorite. It's a toe tapper, and a hand clapper. I can't stop singing it. Riley looked at me after she finished her first song and was like - wow! He didn't think he'd be enjoying the music but even he was blown away. Lucy's song "When We Were Young" was the theme song for the television show "Parenthood" and also "Life in Letter's" was featured on a recent episode of ABC's "No Ordinary Family." Here's the clip:



Her new album is super great and it was seriously a treat to have her as the opening act.

After a brief set change to fill the stage with lighted lamps decorated like their album cover art and glowing candles, The Weepies hit the stage at 9:00.

They are touring to promote their new album "Be My Thrill" which was recently released. They have a three year old and a 6 month old baby. Deb Talan and her husband Steve Tannen have the magical ability to make the best harmonies and make music that just melts like butter on warm bread. I think Deb Talan has probably my most favorite voice in the whole wide world. It's simple and clear and unpretentious. I was worried that they wouldn't sound as good live as on their recorded music, but I am so glad to say that not only did they sound better than I could have imagined, but in between songs they were hilarious and entertaining and you couldn't help but fall in love with them. Like, I seriously wanted to move in next door to them so we could be neighbors and hang out and listen to them play music all the time. They were backed by a four piece band that added to their nice indie-singer/songwriter folksy, pop rock magic. It really was magical. Seriously. I've been to concerts to see people that I've liked, but never someone where I love every single one of their songs and each and every song is a work of art.  And sometimes other artists are kind of off key and lacking, not so with The Weepies. They packed in 20 songs and each and every one gave me goosebumps. They love their fans and gave us the feeling that we were just old friends that they were playing for. If I wouldn't have been about ready to pass out from the heat, I probably would have stuck around after it was over like a crazy obsessed fan and told them how their music changed my life and their lyrics paint the prettiest pictures that any lyrics could. They are pure genius to me, and I don't dish out compliments like that very often. We tried to get some pictures, but the lighting was low so they didn't come out that clear.


(Deb and Steve are holding hands in the middle)

This was taken at the end of the show. Right after which they returned following a standing ovation to do an encore of three more songs. It couldn't have been a more beautiful evening. We couldn't get very good video footage on Riley's phone but here is a clip of their concert five days earlier in California. This is one of their most well known songs "The World Spins Madly On".



Me after the concert getting ready to head back to the hotel:

I'm so glad we got to go and I know it will be something I will always remember. Umm, and did I mention the people watching was awesome? There was definitely a good mix of people from every walk of life. I guess that is the great thing about music is that it brings so many different types of people together.

The following morning we ate a late breakfast, squeezed in some shopping at the Nike and Gap outlet and then enjoyed a lovely drive through the Columbia Gorge which was splendid with jewel toned colors of autumn. To this busy mom of four, and wife to one of the busiest men I know, it was the perfect little getaway.

4th of July Weekend.......Surprise!

Last Thursday I happened to see a lady on craigslist that was trying to sell her reservations in Seaside Oregon for the 4th of July weekend. I decided to go way out of my comfort zone and plan something spontaneous to surprise the kids. She ended up taking our offer and it was a great hotel right on the beach. We were going to be in Portland until Sunday anyways and I thought why not just drive another hour or so to the beach, spend the night watching the most amazing fireworks show ever, and then spend Monday having fun too? We went for it.

Riley and Kendle headed to Portland on Friday for Riley's soccer tournament and I headed down the following morning with my mom and the three younger kiddies. We spent the day at Jer and Molly's house along with the rest of our family. Once again the kids had a blast all day long and Jer and Molly were wonderful hosts supplying us with yummy food and their lovely backyard to lounge in. That night we sat around the fire and watched the guys light off some fireworks. It was a perfect day and our kids were completely tuckered out. {Earlier, before my mom got ready to head back home, she offered to just take the twins with her to make the rest of our weekend trip easier and I'm so glad she did because I don't know if we could have made it otherwise. It helped SO much.}

Sunday Riley's team played in the championship for the Portland Cup (one of the biggest tournaments in the north west). Although they lost in a close, close game and Morgan was all over the place and I was up chasing him more than I got to watch, it was still fun to be there to support the girls and their hard work. After that we headed out of town but didn't tell the kids where we were going, only that it was a surprise. As we got closer to the coast I thought for sure Kendle would start picking up on where we were because of all the signs and billboards for the beach attractions. Finally we got into Seaside and had to tell them where we were and the kids started freaking out they were so excited. They love the beach!

