This was Weston's favorite part of the park. There were 2 of these diggers. It was really funny watching him do it because he didn't quite get the mechanics of it and he would use all his body weight to help move the big handles.
This one random huge red swing was in the middle of all the baby swings. It was kind of cool. I think it's maybe supposed to be for kids with disabilities or something. 
Weston and Uncle Eli took a rest in the shade while we waited in line to see the brand new baby elephant. The baby elephant layed down to take a nap just as we came in to see it, but it was still pretty cute, as is this photo.
After we saw the elephants we ate our picnic in the shade.
Me and Dav after lunch hanging out in the shade.
This was Weston by the end of zoo day. He did so well, but that last half hour he was starting to lose it and his little legs were tired, so we let him hitch a ride. I do think he had a blast and enjoyed seeing all the animals. The highlights were the elephants, the giraffe, the "stretch" zebra(s), and the monkeys.
Davin was a happy little camper on zoo day too. He didn't even sleep as much as I expected, but at the end of the day we let him out of the stroller since there were so many willing people to hold him. Here he is with his Great Grandma Margaret.
Saturday found us watching the awesome BYU Cougars shutting out UCLA. It was a fun game to watch and it did Papa's heart good to see his cougs play so well and win by so much (59-0). We mostly spent all our down time just visiting and keeping the kidlets entertained. Here is Papa with Dav. That mustache is quite the distraction.
I think this picture is my new favorite Davin face. He must have been either surprised or really excited about something. Too funny.
Great Papa Larry or "Old Papa" made these cat ears out of his hanky for Weston. He thought they were so cool and liked wearing them around the house and showing them to everyone who hadn't seen him wearing them yet. Also, he's wearing his sweet Oregon Zoo shirt that Ian/Weston picked out. 
I think this picture was actually taken on Thursday while Ian and I were gone and Weston was so tired, but kept telling Grandma that it wasn't his nap time yet. Apparently it really was. :)
While playing outside in the backyard on Sunday we found a fuzzy caterpillar. Weston was so excited and liked holding it, but kept dropping it because it really did tickle a lot. 
Grandma and Papa got this little fold out bed/couch for Weston to sleep on while we were there and both boys really liked it. This was while we were all watching the BYU game against Washington the day we got there.
Whenever we had down time and Weston needed to expend some energy we headed to this cool little park. This was the tunnel that Weston finally got brave enough to go in by the 3rd or 4th time we were there.
Aunt Aly was home on Saturday when we got to OR and then she left on Sunday to fly back to Idaho for school. We let Weston wake her up Sunday morning. She was thrilled. ;) Good luck in school this semester Aly! We missed you the rest of our trip.
I have no idea what day this was, but Papa and Uncle Eli are working on restoring an old VW bug and Weston decided to be one of the guys and help out. Not sure how much they actually got accomplished while he was "helping."
We got home Sunday night after a full, but uneventful flight, and have spent the last couple days settling back in, unpacking, doing laundry and catching up on sleep. Weston took a 3 and a half hour nap yesterday! Also of note, Weston was the most awesome 2 year old ever and used the potty almost our entire trip. Now that we are home, he has not done nearly as well. Weird, right? 
We ended up deciding to do the non-shore Seaside stuff first, so we loaded back up in the car and drove in a big circle to end up one block from where we started and found a bathroom and the main drag of shops. This included the Seaside Carousel Mall. Weston did a ride on the carousel, which he LOVED. He was also very brave and took one hand off and waved every time we passed Daddy and Davin.
We continued wandering the shops and stopped in The Buzz, a big candy store, and picked out treats. Ian had a chocolate dipped twinkie. Wow. It was pretty yummy. I picked some homemade fudge, naturally. Anyway, after walking the rest of the interesting looking shops we got back in the car once again and drove over to the McDonald's to grab some lunch, feed Dav and use the potty again. When we got back we loaded up all our stuff and headed back to the shore. It was a much better timing. We were all fed and pottied and it had warmed up quite a bit. There was just a light wind and it was almost cloudless.
Davin hung out in his little cabana we made him out of a towel draped over the footstool of the camp chair. It was perfect!
After some major digging, Weston and I walked down to the water. We took our time getting through the sand. I showed Weston how to make his own footprints. It was cute.
At first Weston wasn't completely sure about the water and I had to hold his hand the whole time. After about 15 minutes and me showing him how to chase the waves and jump in the shallow water he was having a ball. He would run WAY out past where the waves would get him and then finally hear me calling him and stop. Then he would run all the way back and jump in another wave. We just had so much fun playing in the waves. The water didn't even feel all that cold.
