Oregon Trip to Our Little Sweetie Pie! (Day Four)

On Saturday, our only full day together, we woke up, went to the continental breakfast again and then headed to OMSI – Oregon Museum of Science and Industry! On our way we stopped by walmart and purchased a $3 pack of the little green army men for Jared to play with! They were a huge hit! Boys will always be boys and love playing “war”.

Happy camper with his Army Men!

When we got to the OMSI, the first thing we saw was the “Life” exhibit. It followed the baby fetus from day one up until birth. The exhibits were real embryos with plaques explaining what is present at each stage i.e. heartbeat, fingers, toes, lungs, etc. It was a really well done presentation. After the Life exhibit we saw the dinosaur exhibit which Jared LOVED! We had seen a dino exhibit in San Diego and he went gaga there, so we didn’t expect anything less. It was cute! He kept asking who we thought would win in a fight!

Family Photo

The environmental exhibit focused on earthquakes and streams. We learned that earthquakes are measured in multiples of 10. Jared played in the sand and water exhibit making his own stream, pond, island and cliff with a squirrel.

Lunch followed and with lunch comes APPLES!

Jared's favorite food which his new big boy teeth help him eat!

After lunch we went to the IMAX Hubble movie and it was awesome! I would strongly recommend it to anyone if the exhibit comes to your area. It was 45 minutes of space, astronauts, spaceships, solar systems, etc. Ryan, Jared and I all enjoyed it! After the movie we went to the space exhibit and became astronauts!

Jared in a space shuttle!

Sarah in the space shuttle - getting out was a lot harder than getting in...

Ryan!  He sure has a head fit for an astronaut!

Jared has some room to grow yet!

 

I'm all neck...

After a wonderful day, we went to a Mongolian restaurant for dinner! It was my first time, so Jared showed me how to do it! He ate like a champ! I need some professional help before I start mixing oils and sauces without knowing what they will do to one another. My first plate was ok and my second one was nasty. Thankfully we were charged by the head and not the plate. Dinner was over and the hotel was welcomed with opened arms…or should I say the box was…

Jared relaxing in the box!

Oregon Trip to Our Little Sweetie Pie! (Day Three)

On Friday, we all woke up, but a little slower than the day before and went down for the continental breakfast! It was wonderful once again! I forgot to mention this before, but before dropping Jared off at school every day, we went to Dutch Brothers! It is this amazing drive thru coffee shop! Ryan always got The Milky Way…now known as the Carmelizer due to copyright issues and I tried the Milky Way, The Almond Joy, and my favorite The Annihilator i.e. coffee and macadamia nuts.


After dropping Jared off at school, we went back to the hotel, relaxed a bit and then went to Dicks and Ryan purchased me my first set of golf clubs! They are amazing! I love them! (Pictures to follow because we are going golfing this weekend!)

Friday was a good day for Jared because we got him out of school around 1:30 and went to golfing at a 9 hole 3 par course! It was so much fun! Ryan and I each carried three clubs and Jared carried around two clubs and played what we like to call “speed golf”! He hit the ball and ran to it, hit it again, etc. He was great at putting which made daddy proud! The best moment was on the 9th hole when Jared made it to the green in two stokes and had one stroke left to make par! Ryan kept saying “Ok son, you need to concentrate, please.” And he kept saying “Why?” And with that…he missed it. No par for little Jared.

On our way to the 3 Par Course - refusing to smile

He's a cutie pie!

Someone's happy!

 

After the 3 Par course, we went over to Marysville Golf Course again and hit some balls!

Our little golfer!  He went through a bucket of balls before Ryan and I even got close to finishing.  He's a pro in the making!

Me setting up with my driver.  I basically stink at hitting my driver, but learned a few tips thanks to Ryan and Doug!

Jared, Ryan and Doug!

That evening we went to the indoor soccer stadium and restaurant what Ryan played at while he was in college and we saw tons of people that he use to hang out with including the wonderful and sweet Quinnie! She is Ryan’s best girl friend and she just got engaged! Congratulations!! After watching a few soccer games, meeting a ton of people and eating dinner, we all headed home! Jared fell asleep in the car as was expected.

Oregon Trip to Our Little Sweetie Pie! (Day Two)

We all got up bright and early to eat a great continental breakfast with eggs, sausage, cereal, muffins, toast, fruit, juice and of course coffee before we took Jared to school. While Jared was at school, Ryan and I went to Oregon State University and purchased a few shirts and hats for the boys! They sported the hats all weekend long! After seeing the campus, which is beautiful and HUGE compared to LaSalle, we stopped Marysville Golf Course where Ryan golfed almost every single day while we was in college. I met some of the nicest people in the entire world there! The owner and his family are such sweethearts and treat Ryan like a member of their family! It was a great time! Ryan and I got Mexican for lunch, drove by his old house and picked Jared up from school!

As promised the night before, we went to Wunderland after school. It is an arcade place across from our hotel that Jared absolutely loved! You paid an entrance fee and then received a bag of nickles instead of tokens! It was pretty cool!  Ryan played Big Buck Hunter while Jared ran from game to game and I photographed the experience and played a bit!

Happy and holding his nickles!

Driving like a Nolan!

Cruising in Style - notice the feet

After the arcade, we walked next door for dinner. Ryan and I got the salad bar while Jared ate pizza! It was a kid geared evening to say the least! We all had a blast!

Daddy and Jared at dinner

Sarah and Jared at dinner

If you notice, he won the ball, the plane, the wrist band and the candy in the bag at the arcade! 

Following dinner we did exactly what you aren’t supposed to do after eating…we went swimming! The pool was locked, so we had to wait a little while for the door to be opened. The wait was worth it though! We swam, jumped, played keep away, and just had a blast in the pool! There are no photos because I am pasty as pasty gets and there was no way I was about to document that!

Showers, PJs and reading following quickly after for Jared had school the next day. He loves to read to us!

Daddy and Jared asleep (I think Ryan is faking, but Jared isn't)

Good Night and Sweet Dreams! xoxo

Oregon Trip to Our Little Sweetie Pie! (Day One)

On Wednesday, Ryan and I woke at the crack of dawn to fly from Norfolk, VA to Portland, OR. We had a wonderful day filled with overweight luggage, flying, a 4 hour layover in Chicago, a delayed flight and Oregon drivers…slow and the long awaited hug of Jared!!! All travel irritations were forgotten the second we saw that smiling faced little boy jump out of the car and into Daddy’s arms!

We all jumped into the car, Ford Escape to be exact, and headed off to the Phoenix Inn; our family was complete again! The hotel was awesome – great continental breakfast, awesome fluffy beds, indoor pool and hot tub, oh and the price was right!

(Waiting in the lobby while Daddy was checking in!)

After we checked in, we went to Shari's for dinner and had breakfast! Omelets, pancakes, bacon (Jared’s favorite), grapes and hot tea! It was chilly with on and off rain the entire time, so hot tea was a must for little old me!

(Ryan and Jared at dinner!)

After dinner, we ran to Target for the odds and ends we forgot and we headed home for a relaxing evening in the hotel.  Luckily we have a little reader on our hands and Ryan and I got to relax while Jared read "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid" (the red book) to us and made us giggle!

(Ready for bed and reading to us!)

The night ended with hugs and kisses!! Oh and a tickle fight like always!