That evening after dinner we let the kids swim and play for a while in the pool, then headed up to our room to change and pack our stuff to head to the beach for the big fireworks show. I don't think anything could have prepared us for the craziness that ensued that night. There were people as far as the eye could see up and down the beach lighting off fireworks and making bonfires. The fireworks never stopped, in fact we weren't sure we would be able to tell when the city fireworks show started because of all the other ones going on. Kendle loved it, Morgan hated it. He made us cover his ears the whole time. It was SO loud I don't really blame him! It was an endless barrage of whistles, cracks, booms, and explosions for a good two or three hours. I think our ears are still ringing but it was the coolest thing ever to see millions of fireworks all over the place. It was definitely an experience to remember. After the fireworks we went back to our room, had treats and snacks and then passed out.

We all slept like the dead until 9:00 the next morning. Even Kendle, who has never slept past 8:00 in her life. I had to wake everyone so we could get up and going. Our check out time was at 11:00 so we had to hurry to pack some fun in. Riley took the kids to the beach for an hour or so while I tried to pack up a bit and get myself ready. Then they went swimming one last time in the pool. After that we headed over to the main drag and had some lunch and then walked around and let the kids ride the tilt a whirl and bumper cars. One last walk on the beach, then some ice cream and a stop in the candy shop. We really know how to pack it all in! The traffic out of Seaside was horrible, but we still made really good time on the drive home. We stopped at my parents to get the twins and rest for a bit and then it was home again home again jiggety jig.

So glad to be home, but so glad we went out on a limb and made some amazing memories for our family that we will always remember! How many times can you say you packed in that much stuff into one weekend? Not always the way to do it, but this time it all worked out and we're glad it did.

Pictures:

(Kendle and her cousins at Jer and Molly's)

(Getting ready for the fireworks)

(The kids being very patriotic as they stood up to salute the firework called the "American" about to be lit)
(The three amigos)

(On the beach in Seaside watching the fireworks. Can you tell Morgan is enjoying himself?)

The Baptism - BBQ - Birthday Extravaganza

The weekend before last we made a trip to Portland to be with my family for the weekend. My oldest brother Jeremy and his wife Molly live in Milwaukee and their twins were getting baptized. Although it was a race to get there in time, we arrived with minutes to spare and it was so great to be there for their special day. They both looked so happy and we are so proud of them. {Despite our screaming kids,} I could feel there was a lovely spirit to be felt and it was wonderful to watch my brother baptize and confirm them both.

(picture via my brother Jeremy)

(Jer, Molly, Caleb and Alia. Isn't their family the cutest?)

After the baptism we all convened back at Jer and Molly's house. We had planned to BBQ and have an early birthday celebration for my dad who turned 60 today. The weather cooperated luckily and it was a perfect and gorgeous day. Jer grilled up some delicious ribs, burgers, and hotdogs. All of the kids had a blast playing out in their big backyard - they ran, jumped on the trampoline, played with the new puppy, climbed trees, played catch and completely wore themselves out. The adults had a blast eating yummy food, visiting, laughing, listening to my brother play and sing us some of his music, chasing kids, and holding our babies. My arms got a much needed break thanks to everyone there. It was fantastic to all be together, I think it has been over a year or longer since that's been possible. It reaffirmed to me how much I love and enjoy my family. We are all different and bring something unique to the group and we always have fun. On top of all of my siblings we also had my grandma and grandpa and my uncle Lester and his wife Jan and a few of their children with us. It was a houseful. When we all get together it is great.

We had planned on doing a little "roast" for my dad and have everyone tell their favorite things about him. Jer got out his video camera and recorded it I think. It was really funny and we laughed and laughed, I could barely breathe at some points. Some of our favorite things about him:

-Summer trips to Idaho where he would always have us stop at the same places (Crater's of the Moon anyone?)

