We had a lot of fun exploring the Portland area while visiting family there after Christmas. It was especially neat to check out some things near where Aunt Erika, Uncle Brad, and cousins Rowan and Sawyer live in Hillsboro. The weather was chilly while we were there, so one of our first stops was the Outdoors In indoor playground operated by Hillsboro Parks & Rec. Not only was there great play equipment there, but they also had fun riding toys.
Note Caden running in the background of the second picture, above. That afternoon, we took Finn over to Target to exchange the bike helmet he got from Nana and Boopa for a bigger size. Turns out our 17-month-old has a 3-year-old sized head. Target was next door to the pet store, so we let Finn check out the fish.
The next day - New Year's Eve - we headed over to the Washington County Museum. A local model train club had set up some neat train layouts. All three boys - Caden, Finn, and Rowan - liked the trains, but Finn kept asking (and signing) for "more, more, more."
There were also several displays related to technology and computers - Intel has a huge presence in Washington County - and Caden and Boopa had fun clowning around in the bunny suits.
The following day, we got together with several of Mama's cousins on Ama's (Godard) side of the family at the Oregon Zoo. It was great to see everyone, and especially the kids. There were a couple of new little (2nd? 3rd?) cousins that we hadn't met yet, and the others had all grown so much.
On the day after that, we headed back to Orange County. But en route to PDX, we stopped at the original American Dream Pizza for lunch with our friends Amy, Brian, Owen, and Grace. It was great to see them and to check out the origins of one of our favorite Corvallis eating spots.
On the flight home, Finn was being absolutely hillarious. He ended up with his own seat and tray table, where he spent several minutes working to balance a Toblerone bar on its end.
