Oregon Trip

Here is a slideshow of about half the pictures we took from our trip to Oregon. If you would like the link to all of them just let us know.

We had a great time up there with Amanda's family. It was very hard to leave the 60 degree weather to come back to the 100's. It was just so beautiful there.

We spent our first night in Portland to break up the trip a little, and then drove out to the coast on Sunday afternoon. We took our time driving since we couldn't check in until later. We stumbled upon the Evergreen air and space museum which is where the Spruce Goose is on display. It was unreal how huge it was. There were also a bunch of other cool planes, and even a couple of old tanks.

We also stopped at a little produce market and the fruit was amazing. The rest of the family showed up later that night.

On Monday we all went to the Oregon Coast aquarium which was a lot of fun. The kids loved all of the different fish and seals and sea lions. They also had a whole section devoted to wierd looking fish that was very cool.

On Tuesday we went to Sea Lion Caves which was really amazing. There is a huge natural cave that is full of sea lions and seals. There are hundreds of them in there sitting around. It was unreal how big the cave was, and how many animals there were in it. There was also a lookout point where you can see even more of them lounging outside on the rocks and swimming around. It sounded like a large motorboat or something because they were barking so loud.

If I remember right this was also the first time we saw the whales off of our balcony. The condos were right on the ocean, and the whales kept swimming back and forth the whole time we were there. The kids loved seeing them spout the water up.

On Wednesday we went out on a boat to see the whales closer, which proved to be quite the adventure. As luck would have it we picked the only time all week that it rained to go out on the ocean. It was a pretty bumpy ride and everyone got off the boat a little tipsy and wet. Except for our lovely daughter. She decided to let the rocking boat put her soundly asleep. We did get to see the whales a little closer which was fun, and no one threw up, so that was good.

Thursday morning was my absolute favorite part as we got to spend a couple of hours taking pictures. I got to wear long pants and everything! We had beautiful weather, and I would expect the pictures turned out great. We will post some once we get them from the photographer.

After the pictures we took Livy to the beach where she got to play in the sand and water for the first time all by herself. We went once when she was a baby, but she mostly got helpd that time. She was definitely not afraid of the water at all. I would pick her up when a wave came a little too high and when I set her down she would just chase the wave back out into the ocean. She also got covered in sand which was a lot of fun.

Friday we all got packed up and started our journies home. We drove back to Portland where we would spend the night before flying back on Saturday. We had a nice time in the city going to lunch and dinner and looking at a couple of shops. It is such a clean city that had a very friendly feel to it. We also drove up the Columbia River a little ways and went to some different waterfalls that were very beautiful.

We had a lot of fun on the trip, with lots of swimming in the pool, and playing with cousins, and aunts and uncles. It is always so sad to leave at the end, especially when you don't know when you will get together again. I think everyone had a great time, and we look forward to other trips in the future.