Davin spent a lot of time in the Snugli at the beach and after this picture was taken we switched and put him on me. After about 5 minutes he conked out and I had to hold his head up. It was hilarious. Poor kid was worn out. Here are the handsome men in my life playing at the beach.
Back to diggin! At this point he was calling himself, and requesting that we refer to him as, the Digger Man. What a cute nutter.
At the end of the afternoon Ian busted out the kite and Weston did so well helping to fly it. I was kind of chair bound with a snoozing Davin in my lap during this part, but I could still see the whole kite-flying experience.
We ended up staying at the beach longer than we planned and decided to just stay in Seaside to eat dinner and then head out post-traffic. It was a good decision because I was totally craving a bowl of hot clam chowder and I got it and it was fabulous. Weston played hard and was starving. He scarfed his mac and cheese at the restaurant and ate all of my oyster crackers. Here is our family at the end of our day in Seaside. Big contented sigh. It was wonderful day. Good times.
The boys slept all the way home and Ian and I got some good conversation in. I knew it was a successful family trip when the first thing Weston said at 5:30am this morning (yes, AM) was, "Playing at the beach is fun. Thanks for the fun outing Mom." You're welcome.
This is Ian's old house in the background. 
With another hour to go we kept driving back to Milwaukee Main Street to see if any of the random shops were still open, especially this store called Things From Outer Space. It was closed. The cool thing about Portland is that there are rivers and lakes and water everywhere, so we happened to be right by a river (not sure which one), so we pulled in there and Ian taught me how to skip a rock. I actually did it twice in a row! We also called home to say goodnight to the little one. He pretty much didn't miss us at all. He spent most of the time on the phone giggling about his silly secret he had with Grandma. :)
Anyway, we STILL had a little time before the movie, so we went back to Mike's and got shakes. It took about 15 or 20 minutes to get out shakes (oddly slow), but luckily a guy got pulled over in the parking lot, so that provided some entertainment. BTW when the cop finally left, the guy totally got in line and ordered food. 
Both boys swinging at the little Damascus park. Davin could hardly tear his eyes off his big brother.
Weston and I at Multnomah Falls. He was being slightly clingy.
The not-so-newlyweds in front of the falls. We hadn't been there since our honeymoon almost 5 years ago.
When the weather is nice it's hard to imagine why everyone doesn't live in OR: it's so green and temperate and beautiful, but then you remind yourself that it does rain 250 days a year. Here are the boys crossing the bridge on the way down to the base of the falls.
Driving the small bulldozer (there was a bigger one right next to it, but he felt more comfortable with this one)
Little farmer
Standing in the "chicken's house"
Chasing pigeons
Angel baby being so sweet in his stroller. He did get to come out and play for a little while.
On the potty training front, I am pretty disappointed that I am admitting defeat in Round 1 of the battle. Rather than having fewer accidents during week 2, Weston had about 50% more. Once I stopped hounding him about it, he didn't seem to want to make it happen, so as of this morning we are back in pull-ups/diapers (I still haven't officially decided which I want to keep him in). We will probably try again in November and see how he does. Anyway, it's kind of frustrating to know that all that effort and craziness was in vain. Big sigh.
As you know, if you read this blog, I have been trying to potty train Weston in the last 10 days. Of those 10 days he has pooped in the toilet ONE time. The other FIVE times he has pooped in his pants. It is disgusting and I have to confess I have tried putting him in time out for pooping in his pants. Finally I decided I was being too controlling about the whole thing, so today I am just letting him do his thing. I'm not reminding him to go potty (except before his nap) and Ian gave me permission to offer him ANYTHING as a reward for pooping in the toilet. So far, no dice, but I'm still crossing my fingers that I will eventually hit on the right inspiration (aka reward) for him. 
I often will leave Davin in his crib for up to an hour in the mornings as long as he isn't crying. Poor kid has to learn early on to entertain himself. Davin is all of a sudden such a big boy. He is almost sitting up on his own and has started rolling over from his back to his tummy. Once he gets to his tummy he's not real happy about it, but he seems to like the rolling part. I am trying to not neglect him as much now that he's not a little infant lump anymore. It's a constant change accommodating 2 little ones. Hopefully I can make it work and I won't mess them up too badly. 
Look out for future "keepin it real" posts from yours truly.
