So in late August, knowing our time was beginning to run out on the warm summer weather, we packed up the car and headed down to Oregon for a week-long road trip. Our first stop was in Portland, where Tyler and Tristan discovered a fountain they could ride their scooters through. I told them specifically, "We are waiting for a table so we can eat dinner. Do not get wet." As you can see, Tristan needs to work on his listening skills. Luckily I had the prescience to take off his pants before he got too wet. He's also lucky I have a spare sweatshirt for him.
Somehow we made it down to Sun River, which looked so close on the map, and yet was so friggin' far away in reality. Luckily when we got there they had plenty for us to do. Tristan has now become an avid fan and player of the mini-golf and....
Ronja and Tyler squared off head to head on the bumper cars. They also had real golf, horse-back rides, bounce houses, and bicycle trails galore. Oh, and on our way there, we happened to hit a winery that was right next to the Enchanted Forest, which from the parking lot looked like a good place for the kids to stretch their legs for an hour. Four hours later, we emerged, having had the time of our life. We met Abe Lincoln there...
Visited the Gingerbread house and Hansel and Gretel....
Tried to scare the wicked old witch from snow white. There was a rabbit hole from Alice in Wonderland to go down, the little old woman's shoe slide, and all these other nursery rhymed activities to do throughout the forest. Plus a ridiculous play and real carnival rides. Who knew?
Oh, and we also visited the Point Defiance Zoo. You can't tell here, but the boys are looking at a giant walrus who kept coming up and giving them the eye.
Tyler clearly liked the elephants.
On our way back I tried to get them all to pose for a nice scenery shot. Things quickly deteriorated once Tristan suggested that I take a photo of his butt. Who's kid is this?
But it was breath-taking. We'll be heading back there next summer and hopefully camping right next to this beach.
Oh, we also stopped and visited our friends the Anderton's and they were kind enough to invite us to dinner at their club along the Columbia River. Tristan got tired of soccer and preferred to take in the view.
Once back home, we had a few days of recovery and then I took the boys camping with our friends Tomas and Michelle. Michelle is a very seasoned camper and very helpful since I am not and couldn't figure out how to set up the tent. We had a great time riding scooters through the campground, tossing rocks in the river and going for a little hike.
Such cute, cute boys!!
Our last days of summer were spent visiting all the parks and beaches around Seattle (and there are a lot!). This is one of our favorites - Golden Gate Park.
We also like Discovery Park because little bears climb up into the trees!
Lastly, Nana and Papa came to visit. We took them all over, including Alki Beach which is great for beachcombing and pizza eating.
We also took them to Ride the Ducks, which they loved. It took us all over Seattle and told us history and fun little facts. Every time we passed a Starbucks we had to shout out, "Lattes!"
This time around, Tristan didn't fall asleep. How can someone sleep when riding a huge, windowless, noisy tank?
Our end of the summer big finale was going up to Lopez Island with our friends the Lewis's. They have an amazing house and taught us how to crab. The boys absolutely loved going out in the boat, setting the traps, letting them go, then going back to pull them up and check the crabs to see if they were "keepers." We got a ton of them and were even sent home by the Lewis's with a bunch of leftover crab!
Plus, while they kids weren't out on the boat, they got to horse around on the beach and soak up the amazing scenery. This northwest lifestyle is looking pretty good!
