Oregon Vacation Part 3: Everywhere Else

During our final days in Oregon, we stayed in Tigard (a Portland suburb) and drove to all the other places we wanted to see. This is a picure from our drive to Cannon Beach. The drive had some of the most beautiful scenery we've ever seen. Our pictures do not do this area justice. It really was gorgeous!

Maybe this will be the Christmas card pic...

or maybe this!

Cannon Beach reminded us a lot of Morro Bay. They even have a "rock" too. Cannon Beach beats Morro Bay, though, because it is surrounded by a forest.

Next to Haystack Rock, although you can barely see it.

You can see the two kids and I in this pic. Gabe is getting pretty good at photography. I really like this shot.

I love this pic of Andrew and I. I took it, not thinking it would be anything special, but it totally captures our relationship.

Daddy is definitely the fun one.

FREEZING!!! It was SO cold!

I don't remember what the kids were doing, but they were totally cracking me up as we walked back up the beach.

Poor little Keira was a little ice cube.

The town also reminded us of Morro Bay.

We got each of the kids a big sucker. It was very yummy, very messy, and very cute.

We also visited Multnomah Falls and the surrounding areas. It is so beautiful! I know I've said this 100 times, but it's true!

Nice background for a Christmas card photo, huh?

Can you tell the difference between our two kids? I'll give you a clue. One of them is cautious and the other one is a little daredevil.

Keira's view of the falls.

Miss Independant.

My favorite picture from the entire trip.

The pic above makes me miss how beautiful OR is.

Does it get any sweeter than this?Our time in Washington. We went to Starbucks there, just so the kids could say they've been there. Andrew and Keira had apples and sunbutter while Gabe and I got the good stuff... WA weather makes a mocha taste even better.

Sick Day

Andrew went to bed with a fever last night and still has it today so we're sticking around the house. So far, we've watched Merry Madagascar, made a turkey craft, and now it's snack on the couch time. Andrew wanted me to take this picture of them.

Speaking of Andrew, yesterday he said the following out of the blue. I remembered it and wrote it down because I thought it was rather poetic for a 3-yr-old.

When do you see the moon?
Not during the daytime. That's when you see the sun.
Not when it's windy. That's when you see the leaves fall down.
When it's dark outside. That's when you see moon.

Oregon Vacation Part 2: Lake Oswego

During our second leg of the trip, we stayed with Gabe's Aunt, Uncle, and 2 cousins in Lake Oswego. It's a cute town not too far from Portland and right next to the Willamette River. We had an awesome time visiting with them and, of course, didn't take a SINGLE pic of them!!! So here are some pictures of our time in their area, just not with them. Above is Andrew with Auntie Francesca. She is another one of Gabe's aunts who is a beautiful woman. We had a wonderful visit with her.

The kids had so much fun with her.

We walked around Lake Oswego one day, enjoying a wonderful Farmers' Market and feeding some ducks.

The Willamette.

It was so pretty and beautiful weather.

Again, Keira loved being on her own.

Will this will be the Christmas card shot?

Oregon Vacation Part 1: Corvallis

In September, we got to go up to Oregon for some fun and adventure. We had 3 stops, the first of which was Corvallis. Our good friends from college, Matty and Jana, live there with their 2 little ones. We didn't take a ton of pics while we were there, but here are some at a cool park near their house. Can you find Keira in the pic above?

Here's Kulea. She's about the same age as Keira. Very sweet!

One of the reasons I love Oregon is because I can let the kids explore a little more on their own. Keira could just run around on her own in this huge grassy area. Our little independent girl loved it!

Keira and Kulea

"Dinosaur Bones"... and a piece of caution tape that Andrew found.

Matty and Kulea

Cutie!

Will this be our Christmas card photo???

Flying Mei-Mei!!!

We were absolutely SPOILED in every way at Matt and Jana's, but especially with food. They are both excellent cooks who cook Andrew safe food all the time. (They have food allergies in their fam too.) It was such a blessing not to have to worry about food for that leg of our journey. On top of the yummy food, Matty has an espresso maker that he used to make us drinks any time we wanted them! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better than Starbucks! As you can see, this was a latte made espeically for me! (The 'C' looked even better before, but I took a drink before I thought to take a picture.)

Happy Birthday Gabey!

Happy birthday to my Gabey!

Since it was Gabe's birthday, he got in to Disneyland for free so he took the one other free member of our family out for a fun-filled Disney day! (Yesterday Andrew asked me if he and Keira could go to Disneyland for his birthday. It sounds funny, but I think they'd actually do fine alone there. :) )Keira is so lady-like at times, especially when she's posing for the camera. It's so sweet!Her face tells it all here.

Gabe said that this was as close as Keira would get to Minnie. She's leaning in for her "hug" here.

Happy Halloween too! Here's Keira! (Minnie Mouse, of course!)Andrew's biggest ROAR!I didn't tell him to pose like this. What a nut!In other exciting news, Keira can officially wear pigtails now! She was so proud of her new do!

Everyone got haircuts yesterday and Keira's pigtails looked much better this morning.

She looks like such a big girl now that she has a hairstyle.

We actually had some rain not long ago. It's so fun to enjoy the rain. Both the kids woke up, set up their chairs, and sat to watch the rain. How cute!

Monterey

Our family went up to Monterey for a couple days to celebrate Len's 77th birthday. He and my mom rented a beach house that all of us (them, my two sisters and fam's, and us) stayed in.

The beach was beautiful. We were there for 2 days- one was rainy and overcast and the other was sunny and clear. We enjoyed both.

As soon as the kids woke up, we'd take them out to the beach. What a nice way to wake up!

Peace!

Monterey Bay Aquarium: Andrew's favorite part was petting the sting rays.

Story hour with Daddy/ Uncle Gabe. He's hilarious!...

... and has fast reflexes!

During nap time, we drove the 17-mile drive through Pebble Beach. It is so beautiful!

It was a relaxing and gorgeous drive, although a much different experience than when we went on our honeymoon... :)

Here are a few shots of the beach by the house we stayed at.

Sunset.

Playing wii.

Fun sibling hang-out time.

Cousin hang-out time.

One set: Keira. The other: Eli. So cute.

Jo with sleepy Colby.

Andrew maxin' and relaxin'.

My hubby and me.

Surfing pics.

Does this pic look familiar to my college buddies? Yup. It's the UU!
On the drive home, we decided last-minute to take 101 and then we decided last-minute to stop by Cal Poly. I've always wanted to take the kids there being it's where Gabe and I met. It just seemed like it would bring things full-circle.

It was better than we had first thought. It turned out to be the second day of WOW. Gabe and I met on the first day of WOW 12 years prior. It was a special time for us to reminisce the past. We had such wonderful times there and we wouldn't change them for anything!

FUN FUN FUN September

Andrew loves these little cutout picture-spots these days. This is one from the L.A. Fair at the dinosaur exhibit.

We have had such a fun and busy month! We've been wearing out our little ones...

We went to San Diego for a fun and special day. First, we went to the zoo.

What did I tell ya'?

Andrew was very brave with all of the animals at the petting zoo.

Next was "nap time." Since nobody's eyes were shut in the car, we went for a little nature walk. It was so nice that our kids are old enough to be flexible and up for something like a "hike."

Finally, we got to meet little Annalise! We got to visit our friends from college, Dave and Tracy, and their little cutie. She is such a sweetie and SO adorable! In college, Dave showed us a baby picture of him and he was so cute! His daughter definitely takes after him.

Keira was pretty jealous of her mom playing with another baby.

Gabe and I got to go out with our small group a few weeks ago for dinner. It was so nice!

More of September to follow soon!