After our hiking and puking adventures, we were all rather exhausted Friday. But we were determined to make the most of our time in Portland, so we headed to the zoo – that, and Addie had been talking about the Portland Zoo for months (asking, anytime we saw an animal in a book or on tv, “Do they have that at the Portland Zoo?”). We decided to drive because we weren't sure how convenient the MAX would be with the kids, stroller, and all our stuff (very convenient, it turns out), so I turned on my navigation and away we went (sidenote – I’m not quite sure what we did without smartphones before. We used it constantly on this trip. What a great travel companion! I lovelovelove my Droid!). After a few wrong turns (nice to know I’m not the only female Loren doesn’t listen to), we finally made it. And it wasn’t even open yet. Got a great parking spot (shaded when we left) and unloaded. Perfect when we arrived – great temp (although a bit chillier than we originally anticipated – and we hadn’t packed jackets with us) and not many people. That changed as the day wore on, but we still had a good time. Addie was rather whiny, which was a bummer because she had been so excited – but I think she was just tired after our hike and was probably still not feeling well.
She insisted on wearing slippers. And yes, she wore them the entire time.
I got Hayden this adorable hat at the $.25 sale at Other Mothers hoping I could sidetrack him long enough he would wear it. It lasted about 10 seconds. :(
Hayden even got to ride a dinosaur!
Tyrannosaurus Rex, nonetheless! Bet you didn't know they had dinos at the zoo! They had an extra exhibit -- my mom, Hayden, and I didn't go (it cost extra, and frankly, we didn't really care), but Addie insisted she had to go so Daddy took her. Apparently she was terrified the entire time. But later commented how much she liked the dinos. ??
We awed at the beautiful exhibits and lands of the park (quite amazing in comparison to our little Boise Zoo) and got to see a very neat show of birds flying right over our heads.
And of course the petting zoo is always a hit.
We were, however, rather disappointed in the Africa exhibit (I’m not sure we even saw a single animal) and couldn’t seem to find the rhinoceros or hippopotamus (yes, two very large creatures to miss!). Eventually they both crashed out. Addie ended up sleeping through the crocodile (which she was waiting for) and the sea lions. 
But Bubby woke up just in time to see the sea lions -- last stop and one of our faves! He was enthralled and they were so cute. One of them kept playing with the kids at the window and they would squeal in delight! Adorable!
He likes to show his belly off.
I did awake her for the gift shop, as I had promised her one toy – which she actually chose rather quickly (I was surprised because we often spend half our time at the Boise Zoo wandering through the tiny shop). It was a bag of turtles – surprise (she is all about turtles and frogs these days)! We then ventured back to the hotel to meet up with Ryan and Cassie, who had driven up that day. After a bit of downtime we all headed out to catch the MAX downtown (with my handy phone app Portland Transit Lite) so the boys could do a Brewery Crawl. Never heard of it? Me neither. They actually map out walks to different breweries – depending on how much you drink at each, I suppose you may be crawling by the end! Although it took us a bit to figure out the tickets (we had ridden it before, but always in the fare free zone, so never worried about tickets before), we boarded and headed in. What a great system. I envy them every time I visit. No, it’s not fancy, but so fast and easy! No problem getting the stroller on – just parked it in the handicap spots – and no carseats to deal with or problems with finding parking. We got off near Pioneer Place and headed out on foot. First stop = Deschutes. By this time we were rather hungry and figured we’d just grab a bite at the first brewery – except it was a 45min wait. So we mosied on and ended up stopping at Rogue – not on our list, but a brand the boys like. We grabbed a bite and Loren, Ryan, and Cassie got 4 tasters each. The day of travel and hiking and an entire day at the zoo had wiped us out, so us girls (and Hayden) decided to head back. I left my phone with the boys so they could have a map to figure out their next destination and off we went. Luckily I remembered how to get back to the MAX and we figured out which one to board (almost got on the blue line when we needed the red). We got back and settled in for the night. I awoke around 11:30pm and noticed the boys still weren’t back. I called and heard of the issue – apparently the red line only runs until 10:30pm. No more public transit to our hotel after that. Oops! So the boys boarded the blue, and then ended up walking about 3 miles back home. Oh the adventures of the big city! :) So much for my public transit planning (I just assumed the MAX ran 24/7 – guess now I know!).
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