-The fact that he can figure out how to fix anything and walk you through it over the phone if need be.

-He can talk to anyone about anything at any time.

-He can give you a full history lesson and then some.

Then what I didn't expect was that since my birthday was coming up, they all roasted me too. I think they went a little harder on me, but lucky for them I'm tough and I can take it. It was all in good fun. Everyone sang happy birthday to us and we blew out the candles on some cake. I don't think I ever get too old to like making birthday wishes. We'll see if they come true.

We decided to take some pictures while everyone was together and because our family keeps growing and growing.

(Tam, Tuck, me, mom, dad, Jim, Rich, Jer)

(9 grandchildren and one more on the way)

(Maelin, Kendle and Alia)

I wish we could have more days like that where we are all together. It gets harder as we all get older and life gets busy with kids, church, work and sports, but it is so worth the effort to make the time. Hope we can do it again soon! Thanks Jer and Molly for opening up your house and letting us party.

Summer Vacation 2009

We have returned to our home in Pasco and were welcomed by the sweltering heat that has been threatening to kill mankind while we were away. I guess we picked the best week to go to the coast and miss out on the killer weather last week, although this week isn't looking too promising either. Here is a rundown of our trip, we really tried to pack in every possible thing we could do (reason this post is so long) because we knew this could be our last real family vacation for a while. Riley and I are thinking our next vacation will be a mom and dad only trip. :)

*Monday
-Left Pasco a little later than planned, but no biggie.
-Stopped in the Dalles for lunch/bathroom break.
-Made it outside of Vernonia before we had to stop again.
-I think Kendle asked about 44 times if we could go swimming when we got there.
-Went over 4 bridges, including the 4 mile bridge leaving Astoria. (I am not a fan of bridges)
-Made it to Long Beach and felt the warm sea air when we stepped out of the car.
-Checked in at the Worldmark. (Our rooms were condo style with full kitchen, etc - super nice.)
-Riley took the kids swimming in the heated outdoor pool while I unpacked.
-Went to dinner at a way over priced and not very good restaurant where Morgan lay on the ground and made a huge spectacle.
-Came back to our room and crashed for the night. The Dodson's were exhausted.

*Tuesday
-Got up and made breakfast (One of the perks of having a kitchen for the week was we saved quite a bit of money not eating out as much. We brought tons of food and snacks which made everything so much easier and convenient, and quite frankly my stomach can't handle eating out for a full week.)
-It was a GORGEOUS day (80+ degrees) so after breakfast we set out for the beach. It was the loveliest day and we were all in just shorts and t-shirts. We had a blast enjoying the sun and digging in the sand. The kids even went out in the ocean and jumped waves. It was awesome and everyone couldn't have been happier.
-Came back to our room, showered off the children, ate lunch and rested a bit.
-Went down to the pool for some swimming. The water was warm and felt great. I dried off and relaxed on a lounge chair for a bit while Riley and the kids swam some more and I got quite the sunburn. We all looked like little lobsters after that afternoon. Who knew? Hanging out by the pool was great though since it was right off the beach and you could hear the waves. They also had a kiddie pool, so Morgan kept going back and forth between the two.
-Went back to our room and changed. Everyone was so tired. We ordered in some food for dinner.
-Took the kids down to the arcade/game room for a bit. Morgan threw a huge tantrum when we had to leave. Yep, we were that "loud family" on this trip.

