We had a busy and exciting week in and around the Portland, Oregon area last week. We left Thursday afternoon headed through Oakland
en route to Portland. The boys were very excited to fly through the clouds. They were well behaved for such a long flight and were excited to get to the hotel.
Day 1- Maltnomah FallsWe headed east on highway 84 to the Scenic Highway were tons of waterfalls coming from the Mt. Hood National Forest make their way to the Columbia River Gorge. We were ultimately headed for
Maltnomah Falls, the largest of the bunch, but stopped at the first one we saw-
Wahkeena Falls. It was so full of life with all the water spraying around the hills. We made our way up the trail to get a view from the bridge in front of the falls and ended up continuing a mile or two up to an overlook with spectacular views of the river and Washington State on the other side.
Hiking up these trails is no small feat, and we were probably lucky we chose this one with a nice paved trail to climb. Later in the day we encountered some unpaved trails which were too much for an exhausted Mom and Dad (Brady could have climbed all day).
Below is Maltnomah Falls, the second highest continuously running falls in the US at 620 ft. It had spectacular views, but was a bit more of a tourist trap than the others we went to. There were tons of people and a gift shop/ restaurant.
It was recommended to us that we drive further down the road and make a 3 mile hike to see a series of 4 waterfalls in one area. We made the first two, Horsetail and Ponytail, and decided to head back down in
lieu of another 2 mile hike up the mountain.
As you can see, the one being carried most of the way was tired so you can imagine how the carrier felt in her sandals. It was a great day at the waterfalls though, even though we didn't get to see the attractions on the Columbia River Gorge.
Day 2 & 3- Downtown and Sauvie Island
I must have taken all the pictures downtown on my phone, but surprisingly it was probably one of our less memorable days in Portland. We went to the Saturday Market, which was very eclectic as you can imagine. We walked down the river to a fountain the boys played in, then bought a pass for the train so we could make our way around downtown. Sharla wanted to hit Powell's Books, which was a huge bookstore and I found Nike Town, although was a bit disappointed to see it was about the same as the others- nothing special for the one closest to their world headquarters. There were lots of interesting people on interesting bikes riding around downtown and in the Hawthorne District, which we bussed over to see.
Sunday we headed north to
Sauvie Island to pick blackberries and blueberries on U-Pick farms. The island is lush with all kinds of fruit and vegetable farms and the boys enjoyed walking the rows picking their own berries.
A little Orange Soda washed the berries down and refreshed the boys until we got back to the hotel to swim and rest for our busy Monday.
Day 4- Mt. Hood and Ski Bowl Adventure Park
Monday was probably my most memorable day, all were good but this one was pretty unique. We had quite a drive out to Mt. Hood, but once we got there it was well worth it. We started at Ski Bowl Adventure Park, where we bought a half day pass for the family. The first adventure was a giant slide down the mountain. We rode the ski lift up (a first for us all) and rode sleds down a packed track back to the bottom. It was a pretty fun ride and seeing the top of Mt. Hood off in the distance was pretty cool too.
The Adventure Park was split into two separate parks, so after 4-5 rides on the slide we drove to the East Park and enjoyed go carts, trampolines, canoes and miniature golf. Below are Brady and Brett's first time on the go carts, quite an adventure.
The trampolines were a hit. They always see these in the mall and think it looks fun, but have never been brave enough to try them. I think we're in trouble next time we hit the mall.
After having lunch in town we drove up the mountain to the highest point, which was Timberline Lodge. From there you could see the top of Mt. Hood pretty well and the snow was too enticing to Brady. After stopping for pictures he was on his way to find the snow. He really wanted to make it to the top but I convinced him it would take all day and he settled for throwing a few snowballs about a mile up.
Sharla eventually decided to join us carrying Brett. Good thing she wore her tennis shoes today!
Any bug or special rock is facinating to our little 5 year old. The boy can collect anything.
We even found another waterfall on our way back down the mountain, although it was only about 30 seconds after we got in the car that Brett was asleep.
Day 5 & 6- The Oregon Coast
Tuesday we headed to Seaside, Oregon to enjoy our last two days on the beach. Although Portland was having a record heatwave (6 days in a row in the 90's) the coast was 15-20 degrees cooler with a stiff breeze off the ocean. We were all excited to step barefoot on the sand and test the water temperature. It was cold!
Seaside has a cool aquarium with seals, crabs, rays, an octopus, starfish and amoeba, shrimp and even a gray whale skeleton. Brady loved holding the various crabs and we all got drenched by the seals slapping the water in an attempt to get fish.
We had a fantastic trip and will have many memories to enjoy for years and years. After getting used to a schedule where we work most of the day and spend only precisous few hours each evening with our boys, it was pretty special to do and share so many things with them the past week.
We had a full week of Halloween fun. The boys love to go checking out and trying on masks and wigs at all of the Halloween stores. We had a large Spirit shop close to us this year, in addition to Party City, which is always full of fun accessories.
I guess the boys are just the right age because we ended up with 6 nights of parties and trick-or-treating this year. I think the fact Halloween was on Saturday helped to extend it all. Also, nothing conflicted with anything else so we were able to hit every party in town. By Saturday night we were actually ready to just lay low and take it easy. I watch the K-State game and handed out candy while Sharla took the boys around the neighborhood for awhile.
Below are a few pictures from my work party. We had a lot of participation this year. My team decorated our room as the demented circus. Other rooms were The Nightmare Before Christmas, Studio 54, Bug World and Where the Wild Things Are. 
