Driving-PNW Trip Day 9&10

Saturday morning we got up, packed the van, and started driving.  We didn't leave super early, but we also didn't stick around for long.  We drove to Boise and impressively only stopped once in Pendleton.  We arrived at our hotel in Boise in the late afternoon.  If we didn't already have a paid-for, reserved hotel room I would have voted that we just keep driving until we get home, but it was fine.  

The hotel actually had a really fun pool.  It was huge and had a 2 foot deep kiddie pool attached to it. There was also a spa and a huge screen at the far end of the pool that had Disney Jr. playing on it.  The kids made friends and had a blast swimming.  Talia LOVED that she could walk around and play on her own in the kiddie pool area and Beckett had fun splashing in there too.

After the pool we got dressed and went to dinner at Dickey's BBQ.  Yum.  On the way in Weston told me, "Mom, I feel like I've been eating too much junk.  Chicken sounds really good."  Which would be great except that apparently my seven year old's idea of health food is dino nuggets from a chain BBQ restaurant.  Yikes! :)  It really was hilarious though.

Sunday morning we checked out of the hotel and went to breakfast at Denny's, which tasted amazing, before hitting the road one last time.  We only stopped once, in Tremonton, before pulling in at home.  It was a long trip with a lot of driving, but the kids did really well in the car and we loved getting to visit with all of our family and do some things on our own as well.  Definitely a fun and memorable family vacation.

Yes, we drove 2,310 miles with four children. Thank goodness for apple devices. And headphones.

Happy Valley-PNW Trip Day 8

Friday was our last day with Jim and Denny.  They took the kids on a walk to feed the ducks again that morning, but I didn't get any pictures.  After Beckett's morning nap we met up with Aly and Ryan and Ella at the aquarium.  It was about the size of our aquarium here in Utah, but they had some different stuff.  It was really fun.  The boys both got to touch the sting rays and even tried feeding them pieces of raw fish.  Talia liked the jelly fish and anywhere she could splash.  

They also had this fun bird area that you could go in and hold a bird.  Weston, Davin, and I did it.  That was probably my favorite part.  Beckett was pretty fascinated by the fish and the animals.  He stared at the bearded dragon for awhile.  It was kind of funny.  I thought the chameleon was neat.

Right at the end Talia hit her wall and had to be carried out of the aquarium screaming.  I just strapped her in her car seat and let her scream while we waited for everyone else to finish up.  Can you tell we were nearing the end of a long vacation? :)

That afternoon while Talia and Beckett were napping Ian and I snuck out for a quick little date-ish outing.  We ran to the dollar store to look for sunglasses and had a blast wandering around and looking at all the kooky stuff you find at the dollar store.  We ended up leaving with 2 pairs of sunglasses and a less kid looking grabber that Ian really thought we needed.  It ended up coming in handy during the drive home.  We also went out for ice cream.

The day ended with a fun outing with everyone.  We met up at Godfather's Pizza for dinner.  It was really yummy and they had the soda machine that has like 200 options, so we had fun experimenting with that.  The boys also discovered the Foosball game where you win the "ball" which is a gumball.  Between that and the coloring pages and crayons they were entertained.

After dinner we decided to go play at a nearby park.  It was really fun and relaxing.  The kids loved getting to run around and play Frisbee and catch.  We put the babies in the swing together.  It was pretty much the cutest thing ever even though Beckett wasn't too happy about it after 30 seconds.  

We took group pictures then hugged and said goodbye to Grandma and Aly, Ryan, and Ella.  It was so fun to spend time with them!

Happy Valley-PNW Trip Day 7

Thursday was a nice, relaxing day.  The boys were still at Aunt Aly's, so Grandma and Papa took Talia on her own walk to feed the ducks.  She loved it and the dogs probably enjoyed their outing as well.  Ian and I took a slow morning.  

After their walk we all headed out to Mike's Drive In for lunch.  They have really good burgers.  We had driven by several times and decided we had better eat there before we left. Afterwards we ran to Lowe's to pick up some stuff for Ian and Jim's afternoon project.  They drilled new holes to hide all the cables from the wall mounted TV down to the entertainment center.

That afternoon Grandma Bowles brought the boys back from Aly's house.  The boys had a blast sleeping over at Aunt Aly's house.  They got to play Wii, have cinnamon rolls for breakfast, go to the dollar store to pick out candy, play at the park, see the movie Turbo, and play in Aly and Ryan's ginormous jacuzzi tub!  Thanks for showing these goofy boys a great time Aly and Ryan!

Unfortunately Ella and Ryan were both sick that day, so our plans for a double date with Aly and Ryan that night were cancelled.  We still made use of Aly's babysitter though.  After dinner we got the kiddos ready for bed then left them with Kimberly for the evening while the adults went to see Red 2.  It was a really fun movie and extra fun to see with Grandma and Jim and Denny.  I'm so glad we did that because it was a long trip for me with the kids and I needed the break!

Seaside/Tillamook-PNW Trip Day 6

 We have had so much fun in Seaside in the past that we thought it might be fun to stay overnight and be there for two days.  I don't know if I would do it again with the kids.  It would be a really fun getaway with Ian, but we really didn't stay long enough the second day for it to feel like a whole other Seaside day.  It was still a really good time.  I LOVED our hotel.  It was right on the beach with a comfortable, cute vibe.  