*Wednesday
-Ate breakfast and then headed out to walk around town.
-Explored Long Beach and all of the little shops along the main strip.
-Went to Marsh's Museum of Wacky and Wild things were Kendle got her fortune told by one of those fake fortune teller's in a glass box, Madame Zorina or something like that. Saw "Jake the Alligator Man".
-Went in a few candy shops to get the kids some treats, aka bribery.
-Went to the "Funland" arcade and played a ton of games. They had some really cool ones I have never seen before. Our favorite was the "shoot 'em up" old west game. I took some pictures of everyone in on the action of that one.
-Morgan threw another huge tantrum when we had to leave, that boy would have sat in there and pretended to play arcade games for the rest of his life.
-We stopped to get some lunch on the way back. There was this really yummy smelling little place that had "summer food" as I like to call it. We got hand dipped corn dogs, battered fries, and elephant ears. It was so yummy, but I sure regretted all of that fat when I got a big stomach ache a few hours later.
-Riley took the kids swimming while I rested a bit and relaxed.
-On the way back from the pool, Morgan tripped on his towel and landed face down on the concrete. He had the biggest fat lip and it just looked horrible. I felt so bad for him. Kendle being the little fish that she is would have stayed in the pool the whole trip.
-For dinner Riley went and got us some fresh crab and yummy chowder. He stood and cracked all of the crab for the both of us and it was so good. That is one of our favorite things about the coast.
-After dinner we walked the famous boardwalk by the beach and got some good exercise. It started in front of our resort and ended a mile or so away. It was really neat.
-Stopped in the lobby after we got back and picked out some post cards and some movies to watch.

*Thursday
-Made breakfast and got dressed to head to Seaside for the day. (About 45 minutes from where we were.)
-It was another fabulous and sunny day. It was a beautiful drive.
-Shopped at the outlet stores for some school clothes and baby things. Found too much cute stuff. Could have spent way more time there if Morgan hadn't been hanging out of his stroller or climbing around on things in the stores.
-Grabbed some lunch and then drove to the beach and the main strip to walk around all of the shops and enjoy the sun.
-Kendle and Morgan rode the carousel and loved it.
-Riley and Kendle rode the tilt a whirl and the bumper cars, Kendle's face was priceless.
-We strolled down to the beach and marvelled at the hundreds of people milling about.
-Grabbed some cotton candy and then stopped in to get some ice cream on our way back to the car. (We got Morgan a little ice cream cone and he didn't want it, so Kendle ended up with a cone in each hand, trying to eat them both before they melted.)
-Riley and I both agreed that Seaside is fun to visit for the day, but there were so many people we were glad to get back to Long Beach and a slower pace.
-We stopped at Fred Meyer on the way back to get some burgers to grill and some corn on the cob. Felt good to eat "real food".
-Went swimming after dinner.
-We were so tired from this fun filled day.

*Friday
-While eating breakfast we noticed that our nice weather had turned into overcast skies and a bit of a breeze.
-On the street leading to the beach and our hotel, there were horse and pony rides set up, so we decided to take Morgan down there for a little pony ride. He loved it and thought it was pretty cool. His face was so cute the whole time.
-After that we signed Kendle and Riley up for an hour long horse ride on the beach. I thought it was a great opportunity for Kendle to do something we wouldn't normally ever get to do and that it would be so neat for her to ride along the ocean. So after lunch they met up with their group to get saddled up and ready to go. I thought they would let Kendle and Riley ride side by side with their horses, but Riley said they set it up by horse size and Kendle was up way farther than him on a smaller horse while he got stuck towards the back on a huge black Clydesdale that wouldn't leave the side of the other Clydesdale in the group. Are you laughing yet? Because I totally was when Riley was telling me about it. Riley was a good sport to go with her even though he didn't have the best time (and I told him without a picture of him on that horse no one would ever believe he did it), but Kendle had the best time. She was so excited to tell me all about it and Riley said she rode really well and didn't have any problems.
-After they got back we packed up what we needed to head to the beach to make a fire and roast hot dogs and make smores. The awesome thing is that you can drive on the beaches there, so we just headed down the beach aways until we found a good spot and then started a fire and hung out a while. It was really fun and the kids thought it was really neat. Needless to say, sand + smores = some very dirty kids. There were some heavy duty baths in store that night.
-I was thankful the whole week we had a washer and dryer in our room because we definitely got our use out of it.

