A Day at the Park

OK, so we really didn't spend a whole day at the park. When we were visiting the Japanese Gardens in Oregon, I noticed a sign for a park not too far away so we decided to go check it out. We actually ended up at the park both Sunday and Monday. The kid's favorite part . . . the stone elephant. William did ask me to turn it on several times. He thought it was a Chuck E Cheese ride of some type and if I put a coin in the elephant would move.

Portland Japanese Garden

This place was absolutely beautiful and definitely geared more for adults. They did attempt to make it kid friendly by providing a map with 10 items or so for the kids to look for while walking around the gardens. Briana really got into it and refused to leave until we were able to check everything off her list.

Japanese Garden

Click this picture to see our trip through the garden. :)

Oregon

Saturday was our day to check out the great outdoors of Oregon. We had actually planned on taking a few hikes to the waterfalls in the area but each stop was so crowded. With two young children we decided to hike around in a less crowded area and look at the sites that way. The weather was beautiful by this time and we had a great time exploring a new area.

Children's Museum

The children's museum was practically next door to the Oregon Zoo and we were tempted to check it out on the same day but decided against that plan due to William's nap schedule. So, bright and early the next day we headed to the museum. They had so many interactive centers for the kids. They had an area with baby dolls, high chairs and baby beds. I casually mentioned to Alan that he should take William over to the area because he likes baby dolls. After 10 minutes of chasing Briana around I noticed William and daddy still over in the baby doll area. William was very much into the dolls. "Baby go sleep, Baby awake." It was a little too repetitive for Alan, so I took over for the remainder of William's time with the dolls. We actually left the museum for a short time because there was a huge school group and it made all of the areas very crowded. We decided to head out for a while and try back after lunch. The minute William saw the museum he said, "I want to go see baby!" It was such a great place. I really wish they had something like this in my neighborhood!!

Children's Museum

Oregon Zoo

Oregon Zoo

Click on this image to see more pictures. :)


We couldn't resist the opportunity to visit the Oregon Zoo. I was impressed by all of the interactive centers they had set up near the animal exhibits. They also had many employees set up along the paths and near the animals with skulls, bones and fur samples for the kids to touch and interact with. The way they designed their exhibits you felt as it you could reach out and touch the animals. Compared to the living desert less than two weeks prior to this visit, it was cold and rainy. This was great for crowd control. There were many times it felt as if we had the place all to ourselves. However, it wasn't so great getting rained on from time to time. Overall, it was a great visit and definitely a fun place for the kids to explore.

Airplane!

We decided to take a vacation to Oregon before the new baby arrives on May 22nd. We decided to leave the RV behind and get on a plane. For William this would be his very first airplane ride ever. For the most part he did very well. Daddy had his laptop loaded with the Chipmunk movie. When that died, he got out the iPod and his phone with games for the kids. William did stress out during the landing. It was particularly rough and I know I was having a hard time with motion sickness myself. I felt so bad for him because he was crying and trying to turn the airplane off by pushing the button on his seat. A nice lady sitting in front of me handed him a large bracelet in order to try and distract him and it actually worked. Briana has been on a plane a few times in her life, although I don't think she really remembers those earlier trips. She of course did very well. She loved the drink and snack service and to look at her you never would have known the plane was going through any kind of turbulence during the landing.

Looking at those happy faces, it was definitely a positive experience for both. They were even more excited when they found out we were going on the plane again to come back home!!

Visit with Great Grandpa

The kids love to visit their great grandpa. William is starting to form a very strong attachment. He talks about great grandpa for days after our visit. Briana loves the ice cream she gets at every visit.




William is opening a late Birthday gift. :)

Fire Station Visit

We had a great time visiting the fire station. The kids love watching fire trucks drive by on the road and they loved the opportunity to climb inside and talk to a real fire fighter.

William loved going inside one of the rooms inside the fire house. I had a hard time getting him to leave.

Cousin Lexi was able to join us on this particular field trip.



We can't wait to go back next year!!

My Little Man

William is going through such a cute phase right now. The other night I was getting ready to go out for a few hours and was working on striaghtening my hair. I had just placed a large clip on top of my head when I hear him crying to get up from his nap. I walk into his room and he starts to smile at me. He then tells me, "mommy you are a princess!" He loved the clip on top of my head and it took me a second or two to realize what he was talking about. It was so precious.

The Living Desert

My mom's group was taking a field trip to the Living Desert in Palm Desert. Normally I would shy away from a trip that takes just over an hour to get to from my home but I was feeling ambitious and wanted to get out of the house. I know we'll be home-bound for a while soon enough. It was HOT!! 97 degrees but we managed to have a great time anyway.

I managed to get at least one picture with all three of us!

William was absolutely fascinated by this butterfly.

If I let him, William would have slept on this goat.

It was so difficult to get a picture of Briana because she was running to each animal, trying to pet them all.

Family Pictures

We try and do family pictures every six months. It is amazing to see how much the kids have grown in such a short time!

William is in Love

with a bunny!! We went to a birthday party recently for a 5 year old little girl who has a pet bunny. William absolutely fell in love with this animal. He spent over half the party over by the cage watching the bunny and trying to pet him. It is defintely not something we will be getting any time soon. But I'm glad he got to spend some time with an animal he enjoyed so much.

My Clever Little Boy

My baby boy never ceases to amaze me. We were out running errands today and at one point I had to go get some money from the ATM machine. As soon as I got back into the car I told the kids that I had the money so we could go. William then tells me, they make the honey and we make the money . . . . he then starts to laugh. If you don't know that is a quote from the Bee Movie. William has probably seen it 4 or 5 times. Barely two and he now quotes movies . . . . maybe he watches too much tv ??!!