The Northwest

I finally got to visit the Northwest! We went and stayed at my good friend Jamie's house in Vancouver Washington for a few days and than headed down to the coast. The first part of the trip both Andrew and Tyler had to work so Jamie and I had a great time playing mommy. We took the kids to the park when it was sunny and to the library when it was rainy. During nap times Jamie and I would sit and read or chat quietly and we even got in some time to take naps. It was great to spend so much time with Jamie just relaxing. At night Tyler and I went exploring. Tuesday night we went and hiked up to the Multnomah Falls. Wow the pictures I took of this place don't even do it justice, the place is BEAUTIFUL! The top water fall has a 542 foot drop and the second tier has a 69 foot drop. And yes Aspen pretty much hiked all the way to the top by herself! She loves waterfalls and even after the trip was over said it was one of her favorite parts. At the top you walked onto a ledge and could see the top tier's drop off as well as a the best view of the Columbian River.

The falls was very powerful and I just happened to get this great shoot of the water drops.
I figured out why Oregon is so green. Its not just because of all the beautiful green trees, but also all the beautiful green moss that grows from all the rain. I loved the vibrant colors!

On Wednesday night we went to downtown Portland. It was so much fun. We stopped and ate a local pizza place and it was delcious. Than we took the street car, which Aspen thought was a train. She has always wanted to ride a train and was very excited. Than after touring the city we went on the arieal tram. The tram travels 22 miles per hour and rises 500 feet over the I-5, the Lair Hill neighborhood and the Southwest Terwilliger Parkway up to the hospital. It is by far the best way to see all of downtown Portland from a distance and of course both my kids thought it was the coolest thing. The best part about our downtown trip to Portland is we didn't have to pay for anything except dinner. The street car was free and the guy that runs the tram decided to be nice and let us on for free!

Tyler and I love visiting historic places so Thursday we left a little early so we could stop in Astoria and see Fort Stevens. Fort Stevens was the primary military defense at the mouth of the Columbia River and served for 84 years beginning during the Civil War and closing at the end of World War II. It was a great break for the kids to run around and get some energy out. They actually have all the bunkers and different parts of the base still open so you can walk through them.

Than took a little scenic drive to see where the Columbian River and the Pacific Ocean meet and to see a shipwreck.

We finally got into Seaside very late Thursday night. After check-in we went to one of the best restaurants I have ever been to! Tyler got a 32 oz cheeseburger and luckily I convinced him to take some home to eat as a leftover because it was huge!

Friday Jamie and Andrew got in and we all headed down to the beach. Although it was kind of windy and a bit cold the kids were happy to play for hours! After the beach Tyler and I and the kids rented a surrey bike. The great thing is when I say rented, I mean we got it for free! We were asking the front desk of our condo where it was and they gave us a free pass. Yipee. We rode that bike all around town and even got to see some Lewis and Clark sites. Than after our ride we met back up with Jamie and Andrew and walked along Broadway in Seaside. We got some dinner and than let the kids ride the big carousel. Than we had to get some homemade ice-cream.

Saturday we woke up early and went to Cannon Beach. We got to see the famous Haystack rock and we let the kids play at the beach for a while. Than we went up to Ecola Beach and hiked! It was beautiful. We saw the Terrible Tilly lighthouse. It was about 1 mile away from the shore and is Oregon's only lighthouse that you cannot actually walk-up to. Later Saturday night we took the kids back to Cannon beach to see the tide pools at Haystack Rock. Grandma Mason gave Aspen a book all about tide pools and she has been talking about them ever since. This was actually Tyler's favorite part of our trip to. We got to see crabs, star fish, other fish, oysters and a few other sea animals!

Later that night Andrew and Tyler went back to Cannon Beach to take some pictures at sunset. To bad it was cloudy so you couldn't really see the sun setting, but Andrew helped Tyler to get some pretty great shots!

Sunday we were going to just get up and go, but we hadn't gotten a chance to see the Tillamook cheese factory or the air museum so we decided to make a detour. We figured out it would only take us an extra 45 minutes of driving time to see it and we had already driven 14 hours to Oregon so we might as well stop. The cheese factory was fun. My favorite part was at the end when you got to taste lots of different kinds of cheeses. The air museum was also great because you actually got to sit in most of the planes. Aspen and Danny loved it.

This trip was awesome. It was great to spend time with friends. Simon and Aspen play really well together and I can't wait to meet Jamie's little girl. She was about 7 months pregnant while we were there! I was really amazed at how well the kids did on the long drives there and back. They really are the worlds best kids and make it so easy to travel with them! Who says you can't have fun with 2 kids under 2 has not traveled with my kids because we had a blast!