*Saturday
-The cooler weather rolling in wasn't making it ideal beach weather anymore, so after breakfast we decided to take one last stroll through town and let the kids pick out some souvenirs from the trip.
-We found each of the kids a cute zip up Long Beach jacket, Kendle wanted to wear hers right away.
-We made one last stop in the big candy store and got some fudge, swizzle sticks, and caramel corn. I am definitely caught up on my sugar intake for the next five years, but fudge is pretty hard to resist.
-Got some yummy chowder for lunch.
-Headed back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation. Aka, everyone else rested while I started some loads of laundry and packing. Ha.
-Decided we were sick of seafood and went out for Chinese food for dinner. Everything was going great until Morgan knocked over his whole glass of water (on purpose, the little rascal) right on me and I had to finish dinner with soaking wet pants and tried to salvage what dignity I had left. That was the last straw for Riley and I. We agreed we definitely need a parents only vacation next time.
-We got back to the hotel, got everyone bathed and in jammies and finished packing up to go home the next day. It was sure nice to be able to wash clothes and not have to come home with eight loads of laundry. I went to bed early and let the kids stay up late with dad.

*Sunday
-Got up, checked out, and loaded up everything to take to the car. Came home with way more than we started with so we couldn't even see out the back window but that's how we roll.
-I think we were all feeling like we were a little bit ready to come home and get back to the daily routine of things.
-Said goodbye to Long Beach and the fun times that we had there. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Worlmark and really loved the town and it's laid back atmosphere.
-Stopped in for some yummy breakfast before heading out of town.
-Made our way back over the bridges and in and out of Oregon and Washington.
-We always start to get antsy once we hit the Dalles because we know we're getting close to home.
-Stopped in Irrigon at my parents house for some dinner and to stretch our legs a bit.
-Pulled into the driveway of our cozy little home and began the unpacking process. It was good to be home even though it was hot, hot, hot. I tried to put as many things away as possible and then called it a night.

We honestly had the best time on this trip and it felt so good to get away for a week. We loved Long Beach and would love to make that our new favorite beach destination. I will post pictures from the trip tomorrow!

I went, I saw, I loved

[All of us girls at Jer and Molly's house before heading to the show. The guys (minus Riley) watched the kids for us and kept them entertained while we were gone.]

Keller Auditorium where Wicked was being performed is a really neat theater. Our seats were right in the middle in the second balcony, which was a little high but you could see the whole stage really well. The set design, all of the stage props, costumes and digital effects they added were amazing. There was not one second that I wasn't totally consumed and enthralled by what was happening on stage, and unlike most musicals that have only one or two songs that are my favorite, I would have a hard time picking just one from this show. I think I had goosebumps the whole entire time. It was also very family friendly and the little girls in our group loved it as well. I would love to take Kendle if I have the chance to go again.

More than anything though, I loved the premise of the storyline that history has a way of rewriting itself according to who's telling the story. Was the Wicked Witch of the West really as bad as everyone made her out to be? Do those who choose to be different from the norm become shunned by society? Is it easy being green? Guess you'll have to see the show and find out!

After we left the theater, we went to the Macaroni Grill for some tasty dinner and more chatting before we headed back to my brother's house. We kept running into some of our fellow Pasco friends, it was quite hilarious - but so fun to see familiar faces amongst the sea of strangers. Even though I didn't get home until very late Saturday night and was completely exhausted, it was so, so worth it and we had such an amazing time. Can't wait to do it again!

That's a wrap

It was kind of sad Friday morning to pack up our bags (and boy did we cram everything in) and make our way back home to jobs, errands, laundry, stifling hot weather, and what I refer to as "the drudge". We said goodbye to the ocean until next summer.

On the way home we stopped to see some family and gave the kids a good break out of the car. Jeremy and Molly have a lovely backyard with tons of room to play and run and Kendle was excited to see her cousins.

After that it was back in the car, destination Irrigon to stop and see my folks and more family. We felt pretty lucky to be able to see so many people in one day. We were glad to be back in the Eastern part of the state. Riley was counting how many "Obama" stickers we saw as we were driving home compared to how many he's seen around our neck of the woods. I'll just say, there's a reason we like living where we do. Ha. After visiting and eating some yummy dinner, it was once again back in the car to drive that last 45 minutes home, unpack the disaster of a car, literally throw the kids in bed, and then crash. There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed after a week away from home. Ahhh......



