Summer Can't Be Over!

It went too fast, as usual.  August was unusually cool and rainy here, so we didn't even get to give summer a proper send-off before school started!  That's right!  Owen started pre-K this week.  He was so excited at 'meet the teacher' night (last Friday), that he was kind of disappointed that he had to wait a whole weekend before he got to go back to his classroom.  It's been harder for Hadley this year; she's cried or whimpered every day when we drop him off.  She misses him, and it's so sweet! He loves school so far and has resumed napping, which I guess means that they are tiring him out. :)

So, a quick recap of the rest of August...  The kids have gotten a lot of wear out of their rain coats/boots, as I mentioned.  They no longer jump or cry when it thunders.  That's how common thunderstorms have been this month.  I love it!

Owen thought this would be a great time to break out the water guns.  Hadley was his faithful sidekick until things went horribly wrong...

The kids got totally soaked and chilled, but they had so much fun.  Worth it!

On another soggy evening, the kids danced and entertained the crowd at a free outdoor concert.

Apparently, we also had some flash flooding while we were in Oregon.  All that rain led to epic garden production.  This was waiting for us when we got home!  Not to mention the dozens of cherry tomatoes I had to toss that over-ripened on the vine and my parsley jungle.

The kids have enjoyed picking and eating our raspberries right off the bush.  I think they are finally mature plants, since we are getting some store-worthy berries. Because our raspberries don't make it very far from the garden, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to go picking at a local farm.  Owen was in school, so it was just me and Hadley.  She was putting her raspberry-picking experience to good use, until I asked her if she'd eaten any. I could see the lightbulb go off, and after I told her she could eat some, no more berries made it in her basket.  I swear she must have eaten a pint!  (Don't worry, it's a family-friendly establishment that encourages lots of sampling.)  We did make it home with three pints, some of which ended up as raspberry jam.  Yum!

On a rare hot day, we went to the beach again.  This time, it was at a lake only 30 minutes from home, and we took some friends with us.  The kids got ridiculously sandy and tired, but all in the name of summer!

Not to be left out are our usual haunts of the zoo and Bear World.  Besides the rides, the kids really liked petting a fawn, and I got a kick out of the funky chickens.

Turning indoors, we checked out the grand opening of an interactive art museum in town. We were the first ones at the door, and Owen had a blast dancing around in the green screen area for at least 15 minutes by himself.  (I spared you - the video is only 17 seconds long.) They also had a two-story slide, art projects, music room, and a theater, so we'll probably be back.

And, of course, we had lots of good ol' fashioned fun at home.

Owen has become very interested in helping me with dinner every night, which is wonderful. But what is the other kid doing while being minimally supervised?  Improvising block stacking from the pantry!  This is one of her many ways of telling me she's hungry.  :)

Vacation, Portland and Hood River

After the beach, we headed toward Portland with a little detour to the Tillamook Cheese Factory!  The kids were excited to see the cheese and ice cream.  

The self-guided "tour" was definitely not a highlight, but the kids liked peeking in the windows to see the cheese-packaging facility.  

They also had free cheese samples (delicious!) and ice cream for sale (even more delicious!)

Once we reached the city, we actually stayed in Vancouver, Washington, which is right across the beautiful Columbia River from Portland.  

In a strange coincidence, Uncky Dan and Aunt Jenn happened to be in Portland at the same time as us!  We were able to meet up with them for a couple of meals.

And we perused the children's section at the extensive Powell's bookstore before D&J headed on to Seattle.

We spent a little time walking around downtown Portland, but then we went in search of a brewery that we'd been wanting to go to, Hopworks.

It had children's play areas in each room of the brewpub, so Mom and Dad could enjoy their beers that much more.  Brilliant!

Our hotel was also within walking distance of a small park that had a pretty nice playground.  It was perfect for getting out of the room without adding to our time in the car!  We were even able to walk to dinner on the second night.

Owen's favorite part of the hotel stays (and maybe the whole vacation) was the pool. Since he'd just finished swim lessons, he had a new appreciation for swimming, especially if he had his goggles. His daddy was really good about teaching him some new techniques and practicing with him.  Ah, nothing like escaping the grind, am I right?

So we didn't do much Portland-y stuff, but that was okay.  It was nice to take it easy. After two nights, we headed back east.  Our first stop was at Multnomah Falls, which we had seen 10 years ago.  It was still spectacular, and the kids got to enjoy it this time.  If we had more time, I would have done lots more waterfall hikes in this area, since this one was a little crowded!

The boys went up the trail to the bridge, but Hadley was not going to wait at the bottom! She walked her way up to the bridge with only one fall/scrape. :)

Owen was being very helpful in trying to get sibling shots with Hadley, who wasn't that interested.  But this tree was pretty neat with lots of knobby roots for seats.  I can't get enough of these lush green forests!

After our brief waterfall excursion, we pressed on to Hood River to meet Uncle Michael and Aunt NJ at a beautiful riverside park.  Owen was so excited to see them again; he had ambitious plans for hiking and fishing with them, but unfortunately our schedules didn't allow for that much.  Hopefully next time though!

The playground area was unique and well thought out with a climbing wall and spinning web, among other things. The kids had a great time!  Hadley was the first on top of the climbing wall, which made everyone a little nervous, but she loved it up there.  Big brother couldn't let her show him up.  :)

Owen had been wishing he had binoculars, and Aunt NJ had some!  He was the creepy boy on the beach checking out the floaters.  Ha!

As is standard in Oregon, there was a microbrewery across the street, so we sought refreshment and conversation after the park.

And then we documented our meeting with group pictures, since they are pretty rare!  It was fun, and I do hope we can do it again soon.

It was well after nap time when we decided to part ways.  The kids were totally wiped out and slept most of the way to Pendleton, our stop for the night.

The next day was a solid 7 hours in the car (more like 10 with stops and meals), but we made it home mostly unscathed. The highlight of the day was watching an 18-wheeler get a tire change at our lunch stop.

I'm glad we went on our vacation.  I think we might have some good travelers once we get through toddler-hood.  It would have been much more difficult if we didn't have the iPodTouch and iPad to switch around in the backseat. :)