Oregon! - Part 4

 The next morning we stopped into a donut shop that was a couple blocks away from our Airbnb. The girls were excited to pick out their donuts!

 

 

Bug loved all the fun signs on the wall and took a picture.

 

 

Then we made it to the Lego store! They were SO excited!

 

 

We stayed in there for nearly an hour.

 

 

They each picked something and paid for it with their own money. Then they had to go show Grandma and the cousins what they got. 

 

 

I think the Lego store likes us. :P

 

 

We had lunch in the mall with the family.

 

 

And then spent a little time shopping at some of the other stores. The older girls just wanted to be with cousin S wherever she went.

 

 

The little ones just wanted to ride the "esca-fa-lators" as Peaches called them. We found two different sets and rode up and down at least two dozen times between them.

We also found a candy store that was a big hit!

 

 

Then it was a few more stores before heading back to the house for a bit.

 

 

We had to say goodbye to S because she had a senior event that night. We are thankful we were able to be there to help celebrate her graduation!

 

 

It was mid afternoon and Lou conked out in the car on the way back. Normally she pops awake whenever we stop the car but this time the girls and Daddy were able to sneak out of the car and into the house while I sat with her and my book in the car. She actually ended up taking a decent sized nap.

 

 

The others played in the backyard some more and when she woke up we had popscicles and put together some of the smaller Lego sets they had bought.

 

 

More pictures tomorrow!

Oregon! - Part 3

 After the zoo we headed straight to Uncle B and Aunt M's house for the main event! The whole reason we went to Oregon was to celebrate Cousin S's graduation!

The girls just adore her and were so happy to see her!

 

 Our favorite graduate!

 

 

It's so hard to believe that the first of the cousins is graduating already! That means we are not too far behind. :'(

 

 Thankfully they had beautiful weather for an outdoor party! Everything looked so nice!

 

 

Of course the little ones ran to Grandpa just as soon as we arrived. He is their favorite toy. :)

 

 

I tried to get them to eat some good lunch, but Lou pretty much ate only chips and when she ran out she went around stealing other people's. :P

 

 

 

We got there in the last hour so things were wrapping up at that point.

 

 

We spent the rest of the evening hanging out with the family. Peaches had to tell Grandpa all about her new owies.

 

 

 

 

Very much 2! :)

 

 

 

Hugs for Grandma. 

 

The little ones didn't last long before asking for horsey rides.

 

Which quickly dissolved into some pretty fun games!

Including hide and seek/chase. :P

Grandpa finally tamed the wild beasts with a quiet game. 

 

 

They sure do love their Grandpa!

 

More pictures tomorrow!

Oregon! - Part 2

 Sunday morning we got up and headed to the zoo! I always think it's funny how all the Covid preparations actually make people congregate vs. spreading them out. Like at the mall the big stores have all but a few registers closed for Covid, but instead of helping that just makes everyone pile up in one spot to check out. :P 

The zoo had staggered ticket times. They only let in a certain number of people at a time, but all that did was make for a big line where we were all bunched together. :P Thankfully the line went fast and once we were inside things were much more spread out.

 

The girls got to check out the mountain goats while we waited to get in. I thought it was funny that the goat is the only one looking in this picture.

 

 

Ready to take on the zoo! We pulled their masks down for a quick pic. The zoo workers were very strict about keeping masks on and completely over the nose, even outside.

Bears!

This tree was cool, and we know it's not exaggerated at all since we saw some downed trees like this in the park a few months ago!

 

 

This bald eagle was cool. He was watching us as much as we were watching him! He looked straight at us and did a head tilt like a dog trying to figure something out.

 

 

Lou wanted to lay down and sleep in the nest.

 

 

The girls liked this shortcut in the path.

 

 

I sent them down and Daddy hustled around to the other end. 

 

 

The fish were pretty cool. Peanut really wants a fish.

 

 

I think Peanut took this picture.

 

 

And this one as well which I thought was funny because it reminded me of her sticking out her tongue for my picture the night before. 

 

 

I always think it's cool how they make the sleeping areas so you're right on the other side of the glass.

 

 

This polar bear seemed to be showing off. She paced back and forth in front of the fence like she wanted everyone to have a good look at her.

 

 

Everyone was hungry so I stood in line and grabbed a snack while Daddy took them to see the monkeys.

 

 

We did a lot of hand sanitizing. :P

 

 

We finally made it to Peanut's favorites...the elephants of course!

 

 

They had quite a few!

 

 

The girls all wanted a chance to "drive" the safari jeep. It's front end was on the inside of the enclosure which was pretty fun.

 

 

The "jaffs" were a big hit. Lou had been looking forward to them!

 

 

Unfortunately at that point she got so excited she took off running down a hill and Peaches took it upon herself to stop her by grabbing her arms. Instead of stopping her, she effectively locked her arms so that when Lou tripped she couldn't put out her hands to stop herself and landed on her forehead on the cement path. :( After lots of screaming and crying we finally got things back under control, but she "had" to be carried the rest of the way.  

Other than that mishap we had a wonderful time exploring the zoo!

 

 

We hit the gift shop but surprisingly they didn't want anything. They had their own money but they were saving it for the Lego store the next day! I thought this was so cute. My little bookworms...I looked over and Peaches was sitting in the middle of the walkway reading.

 

More pictures tomorrow!