*Some things about this trip that I would definitely do again:

-I packed Kendle her own mini-backpack for the car (and she packed it on a few of our outings)with a new coloring book, reading book, some crayons, pencils, paper, a few treats, a bottle of water, headphones for the DVD player and about five movies. That kept her pretty self-sufficient and almost completely entertained the whole trip, and it made her responsible and in charge of keeping track of her things. Soooooo glad I did that. Next time I might try and find a cheap disposable camera for her to take her own pictures with as well.
















(check out those muscular calves)

-We decided to take our little car instead of the Durango and although we had to pack a little lighter (which wasn't such a bad thing) and at times I felt a bit claustrophobic, we saved SO much in gas. It was totally worth it.

-I'm so glad I planned lots of things to do. In the past I haven't done this and we would waste lots of time trying to figure out what to do and where to go. This way we could look ahead at what we were doing the next day and plan and pack accordingly. I felt so much more prepared and relaxed.

-We packed lots of food and snacks and a big cooler. Our family always gets really burnt out on eating restaurant food during trips so we brought lots of lunch supplies with us. We ate breakfast at the hotel everyday, packed a lunch, and then only had to eat out for dinner. Everyone in our family really enjoyed that a lot more. We had some fun picnics and we only ate at McDonald's once the whole trip, YAY!

-Staying the whole week made the packing, the drive, and preparation more worthwhile. I'm glad we planned on staying that extra night, to give us one more day of fun.

It was a great trip with my fun family and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Wednesday, Thursday

Wednesday and Thursday of our trip were fun days. *This is a really long post, fair warning*

On Wednesday we decided to take a drive up to Tillamook and visit The Cheese Factory. So after breakfast we took off going north up the coast highway. It was a GORGEOUS day for a drive along the ocean. The sun was shining and it actually looked like summer on the coast. To get to Tillamook you branch off slightly east away from the ocean going more inland. It is a really pretty drive and we saw lots of neat little houses. The thing that struck me the most about all of the little towns we went through from Lincoln City on, was that I saw more American Flags displayed on homes and businesses than anywhere I've ever seen. Honestly, almost every single place had an American Flag mounted or hanging. It was awesome!

We stopped at a little park about 5 miles out of Tillamook and had lunch we had packed in our cooler. The kids enjoyed running around after being in the car for a while.

When we arrived at the cheese factory, it was packed as usual with hardly a parking space to be found. We weren't two steps inside the door when Kendle insisted I take a picture of her and the cows:

The bottom level of the visitors center is made up of a gift shop, a little tour with information about the factory, a little market area where you can buy cheese and other food items, a cafe and fudge counter, and the ice cream court which was the #1 reason the place was swamped. Fresh ice cream = happy people. We took Kendle through the tour portion downstairs and then headed up the elevator to the second level where you could observe the factory operations through big windows. It's amazing to see how fast the people working there have to be and how quickly everything gets cut and packaged and sent on its way. There are little videos you can watch about how everything is made and processed and it's pretty interesting. They also have a smaller ice cream station and we outsmarted the big crowds by getting our ice cream up there and having a bench all to ourselves to eat it on.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have dreams about Tillamook's fresh German Chocolate Cake ice cream. It's heaven. I haven't been able to find it in the stores, (plus it wouldn't have the same fresh taste) so I have to rely on eating it every couple of years when we visit Tillamook. No words can describe how much I love that ice cream. Riley and the kids enjoyed some huge ice cream cones and we all were very content.

After that we headed back down stairs to look through the cheeses and specialty food items. We ended up getting some great stuff, but my favorite purchase of the day was this:

These make the best Pumpkin Muffins, so I had to stock up while I was there. I'll save them for a chilly fall morning.

After we left the cheese factory we headed to the Tillamook Country Smoker so Riley could stock up on his years supply of jerky and beef sticks. I tell you, it does not take much to keep him happy.

