Our Fabulous Vacation

Last Thursday we began the adventure of a lifetime. We started our vacation by driving to Aunt Kira's house and spending the night with her. We ate tasty shrimp and had good company, then got to be early so that we could be up early for the airplane.
The next morning there was some early rising and lots of running around and then a quick drive to the airport. We got through security with very few problems. The toughest part was trying to get Kena convinced that bear would survive his trip through the X-ray machine. It was exciting to be with the kid on their first trip to the airport. We watched planes fly off, played in the play area, got some lunch, and then went to board the plane. The kids did so well and we had a fun flight. Trace watched TV and we watched the plane on a GPS screen so we knew exactly wha we were flying over. It was just a couple of hours until we touched down in Portland.
We picked up our rental car and headed to the ZOO!!! We saw lions, and tigers and bears (OH MY!) Trace's favorite part was the otter who was putting on a show for us. Kena enjoyed the dancing elephant (not really dancing but he sure looked like he could bust a move) and Jaxson was just glad not to be in his carseat.
Then we drove to Uncle Ray and Aunt MaryLee's house. They have a coy pond in their back yard and so the evening was, of course, spent looking at fish. They had about 20 fish in the pond and the kids loved it.
The Saturday was spent lounging and napping. Cory and I did sneak away for lunch at a wonderful little Filippino restraunt where we were able to eat tasty food and Cory spoke Tagalog with the owner. It was a fun lunch and tasty food. Sunday we went to church and it was just like being back in NM. A ward that was spread out over a 50 mile radius with small numbers and large spirit. It was great. Then it was back home to feed the fish and pick blueberries for breakfast! (This was Kena's favorite part of the whole trip. Everymorning she'd say "we pick berries?")
Monday morning we left for the coast. It started with a trip to the Oregon Aquarium. It was a lots of fun. We got to see an exhibit called Odd Water which was all about the wierd creatures of the sea. It was really interesting. Then we let the kids pick a stuffy fron the gift shop. Jaxson got a jelly fish, Trace a shark, and Kena a turtle, which she promptly turned into a nice seat for her bear.
We went North a bit to see the devils punch bowl and then turned to go back to our beach house. It was a great house and we got some dinner and got settled in. There was no sunset that night because a storm was rolling in. We could see the ocean from our window and it was beautiful.
The next morning we stayed in Florence for some shopping and lunch at Mo's. We also played on the beach that day. Trace and Kena loved running from the waves and we gathered all sorts of shells and even some sand dollars. It was fun to watch the kids play but it was chilly. The air by the sea was about 55 degreed. BRRR!
The next day we went to Bandon and attempted to play at low tide. It was really cold though so we headed back into town for lunch and some quick shopping. Then it was on to Shore Acres. It was a vacation home back in the early 1900's but the gentleman gave the property to the state. There were beautiful flowers and a great beach. There was more wave running, and shell collecting, and it was warm enough that Jaxson was able to get down in the sand. He ate it, rolled in it, and came back with so much in his diaper it probably added 10 lbs to him.
The next morning we drove back to Ray's and spent the day visiting. Some of you may be wondering at this point why I haven't included any pictures of this little adventure. It is mostly because this was the day that Jaxson deleted all of our pictures from the camera. Who knew a one year old could figure it out, but apparently they can. The rest of vacation was pretty uneventful. It was lots of resting and visiting. We flew home on Saturday and the trip was a little more hectic (Jaxson screamed most of the way).
It was a wonderful trip, full of fun and family. I'll be posting pictures when we get some from Aunt MaryLee. WE LOVE YOU!!!