Beach Vacation: Day 2

Sorry, too tired for pics tonight.  Just a quick overview.

Woke up and enjoyed the breakfast buffet at our hotel.  I was hoping to get us to the zoo by 9am when it opened (I find that most kid places are the best in the morning because they're not as busy), but the shuttle was unavailable until 9am.  So we vegged out in the room for a bit (we're early risers), grabbed the shuttle, and caught the MAX rail in (with a quick rail switch at Rose Quarter).  I just love the public transit here!  So fast and easy.  Didn't have to deal with traffic, taking kids in and out of carseats, or parking (or getting lost!).  Plus, when you ride to the zoo you get to get on and off in a cool tunnel!  The forecast read 59-61 degrees (depending on the source) and 90% chance of rain so we packed accordingly.  But we lucked out!  We enjoyed the zoo until early afternoon with barely a drizzle (and several episodes of sunshine!).  We had hoped, however, that the weather might deter other visitors (and thus were looking forward to a nice quiet mid-week visit to the zoo) but it's school-zoo-visit week and it was a MADHOUSE!  Kids everywhere!  That made it a bit stressful (just keeping an eye on everyone and pushing through the crowds), but we still had a good time.  Addie and Hayden's favorite was the sea lion and I fell in love with the new baby elephant, Lily.  Adorable!

We ventured out right as the rain hit (I think around 3pm) and then stopped downtown for a bite.  By then we were rather tired and hungry (and caught in the rain), so we just grabbed the closest place - Qdoba.  Fueled up and then caught the train back to the hotel (Hayden crashed out on the way).

Next item on the agenda?  The hottub of course!  It's the only place Addie continues to request.  Loren played with the kids while I read (the SEVEN books I have to read for 2 5-week summer classes has me in a bit of a panic) and then we mosied back to the room for some more quiet time until we were hungry enough to head back out.  I decided to take us on a little driving adventure to see what we could find, so we meandered through quite a bit of industrial area until we came to a few neighborhoods.  We still weren't finding anything tantalizing, so I checked Urban Spoon and found us a barbecue joint in Boise (had to be good, right?) called Russell Street Bar-B-Que.  And it was delicious!  Loren enjoyed pork chops while I had pulled pork (yum!); Addie had a sampler of mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and fries; and Hayden mostly enjoyed dipping fries in ketchup (mac and cheese too), barbecue sauce, and peach chutny.

We're now settled back in at the hotel and the kids are laughing uncontrollably at Garfield (it's way too late, I know, but hey, it's vacation).  Tomorrow we head to the beach!

Beach Trip: Day 1

Had master plans to wake up at 4am -- we tried the overnight driving thing with the kids 3 years ago and it was AWFUL!! -- last 2 long road trips we tried the early-morning wake-up which worked much better (the kids actually slept).  However, since Portland isn't quite as mind-numbing as the never-ending drive to California, we figured we would be fine getting an extra hour of sleep.  Loren and I were up at 5am -- already had the car loaded -- just grabbed a few more items, loaded the kids, and shut everything down/up.  I think we were out by 5:30am.  We hit Maverick for some coffee and down the freeway we went.  Until Ten Mile, when I realized we forgot the only thing we HAD to have (and couldn't buy while we were gone) -- the beach house key!  Back to the house we went and finally hit the road again (in the right direction) after 6am.  The early-morning thing didn't work quite as well as the kids were up -- Hayden crashed out pretty quick, but Addie never quite did get comfortable and continued to whine until we stopped for food in Baker City.  Grabbed some grub, stretched our legs a bit, got the kids dressed, and we were off again.  Next stop was Hermiston for some gas, a potty break, and some good ol' gas station snacks.  The kids were getting a bit ancy by then, but we were able to convince them to wait for the playground in The Dalles.  Somewhere after that we had to stop for another potty break (Loren and I have both already forgotten where) and then we all crashed out again for a bit (well, not Loren of course).  The Dalles was very windy (as usual) and raining so we convinced the freshly-napped little ones to hold out for Multnomah.  It took a little "mommy monster" games to get us there, but we made it!  And I think we were all ready for the break.  It was quite busy, but beautiful as always.

I'm practicing with the manual settings on my camera.  :)

Addie of course remembered that the last time we went she found a snail, and that became her sole mission.  Thankfully I spotted one quite early on, so she grabbed it along with 2 slugs we found on our way up to the bridge, and carefully carried them back to show dad (Hayden definitely does not have the patience to wait for Addie's critter-finding adventures so he and dad were up to the bridge, back down, and eating by the time we caught up) who was rightfully disgusted (her hand was covered in slug goo).

We hadn't eaten since Baker City so we grabbed some pizza and enjoyed the falls, the critters, the passing train, and the creek.

After chasing Hayden down (seriously, this almost-3yo is in I-will-NOT-listen mode) we hit the road again.  I always love how close Portland is after Multnomah.  Hit a bit of traffic downtown, but eventually made it to our hotel on Hayden Island.  We love staying downtown, but decided to get a little more for what we're paying (here we have a "suite" complete with fridge and microwave and sofa bed, pool and spa, free wifi, free parking, and free breakfast).  Got checked in to our room and immediately hit the pool (it's all Addie's been talking about).  Took Hayden quite a while to get used to the water, but Addie hopped right in (to the hottub -- we had to heat ourselves up in there before getting in the rather chilly pool).  As I'd only had a half-piece of pizza at Multnomah, I was hungry!  We got dressed and headed out to a local restaurant on the island, Original Joe's.  Odd little place with a video poker room in the back that also sold lottery tickets, but good food.  Hayden was still relentlessly getting into trouble, so we headed to the small park in hopes he'd get some energy out.  It has a little play structure, short walking path, and a slightly steep descent to a small inlet of water.  Both kids dug right in, covering hands and feet with mud, making mud pies, and making their dad cringe as they greeted him with wet muddy pants.  But, of course, as soon as I went to grab my camera they decided they were done (just caught a few shots).

You can see a bit of the mess on Hayden's pants.

Cool houseboats near the park.

My ornery husband.

Played a little longer and then came back to the hotel for a bath and bedtime -- and boy am I ready for it!  Tomorrow is zoo day!