We arrived on Saturday, August 2nd, and left the next Thursday. We went to dinner the first night and later played a game of Uno (and encountered a jolly drunk guy).
The next day we went to church... but our GPS system steered us in circles.. so we were pretty late. When we got there, they were speaking Tongan... Then we went to Blue Lake Park where my dad's side of the family was having the annual family reunion.
We enjoyed potluck, visited with family we didn't really know (but were really nice and fun to talk to), played on the playground with the children, and went paddle boating. Our first paddle boat was broken, so I got a pretty good workout (Angela, Rachel, and I recruited Jesse from shore to help us back to the dock). Jackie & I exchanged it and took Hannah, Hailey, and Veronica, who never wanted to get off. I told Hailey we needed more money if we wanted to go, and I didn't have any more money. Hailey said, "I'll ask Jesse for more money so we can go on the boat." Smart girl. She even remembered to ask Jesse when we got back to the picnic area, but it didn't work out for her. After the park we went to Dick & Connie's house. My dad grew up with Connie, and they have stayed in touch. They had a really nice barbeque meal there, and we visited and played. While we were finishing eating, Hannah was playing with one of the cork hot pads and broke it. When I told her we needed to go tell Connie, Hannah said, "I don't want to. I want to take a nap." I thought it was kinda funny.Monday, we went to the Oregon Zoo which was pretty cool. Some of the most interesting animals we saw were a bald eagle, a polar bear (who stood up and dove into the pool), and some cougars. We went swimming at the hotel pool when we got back, and enjoyed some relaxation time. We went downtown Portland that night and rode the Max train and did some shopping.
Me, Jesse, and Hailey taking a break at the zoo
Hannah, Rachel, and cousin Angela
Riding the Max - cousin Patience, Veronica, Hannah, me, and Hailey
Tuesday we drove to the Oregon coastline. On the way, sort of, we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. It is pretty tourist-y, but we were able to watch the machines and workers at work, sample some yummy cheese, and enjoy some tasty mountain huckleberry ice cream. The coast at Cannon Beach was beautiful of course, a little hazy, though. We built sandcastles & did some metal detecting while we were there. Water and air temp was pretty chilly at the beach, even though Portland was in the 90's that day. For lunch I got fish n' chips and homemade rootbeer - fish is definitely better when you're by the water and it is fresh. We got back pretty late, but I still enjoyed a little reading/relaxing time by the pool.
Heading to the beach
David tasting the homemade rootbeer
I made Patience and Hannah into mermaids...
Wednesday we hiked Multnomah Falls. One thing about Oregon is that there are tons of tall trees and everything is GREEN. We stopped at some factory outlet stores on the way back, and that evening we went to my Uncle Keith's house for a barbeque dinner. It was good to visit with everybody.
3 sisters: Angela, Rachel, & me
Keeping the kids entertained at the outlet stores... (Jesse: Mindy, do you have 2 quarters? I want them to like me.)
A lot of my family drove... and there was a lot of distance to cover. Here is Patience and Hannah sharing some music in the car.
At Uncle Keith's house - Tom & Jesse always start up interesting conversations...
Uncle Keith at the BBQ
Aunt Leslie & Angela
Grandma, Dad, Jeff & David
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