Portland and Multnomah Falls

We got to drive over the cool bridge in Astoria over to the Washington side of the bay.  We went to a total of six states on our whirlwind of a trip.

It was several miles across the bay.  A little scary if you think about it!

Next we headed into Portland and got to meet up with my nephews Dustin and Danny, and Dustin's kids Coral and Anson for lunch.  It was so nice to see them!  We met at a mall so we decided to pick up a new pair of shoes for Logan.  His had a definite...strong...odor.

Then we stopped at Multnomah Falls.  It was pouring again.  And there's Holden's tongue again!  Silly kid (or naughty Dad for teaching him that)!

We hiked up to the bridge for a closer look.  We then started up the path to the very top but decided to turn around after all the warning signs about wet slippery trails.  The rain scared us away.  It was still an awesome experience and we are glad we stopped.

Then we started the long drive to Ontario.  We had pizza for dinner and then played in the hotel pool.  The next morning we headed for home.

It was such an awesome trip and I'm so glad we took the time to go.  We definitely will go back!

Tillamook and Cannon Beach

One of Grandma and Grandpa Naylor's favorite things to do while in Oregon is to go to the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  We decided to see what all the fuss was about and stop by.

It was fun to watch the workers in the factory.  They even waved at us!

Of course we had to take a picture in the loaf love bus.  I hope they have this next time we come for a visit so I can get another picture of the kids in it.

Our next stop was at Cannon Beach. It actually stopped raining while we were there! Holden was not excited to be there, though.  He was still scared of the ocean and didn't want to get any closer.  We're mean parents and made him stay anyway.

The other kids were so happy to walk on the beach.  It was their first experience on an Oregon beach (or any beach, really).  Holden was fluctuating between being scared and curious.

The kids all took turns writing their names in the sand.  Holden found a stick and wrote his name, too!  He only had help with the last two letters.  Not bad for a four and a half year old!

Logan found 50 cents.

Holden got closer and closer to the ocean until he started having a ton of fun!

In fact, he ended up loving it!  He said he liked the "actual" beach.  I guess the rest of the day we weren't really by the real beach.  He's such a funny kid!

We ended up spending the night in Astoria, Oregon in a brand new hotel.  We had a room looking over the bay.  We listened to the sea lions barking all night (it was charming, not annoying) and watched the huge ships come in.  It was a very fun, exhausting day!

Newport

We stayed the night in Brookings at the nicest hotel.  It was so clean and the owner was super nice.  I wish I could remember the name of it!  In the morning we headed up the 101 along the Oregon Coast.

We all loved driving along the ocean and watching the waves.  We even saw some seals on a beach as we drove by.  We wanted to explore some tide pools with the kids so as soon as it stopped raining we found a place to explore.  Holden was really excited to head down to the ocean.

We found some cool stuff!

It didn't take Holden long to become terrified of the ocean.  The weather was pretty crazy and the waves were breaking not very far from where we were exploring.  Then it started to pour. Again.  So we headed back to the car.  We took this picture on the way back. Josh told Holden to stick his tongue out and it became a trend...

We stopped at the Marine Hadfield Science Center to see the sea creatures.  Logan, Jensen and Ally enjoyed seeing and touching the creatures.  Holden was having nothing to do with it though.  He finally touched one right before we left.

He liked looking at the fish and other creatures.

Then we made a stop in the pouring rain a the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.

Next stop was the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.  Logan and Jensen loved watching the ocean.

Holden was absolutely terrified and ran right back to the car in tears-poor kid!

A very wet family!

 

Lady Bird Johnson Grove

Our next stop in the Redwood Forest was at Lady Bird Johnson Grove.  It was just a one mile hike through the Redwoods.

There was a neat bridge entering the grove. We were lucky and the rain let up for us take the walk.  As soon as we were done it started pouring again.  It was quite muddy and I think I still have redwood forest dirt in my car!

Teeny tiny kids by a giant tree.

I thought this picture was cool because of the fog.  It was so refreshing to walk in the redwood forest.  Sea level and fresh, moist air!  No allergies, either.

Ally got nervous about running into a bear, and Holden may or may not have "watered" a redwood.

Beautiful!

It's not every day you get to stand inside a giant, living tree.

Yup. They're big!

I'm so glad we were able to see them. It was truly amazing.

Traveling and Avenue of the Giants

When Josh's work put out the vacation calendar at work, he hurried and grabbed it.  We saw when Spring Break was for the kids and took it off.  So as it got closer and closer, I kept asking him what he wanted to do.  I never got a commitment out of him so I just figured we would stay home and work in the yard. I really wanted to go to the Oregon Coast or to Southern Utah, but figured it was too late by the time Tuesday rolled around.  (The kids were out Wed-Sun.)

So I couldn't sleep Tuesday night because I wanted to do something fun.  So I asked Josh, "can we please go somewhere?"  The next thing I knew he was on the computer mapping out a trip to Oregon.  Well, I still wasn't convinced that we could make it happen.  After all, we could have already been on our way.  I thought someplace closer would be better.  So when the kids were all gathered Wednesday morning, we asked them if they would rather go to Southern Utah or Oregon.

They said Oregon and the rest is history!  We decided to go at nine in the morning and were on the road by noon!  It's such a joy to have older kids or this probably wouldn't have happened.

