Vacation!

This summer we took a trip up to the Oregon coast. We haven't been in a long time but as Russ's mom and my brother live in Portland this trip was way overdue. It gave us a good chance to enjoy family and the Pacific Northwest.

First a note to Future Nathan. Nathan you hated having your picture taken on this trip. You would turn and run away from me almost every time I got my camera out, and believe me I tried to get pictures of you. I am very sorry that I was unsuccessful much of the time.

So, what makes a great trip to the Oregon Coast?

1. For our family, doing the drive over two days was a must. Not only did it allow us to visit Russ's Grandma Lissy on the way, but it prevented a two-year-old melt down by Nathan. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of our camping party.

2. Once you make it to Portland, the Oregon Zoo is a must. My girls favorite activity was feeding the lorikeets nectar.

2. The requisite hike to the top of Multonomah Falls. This is best done if you do not have a fever. Savannah can vouch for that.

3. Crab fishing. This was a new experience for the Gray family. But we caught about 10 and had a great time doing it.

3. Beach. Now Oregon is not really a beach place. If you want to sit and read a book on the beach you will probably fail. First it will be to cold, and if it isn't too cold it will be too windy. Once it warmed up the kids didn't mind the wind....some of the time. Although Savannah did tell me, "Mom, I wish wind wasn't true."

 4. OMSI Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. This really is an amazing place. We had to divide and conquer with me taking Savannah and Nathan up to the younger kids play area and Russ going with Abbie and her cousins to the older kids science area, but this was by far the highlight of the trip for everyone.

 5. Requisite stop at Powells bookstore. Plus we got to see dad's bookmarks!

 6. Tide pooling. The problem with tide pooling is that low tide was in the morning, when it was cold and foggy. It seems that experiencing 95 + degrees most of your summer means you freeze under these circumstances if you are under 10 and have a harder time enjoying things. Although, once we got into things the girls had fun.

 7. Seeing the lighthouse and more tide pools. This excursion was a little warmer and consequently more fun. You can't see in the picture but on the rocks in the back of Savannah there were 100s of seals.

 8. You eat a giant pancake because .

 9. Newport Aquarium. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.

 10. Devil's Punch Bowl. Once again this was cold, but it was awesome. I think this was my favorite place along the beach.

11. Family Reunion. I missed taking pictures of cousin's beach day, but we continued our fun at the Delemarter Family Reunion and Memorial for Russ's Grandma. It was fun to meet family and play with family for a whole day.