After that we went to the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum. Riley's family had some deep roots in Tillamook so we thought we would check it out. We were pleasantly surprised at what a cool place it was. One of our best surprises was finding this:

We found some of Riley's ancestors who were some of the first townsfolk in a room full of pictures. Honestly it would have been like looking for a needle in a hay stack, but it was one of the first ones we were drawn too. Coincidence?

We were able to see so many neat things there - war memorabilia, old automobiles and carriages, little rooms set up like the inside of old houses, animals, Indian artifacts,....just so many neat things we were not expecting. Take a look:

As you can see from the last picture Morgan was not happy. He hated that little stroller the whole trip. I'm sure the museum people were glad when we were gone! On the way back we stopped at Beverly Beach outside of Newport and let the kids play some more since it was such a nice day. There was a little stream of water running down to the ocean that the kids had fun playing in and Kendle actually ran out into the ocean and got really wet. She is too brave for her own good sometimes! The weather was lovely though, even the Morgster did not mind getting a little wet. It was a great way to finish off our fun day.

Thursday morning we drove down to the wharf and walked around a bit. We took the kids to go see the sea lions there, they always make us laugh. Kendle kept trying to get them to talk to her which made all of the people around us laugh. I'm not sure what Morgan thought, but he seemed pretty interested. The sun was shining off the water and we had a beautiful view.

*Side note- don't even waste your time trying to fix your hair at the coast. *

After getting our fill of the sea lions and the fish smell of the wharf we drove to Devil's Punch Bowl State Park and had a picnic. We enjoyed the great weather and the sound of the ocean while we ate. We had lots of little visitors too. There are tons of squirrel's there, none of which were afraid to approach us for some food. Kendle thought they were so cute, but Riley quickly reminded her they are nothing more than glorified rodents. (Wow, way to take all of the fun out of it dad.) We walked down where we could see the "punch bowl" and it looked like the perfect place for a pirate to stow some treasure. Pretty amazing what mother nature can do.

We decided some afternoon shopping was in order so we headed to the Tanger Outlet Mall in Lincoln City. We did some school shopping for Kendle and found her the cutest back pack. There are always lots of good deals to be found, especially at the children's stores, but I did manage to snag some good deals for myself. We walked and walked, and walked some more. We worked up quite an appetite and decided to have an early dinner here:

It was super good, even Kendle our picky eater raved about her food. We were totally worn out and so we headed back to our hotel to do one last night of swimming and relaxing. We packed everything up before bed that night and I think we all fell asleep before our heads hit the pillow.

Fun Days By the Ocean

On Tuesday we woke up bright and early, and headed just a little ways down the road to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It had been sprinkling a little that morning but it tapered off as we started walking around at the outdoor exhibits. If you have never been there, it is a very neat place - kind of like a mini zoo. Riley and I had been there before, but taking Kendle was a whole new experience. She LOVES animals, so this was right up her alley. Morgan on the other hand would have been happy to run amok and grab handfuls of the gravel by the pathways, but I digress. In the outdoor exhibits we got a close up of Sea Otters swimming and grooming themselves. Fun fact: they spend the majority of their time grooming themselves, they are very vain animals - HA! Even Morgan got a kick out of them speeding through the water and floating on their backs. They were really hamming it up. Some other outdoor highlights were the octopus (which freaked Kendle out) and the bird aviary was pretty neat. I'm usually not a big bird person, but this exhibit allows you to get right up close to them in the water and watch them dive and swim.

The indoor exhibits were a lot of fun too. The Passages of the Deep, are what they are really famous for. You get to walk through tunnels of sea life, and one in particular of sharks. The feeling of having sharks swim over your head is pretty surreal. I could literally have sat there for hours.

We made our way through the rest of the indoor portion and Kendle's favorite stop was the tide pool exhibit where she got to touch different creatures and also they had a huge glass sphere with jelly fish inside. Did you know jellyfish are 95% water? Fun fact we learned. All in all, it was money well spent and other than Morgan trying to bust out of his stroller the whole time it was great.

