Portland Zoo

Julie and I had talked about taking the kids to the Portland Zoo and decided to take them on a Tuesday that would have reduced admittance prices.  Everyone else wanted to go to the zoo that day too!  The line just to get on the shuttle bus that would take us to the zoo because the zoo parking lot was already full was HUGE!  We decided we weren't that crazy and that we would try the next day instead, full prices and all.  As we were waiting in line to buy our tickets to get into the zoo, a man approached us and said he was from some kind of kids summer camp program that was over and they had lots of free children's tickets that were left over and they were just trying to give them away so they wouldn't go to waist.  He asked how many kids we had with us.  We told him 8, the two babies got in free anyway.  He gave us 8 tickets and went on to the next group of people.  We only had to pay admission for two adults!  It was amazing!!!  And we had a great time!

 

 

This first picture is Spencer's reaction to seeing a bear for the first time.  He was quite excited!

Stephen and Annie both were great help!  What would I do without my big kids???

OMSI

We spent one hot day at the OMSI!  There were so many fun things to do and play with!  How did I only end up with a few pictures?  I guess we were just busy having fun!

 

Canon Beach

Like I mentioned earlier, the week we stayed at Mark and Julie's house was HOT!  So one day we went back to the coast, but to Cannon Beach this time.  The temperature in Portland/Vancouver was right around 100 degrees.  In the town of Cannon Beach the temp was probably 75 degrees, but right on the beach itself the temp could not have been more that 70 with a very cool breeze coming in off the ocean. 

 

Another Laundromat

Annie was good enough to come with me to the Laundromat the next time we were out of clean clothes.  It was right next to a grocery store so while we waited for our laundry we went next door and grabbed a little snack.

 

Portland Rose Garden

We got to stay with Mark and Julie for a whole week and a half.  While James was busy working at the testing lab the rest of us got to have lots of fun.  One of the first places we visited was the Portland Rose Garden.  There were so many roses and they were amazing!

 

While we were there we split up into two groups.  Julie and I with Teancum and Spencer were one group and Mark and all the other kids were the other group.  All of a sudden I heard Mark's voice on the other side of a tall hedge telling the kids to come back up because he needed to show them the proper way to go down a grassy slope.  I was thinking that the kids had been a little rowdy and now Mark was going to have to show them how to properly behave in a rose garden.  I came around the hedge just in time to see Mark lie down on the ground and roll down the grassy slope!  The kids of course followed right behind. 

 

 

 

 

Some of the roses were just HUGE!

After walking all over the rose garden we went to the huge, amazing playground.  Tons of fun! 

 

Portland Temple

After camping on the coast and having mostly cool and rainy weather, we went to visit Uncle Mark and Aunt Julie in Vancouver and arrived just in time for the hottest week of the summer!  On Sunday evening we decided to drive down to the Portland Temple so that Uncle Mark could show us around and also so that we could sit in the air conditioned van all the way there and back.  It was such a hot and humid day!  I think the signs around town were saying 104 degrees!  Just look at these hot faces!

 

 

Uncle Mark took us to the coolest place in all the Temple grounds.  The kids were so hot that all they could do was just lie there in the cool shade.

Noah and Helam

These side doors to the Temple were gorgeous! 

 

 

 

The Temple and grounds there are so beautiful!   

 

 

 

 

The Rest of Our Time on the Oregon Coast

The next day, June 25th, was Ellen's birthday!  We had great plans for the day!

 

The low tide that morning was a super low tide which meant tide pools!  I had read that the far southern end of the beach at Cape Lookout had some pretty good tide pools, so we headed in that direction.

 

 

 

We found some!

 

Most of the starfish were this purplish brownish color so they were pretty well camouflaged.

But some were bright orange!  All of the little orange spots on the cliff wall in this picture are starfish.  There are lots and lots more that were purple.



This time we were a little more prepared to get wet.

Well, the rest of the day didn't quite go as planned.  We went on a hike to go to the top of Cape Lookout. 

We started out pretty good, but ended up very cold and wet and well, not very happy.  When we finally got back to camp the wind had picked up again and our tent was not looking so great.  And most people had left the campground.  We decided we had better leave to.  The sooner the better.  So while Naomi and Noah entertained Spencer in the van, the rest of us packed up as quickly as we possibly could while the wind tried to blow everything away.  It was a little crazy!!!  We finally got all packed up, checked out, and headed away from the coast.  We didn't know quite where we were going, and were all a little sad.  Especially Ellen. 

We remembered a restaurant on the other side of Tillamook that had caught our eye.  We went there and had a great dinner and let Ellen open her presents.  After that we drove a little farther up the highway and found a forest road, took it, and found a place to camp.  Then, once again, we got crazy busy and unpacked and got all set up in our new campsite.  Whew!  It was a long day!

The new campsite was a lot better because there was no wind!  But there was still some rain and some mud.  Not so great, but a little easier to deal with.

 

 

Since it was still so rainy, we decided to go to the Tillamook Air Museum. 

The next day was actually kind of sunny!  We couldn't believe it!  We were all out of clean and dry clothing though so we had to do something about that first.  We drove into Tillamook.  James and the 5 bigger kids dropped Spencer and I and our laundry off at the laundromat, then they all went to the Tillamook Cheese and Ice Cream Factory.    

Then we headed back to the beach!

 

Stephen and his Boogie Board

Even though it was sunny, the water was still COLD so the kids would come out and cover up with the warm sand for a while to get warm again before heading back out.

Annie made a Mermaid Tale over her legs.



 

There were lots of ferns around our campsite.  The day we packed up to leave the coast and head to Uncle Mark and Aunt Julie's house turned out to be pretty warm.