I didn't go to the pool, but Ian said it was pretty nice.  The beds were super comfy and we were all tired, so everyone got a good night's sleep.  The kids were up bright and early.  The continental breakfast didn't start until later, so we got everyone into some clothes (really appreciated having new sweatshirts!) and went for a morning walk on the beach.  It was cold and misty.  The tide was all the way out too.  We walked a little ways down the boardwalk to a swing set, then headed out to the water.

Most of the walk was on the hard wet sand, so that was nice for Talia.  She wanted to get right in the water but we convinced her it was too cold.  We dipped our toes in a little, but mostly just ran around and found sand dollars and shells.  We even found this big crab in a little tide pool spot trying to hide in the sand.  It was a very quiet, peaceful walk.

That is our hotel we are walking back to.

When we got back to the hotel we ate breakfast, then the kids wanted to go out and dig for awhile.  Ian took them out to play while I stayed with Beck.  He napped and I showered and gathered up our stuff.  When the kids got back they got bathed and showered and we packed up the car.  Before we headed out the clouds were starting to burn off, so Ian gave flying his kite one last shot.  There still just wasn't enough wind.

We grabbed some lunch on our way out of town and took a scenic drive down the coast to Tillamook.  The drive was amazing.  Just gorgeous.  The kids all slept the whole way so it was quiet and Ian and I had a nice visit as we fantasized about retiring to one of these cute beachfront towns.

The Tillamook cheese factory was a bit of a letdown.  It was crowded and there really wasn't much to do.  We looked into the viewing windows and watched the big machines and people making the cheese and wrapping it for about 15 minutes.  Then we got ice cream, which was delicious.  The kids were crabby though and we didn't stay longer to check anything else out.  We got back in the car and drove the rest of the way back to Happy Valley.

We got back at dinner time and had a nice dinner with all of the family, including Grandma Bowles who came up from Grants Pass!  Aly took Weston and Davin home with her for a sleepover that night!

Seaside-PNW Trip Day 5

A Pacific Northwest trip just wouldn't be complete without a visit to Seaside!  We love it in Seaside and have made such wonderful memories there.  This trip was no exception.  We even opted to stay overnight.  Tuesday we all drove out in the morning, ate lunch at the McDonald's in Seaside, then gathered our stuff and headed out to the sand.

The clouds had burned off and it was a beautiful, if slightly chilly, day.  We were a little concerned about how Talia was going to do with a full day of being at the beach with all the sand, but she ended up being alright.  She got carried out to our spot on the sand and sat on a blanket while we set up our stuff.  Aly and Ryan brought their little 4 man tent and we set it up as a sand/sun free sanctuary for the babies (and Tal).

As soon as the boys were sunscreened they ran off and started digging and building and splashing.  Talia saw how much fun they were having and wanted to go in the water.  I told her I would take her down to the water but she had to walk.  It took her a few minutes, but her desire to go play in the water won out over her dislike of the sand.  Once she got to the packed sand she was fine.  She spent the whole time filling up her little bucket and then dumping it up on the packed sand to make a puddle to jump in.  Over and over.  My favorite was that she was so surprised and happy and kept saying "Mom, I wike the water!  Mom, I wike the hawd sand!  Mom, I wike da beach!"

Beckett conked out in the tent for about an hour, which was a nice break for Ian and I.  The boys built castles and I even got to lay out in the sun and doze for a few minutes.  After a couple of hours a thick fog rolled in.  It got kind of cold and you couldn't even see the water from our spot on the sand.  We packed up our stuff and headed over to the little main street to shop.

We hit up our favorite candy store The Buzz for salt water taffy, fudge, Necco's, and a specialty soda.  Ian tried a black cherry one.  It was so good and I don't usually like anything except Dr. Pepper.  We walked down to the end of the main street then came back the other way.

The kiddos rode the carousel.  Davin was so funny.  He insisted on sitting on the bench instead of choosing an animal to ride.  We tried to convince him to pick a more fun spot but he looked so sad when he got off the bench that I told him it was ok.  He just wanted to relax because his feet were tired.  :)

After the carousel Jim and Denny treated us to dinner at Norma's.  Beckett was so tired he fell asleep on Ian's shoulder.  We moved him to Ella's stroller (because it's cooler than ours and lays back) and he slept all through dinner.  The clam chowder hit my happy beach day spot and the kids were so cute and excited about ordering their food.  They made masterpieces out of their kids menus and crayons too.

We weren't quite ready to call it a night, so we wandered back over to the carousel mall and went to the t-shirt/sweatshirt store.  Grandma got all the kids a new Seaside sweatshirt.  They loved them!  Ian and I found a Seaside magnet to add to our souvenir magnet collection too.  By the time we were done shopping the kids were pretty much done.  Jim and Denny headed home.  Aly and Ryan came with us back to our hotel to wash up Ella before they drove home.

We turned on a movie and vegged for a little while, then Ian took the boys to the hotel pool while I bathed Talia and Beckett and put them to bed.  The boys had showered off down at the pool, so when they got back we all just went to sleep.  Everyone was so tired from our big beach day that we all slept great.  Hooray for another fantastic day in Seaside!