After that we headed to Agate Beach State Park. It is right outside of Newport and it's probably been about seven years or so since I've been there and in that time the beach had developed some big sand dunes. So it took a little hike to get close to the water. The weather was not too bad though, just a bit windy. We had an awesome time there, the kids played and played and would have stayed there forever. Riley helped Kendle build a sandcastle fort and Morgan found a stick he tried to knock it down with. His little legs needed some good running around. We were wet, sandy, and loving it! I took about 100 pictures while we were there, here are some of my fav's:

We were exhausted and REALLY hungry, so after going back to the hotel and cleaning up we made a straight line for some dinner. To please all the picky eaters in our family we went to Izzy's and let me tell you, we got our money's worth. There is something about that ocean air that makes you feel like you could eat a horse.

Kendle made sure that after dinner we waited exactly a half-hour before we went swimming. I think I have unintentionally passed some of my paranoia onto my daughter. I opted to stay in our room with the Morgster who was really exhausted from the long day. I think everyone was in bed by 9:30. Too much fun makes for a tired family!

Our Adventure Begins

So I have to start off by saying that this is one of our first vacations we have taken by ourselves without any extended family. No cousins to play with, no grandma and grandpa to take a turn entertaining kids, just the four of us. We decided that we will make it our family tradition that we go to the Coast in the summer, and it was kind of exciting to think that we were blazing a new trail in our family's history. I just wanted our family to have a good time and enjoy each other. I really wanted to make this trip special for Kendle because I feel like she is growing up so fast (1st grade coming up in less than a month) and she often gets overlooked because we're taking care of Morgan. I hope we accomplished that, I think we did.

*Being the obsessive list maker that I am, I made an itinerary for every day we'd be there so we would have ideas of what to do instead of sitting around asking ourselves what to do. That turned out to be a great help. I wrote down places to visit, hours they were open, rates to get in, all the info. and it saved us a ton of time. Never knowing what the weather will do at the coast, this left us lots of room to be flexible.

Monday I had wanted to leave by 8:00, I knew that was a lofty goal, but we did end up leaving around 8:45 so not bad. We made it to The Dalles and stopped for an early lunch. Then we got back on the road and made a planned stop at Multnomah Falls. I thought it would be a good way to get the kids out of the car and get some exercise before our last leg of the trip. No matter how many times I've been there, it still amazes me how beautiful the setting and the sound of the falls are. It was a beautiful day and Kendle really wanted to hike up to the bridge, so Riley took her up there while I got Morgan out of his stroller and let him run around a bit. He saw a squirrel and almost caught it. He thought it was really funny. Here are some pictures I took:

It was a fun break, and on the way back to the car we stopped at the little visitor's center to grab Kendle some maps to look at. I think she's inherited my crazy love for maps and they keep her entertained. From there we didn't stop again until we got to Tigard to get some more gas. Morgan has turned into a not so great traveler. He has started screaming in the car and it is really annoying. He did not do much sleeping in the car, so we did lots of singing and clapping. We probably sang Bingo and Twinkle Twinkle little star a hundred times.

We finally made our way out of the forest and to Lincoln City where we could see the ocean. That always gets everyone excited and happy. It was a really nice day. We were staying in Newport, so we drove on farther south. We made it to our hotel, checked in, relaxed for a bit, cleaned up, and then headed back north a few miles to Depot Bay for some dinner. We went here:

Gracie's Sea Hag has the best Clam Chowder on the Oregon Coast, it is world famous and rightfully so. If you were just passing by, you might think it's just some hole-in-the-wall restaurant, but nothing compares. I'd been looking forward to that clam chowder for months. YUM! After dinner we walked around a bit and ended up in one of those totally overpriced but very alluring candy shops and picked out some assorted salt water taffy and caramel corn. Double yum!

After getting back to the hotel we decided to go swimming and it was a lot of fun, not to mention a great way to tire the kids out more. I swear if I ever get a million dollars I will build my dream home with a huge track and make my kids run laps at night before bed, they have way too much energy. I sat in the hot tub and tried to soak all of my cares away. The children's laughter and squeals filled my ears, and I had to smile as I watched them swim and wrestle with their dad. Our vacation was off to a good start.