We decided to go by way of Reno so we could see the Redwood Forrest-something neither Josh nor I had done, but always wanted to.  In the middle of the salt flats we saw our first giant tree. The Tree of Utah!

Yeah, I don't get it either.

We stayed at Circus, Circus in Reno.  We thought it would be fun for the kids.

We were wrong.

They hated it!  They were seriously freaked out about being in a casino.  I guess you could look at it two ways.  Either they are too sheltered or they know and recognize the spirit.  I choose to believe the second choice.  We had a nice talk with them about places where you can feel the spirit and places where you can't.  I hope they learned something!

After a horrible nights sleep and someone hacking into my email account in the middle of the night while we were there (sorry about that yucky email, friends), we high-tailed it out of there.

We drove, and drove, and drove some more.  The top of California looks deceptively small until you are driving across it.  And it rained. A lot.  A foreshadowing of things to come, I'm afraid.

It was really pretty though.  The kids loved seeing palm trees.  But we had bigger trees in mind for this vacation!

We finally made it to the "Avenue of the Giants".  This was our first experience with the Redwood Trees.  Pretty awesome!

Of course, you can't visit the Redwood Forrest without driving through a giant tree!  Well, at least everyone but me got to drive through it.  I was the picture girl and Josh said it was too close to risk driving me through again. :(

Amazing!  The pictures don't do it justice.

It's so amazing because these trees are massive, but can be hollowed out at the bottom and still be living!  We were all gathered in our first hollowed out tree.  There were many more to come...

This is funny because Holden is pointing up in awe of trees.

It was so green.  The Redwoods are beautiful even when they are dead. The most beautiful things grow out of the decay.  Simply awesome.

Oh, and did I mention it was raining?

Skiing and Scheels

We decided to go skiing one more time for the season and headed back to Powder Mountain.  It is so pretty there and has plenty of green runs for me.

Here we are at the top.  Josh, Kayla (Ally's friend), Ally, Logan and Jensen.

It was so gorgeous!  Everyone but me and Jensen went skiing off through these trees. 

It was magical with the ice crystals all over the tree branches.  I could have wandered around staring at the beautiful trees all day!

Kayla and Ally

It was foggy at the top, but that added to the charm in my opinion. 

We love our ski days!

I heard about the Ferris wheel at Scheels and decided we should check it out.  I made Josh drive us to Sandy so I could go to Ikea and Scheels for the first time.  Ikea was...interesting.  I felt like a sheep being herded through the store.  The only thing I really liked was the curtains.  They actually had some that were long enough and cheap, too! Maybe I'll get around to finishing the remodel of the front room and share some pictures some day.

So funny, but we ran into my Aunt Gloria, who lives in Grantsville at Scheels. What are the odds?  She is as sweet as ever and had her camera out taking pictures of us on the Ferris wheel.

The Ferris wheel was fun, but the wait was horrid.  It took forever!  And it totally freaked me out when they stopped us on the top!  The kids thought it was awesome, though.

Guess who was a Ferris wheel party pooper?

Holden loved it!

 

iPhone Photo Dump

I love the convenience of always having a camera with me. If you know me, you know I am never far from my iPhone, and neither is Josh. Seriously, iPhones are the best.  They even take pretty good pictures! So here are a few of the things I should share before I forget.  These are all from February and March, 2013.

Ally, Maddi, Riley, Abby

As the school representative of the GYC (Governing Youth Council), Ally got to go on a tour of the Capitol building.  She and Madison each took a friend from Student Council as their guests.  Well, the school advisor couldn't go so he sent me and Maddie's Mom as chaperones.  It was interesting to watch the actual sessions going on and to see the beautiful building.

The day after Valentine's day, Ally brought home her first real Valentine from a boy!  So cute and funny!  She didn't want to keep it (she does NOT like him) so I snapped a quick picture.

No idea what to say about this one...

Holden has not liked the dentist since his last visit to the pediatric dentist.  But he actually sat in the chair and almost let them clean his teeth this time.  Progress!

Because I helped out with some activities for the student council, they invited me to their year end party.  It was actually in March because one of Ally's advisors was going in to have major surgery the next week and would be gone the rest of the year.  They had it catered by Texas Roadhouse and even had line dancing!  I have video of Holden, but it takes too long to upload videos so I'll have to do that another day when I have patience. After line dancing, Holden turned on the charm with the girls of student council and had a blast playing hide and seek with them.

Anyway, while I was there I went with Ally to her locker and snapped a picture.  I thought it was fun because I would have liked a picture of my locker from back in the day!

Jensen started Cub Scouts!  This was his first pack meeting and he already earned his Bobcat!  Good job, Jensen!

This was Logan's last pack meeting and he got a special award for earning all 20 Webelo badges.  His leader even gave him a cake for his accomplishment!  He shared with me because I helped him finish up the last few at home. :)

A picture of my boys at their only pack meeting together!

Love these guys!

We got some free tickets to a Jazz Game.  Want to know why they were free?  They were on the VERY TOP ROW!  Nosebleeds for one and all!!  It was still fun and the boys even got new Jazz shirts.  The one Logan in wearing has their old logo on it and is a size too small, but he loves it and has worn it A TON. 

So that was February and March according to my iPhone. :)