Trip to Oregon continued...

It has taken me a little longer than expected to continue posting about the Oregon trip...but I blame Jennie. Sorcerer's Stone-done. Chamber of Secrets-page 164. Thankfully Michael doesn't mind me reading Harry Potter books to him instead of "The Little Engine that Could." Reading a novel aloud makes it a much longer read...but anyway, we now take a break from the Harry Potter World to post...

Day 2:

The Second day we were in Oregon, we decided to do a session at the Portland temple. The outside was covered in beautiful marble and it seemed to be hidden by the surrounding trees...completely gorgeous of course.

Steven and Stephanie were nice enough to watch James and Michael while we were inside...but as Steven put it "What else are we going to do?"

After we got home from the temple, sandwiches were made and eaten, and we made our way to the Japanese Gardens. We were a little late to catch the tour, but when we found the group we couldn't hear what the lady was saying--so we let Paul guide us through the gardens. I think he made up half of what he said ;) but regardless, he was very entertaining and informative. Unfortunately, all I really remember is the shi shi bucket...but everything was beautiful.


Day 3:

On Saturday, August 29th we all wore our matching shirts and hiked Multnomah Falls.

The whole group in our shnazy shirts.

Me and my boys

sista love :)

At the bottom it said it was 1.0 miles to Multnomah Falls--lies. When we hit the 1 mile marker we were not there. Once we started hiking it also said there were 11 switchbacks--more lies. They sometimes counted 2 or 3 switchbacks as 1--very rude if you ask me...giving first-timers a false hope making them believe they're almost there when really they're not! Luckily it was worth every extra step :)

in the wilderness

Proud Papas

hugs!

kisses!

At the top!

Mom made it to the top a little later. Baba managed to get to switchback #3 (which is pretty impressive had you seen the steep climb she was making with her cane) before she had to stop. Mom waited until Steven and Stephanie came back down to take her place and be with Baba so she could venture up too.

Jonathan decides to cool off in the freezing water...

James ventures in too...

The way down was much quicker of course but also much more taxing on the knees and hips. When we got home everyone was ready for a nap, but only Jonathan and Michael got one...

The fun of course couldn't stop there! Later that evening we decided to pick some blackberries and play some baseball. Jennie warned us all that the blackberry bushes are rather prickly, and so in order to prevent my accident prone self from losing my hand to a bush--I picked a total of 3... :)

notice Jonathan in the bushes behind my mom...I think he's eating as he's picking :) sneaky sneaky!

Instead of playing an actual game of baseball due to the lack of gloves, Paul pitched to each of us and we scored a number of points depending on where the ball was hit. Paul's team was getting massacred...and had it not been for James picking up the slack in the end, they would have lost...


Okay, I need a break (as I'm sure you do as well if you made it this far)--Back to Harry Potter...