Oregon Trip

In and effort to escape the Arizona summer heat, we made our way to Portland, OR.  We beat the heat all right, but traded it in for some chilly days and nights.  We spent one night in Portland and got to see the Rose parade.  Then we moved on to my cousin Carol's (and her husband Glenn's) farm in Silverton.  Finally, we spent a week in a beachside condo on the coast.  Aside from a little rain, and nightmare standby travel on the way back home, it was a lovely 10 days. 

 This float was put on by Alaska Airlines, complete with dancing flight attendants doing synchronized turns with their bags in tow, it was a lot of fun!

At cousin Carol's farm, Keenan discovered a trampoline. 

And the Llama

Photo op in the barn

 A move to the chilly coast....

Complete with miles of hard packed beach which I took advantage of for my daily nine mile run.

Lots of tidal pools for exploring.

And climbing

Sand for great construction projects.

As well as ample sand for love notes.

Raincoats were donned a couple of times

More often, it was jackets, hats, and mittens

The kids loved hiking up all those stairs in the lighthouse.  Keenan just barely made the height requirement, and he did a fair amount of stretching as they measured him.

Cobble Beach

Star fish petting

Star fish and sea urchin spotting.

At Agate Beach, we saw the Japanese tsunami dock that washed ashore two weeks ago.

Some strange weather patterns

The kids loved seeing this crab up close in personal at the marine science center.  

The thinkers........

A log over a stream just begs to be crossed.

Carol and Glen joined us for an overnight visit.

Colin had trouble keeping up with the little ones.

Hunting for agates and shells.

More sand building, this time we constructed an octopus.  The kids named aptly named it Ollie.  Ollie actually lasted for two days.