Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Birthday Bash

The big November birthday bash, celebrating Boppa, Elijah and Corin's birthdays!
(Not pictured, the amazing family football game in which Aimee made an amazing kickoff catch and promptly broke her toe, and in which Andy sprained his ankle and Grace cut her nose. As I said, it was amazing!)





 Corin looks very bushy-headed here! Wearing a coonskin cap. :)




 Peter practiced tying a bow tie. You never know when you'll need that!



And a few bonus pictures...



Sunday, November 13, 2016

Road Trip: OMSI, etc.

We got to go to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry...I think). What a blast!

Actually, the big exhibit was Space!
 We found some silly astronauts...


There was a big room filled with various vacuums and hoses and foam balls that the kids really had fun with.



Also a water section where they could build boats to sail or build shelters to try to withstand a simulated tsunami- the twins say this was their favorite.



A very cool marble roller coaster.


Some fun engineery sort of things. I think this one was learning about gravity or magnetism or something. 

 A cool mirror where if you stand just right it makes you look like you're floating.

A robotic camera where you have to pick up a metal ball and deposit it into a chute, only using the cameras and controls- no peeking at the other side allowed! 

 This was a pinball game that was supposed to teach about nutrition. I think it pretty much just taught them how to play pinball.

 These two!



They were quite proud of their bridge!

 We got to spend an afternoon with another cousin from my mom's side of the family in Portland. The twins wanted me to take a picture of them and their dog. And apparently I was enjoying talking too much with my cousin that I completely forgot to take a picture of her family. Boo. 

Fall decorations, au natural

 All packed up and ready to head home!

 Sunset over the beautiful farmlands of northern California!
We stayed with our friends the Kepners and again forgot the camera.

Then the next night (election night) we stayed with my uncle and aunt and had a great visit with them and my cousin and a couple of friends. And again, we were having too much fun talking to take pictures. Except this one.
 I love how they sleep!

And that's all! A lot of miles, a lot of family and friends, a lot of really great memories.


Road Trip: Destination, Oregon!

The main push of this trip was for our kids to meet my cousins' kids, who are all similar ages. Christian also was able to meet some of that side of the family (Vaughans) for the first time. Warning: there are going to be a LOT of pictures here. I think I'll actually split it into two posts.

Hanging Out. After the initial awkwardness, the kids all had a blast. Weinie roasts, skipping rocks at the river, Mafia in the dark, sleepovers, etc.



 Oh, so much green! It was so good for my soul. 
(I will say it's nice to be home, though, where things that I hang out will just dry on their own!)


 These two. After emailing each other for a year, they finally got to meet. :)


Multnomah Falls! I don't think any in our family except Christian had ever seen a real waterfall in person!

 I just love photobomb pictures! Ha!

 These lovely 30-ish" salmon were just sitting there making Christian wish he had his fishing pole.

 The cousin crew! 14 kids, 3 cousins (though I can't see a couple?). We're a productive lot. :)

 It was fun being an auntie/first cousin once removed!

 The two Elijahs

 On the hike



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