Oregon...Here We Come

As we were making summer plans I got to looking and pricing many different trip options. I have been wanting to get out to the Oregon Coast to see my sister Tonya for some time. All my family have been out to see her except me and she doesn't get to see my kids very often so we really wanted to take the time to see her. I was going to attempt to just drive but then I got an amazing deal on airfare if we flew out around memorial weekend so we jumped at the chance. I was EXTREMELY nervous about flying all alone with 2 toddlers but like always my kids stepped up and were SO GOOD!!!

(Just a warning...TONS of pics to come and there will be even more on facebook.)

Here we are waiting in the airport. They were so excited to fly for the first time. I got them both backpacks with snacks and activities in them and they both had their own little suitcase on wheels that they pulled around the airport. It was so darn cute and I never got a picture of it (mostly because I was too worried about them and making sure they were following me and keeping up and those kinds of things the whole time).

I was really nervous about the actual take off and how they would react. They LOVED it. They both giggled and laughed the whole time and thought it was awesome. Kylee couldn't believe we were actually flying and that we were so high in the sky. It seriously was so cute, I wish I could have filmed it. There was a guy across the isle from me who hates flying and said to me that my kids made him realize how awesome it really is and that it was the best flight he has ever had thanks to my cute kids and their comments the whole time. It was a very proud moment for me as a mom.

Once we landed my sister met us at the airport and we went straight to some sites. Since she lives on the coast we wanted to do some of the cool things in the Portland area while we were already there. My kids and I love to hike so she made us happy by taking us to the Columbia River Gorge so we could see a lot of really gorgeous waterfalls. The picture above is at Wakeena Falls and the one below is Multnomah Falls.

They were so beautiful and I wish we could have hiked all the trails. They all looked so fun and gorgeous. They made the hikes we take back home look like poop. It is really some gorgeous land and scenery.

My kids absolutely loved it and so did I.

Every time we would get to the new waterfall Cannon would say "look at this one!" He loved to look at it and didn't want to leave.

Kylee LOVED the hiking and also wanted to do more and more. It made me really excited to hike this summer but then sad that we didn't live closer to these amazing hikes.

Cannon was a great little hiker too except for the fact that he was always stopping to look at things. He kept showing me leaves and sticks and eventually I had to put him on my back just to help him keep up with Kylee.

Trying to get a nice pic and of course they had to give me a silly face instead.

Our last stop was Horsetail falls. We really enjoyed all the falls and it was an awesome way to start out our trip.

After the falls we called up my Aunt Pam who happens to live just outside Portland and stopped and had lunch with her and visited for awhile. Luckily she is a Grandma too and had lots of fun toys for my kids to play with. They really had a great time and I was really thankful we got to visit. She is an awesome lady and I love her.

My kids really loved her too. With our bellies full and our legs tired from walking (and getting up early to get to the airport) it was definitely nap time after Aunt Pam's, so we decided it was time to make the 2 hour trip to Tonya's house. The kids were wonderful and slept almost the whole way. When we got into town they were both awake and so we decided to quickly stop by the beach for just a second so they could see the ocean for the first time. Before this trip, my kids thought that Bear Lake was the ocean. They were so excited to see the beach and the waves.

It was really windy so we didn't stay long at all but did walk around for a minute.

I have to say it just made me want to live by the ocean even more than I already do. I love the sound of the beach and the beauty of the water and the waves. It is just so heavenly and peaceful to me. I will live by the beach someday!

By the end of the trip I had nearly 500 pictures on my camera and 400 of them were just from this trip. I obviously won't be able to post them all, but will be posting lots so sorry for the picture overload. We had such a great time.

THANKS TONYA AND DANIEL FOR THE WONDERFUL TRIP!!!