Portland!

What a wonderful trip we had to Portland, Oregon!!! In all, there were 9 adults an 6 kids to make 1 big happy family of 15. My Uncle Kent and Aunt Phyllis graciously played host to us and we all had so much fun seeing Portland, visiting, and catching up. Our 5 day trip went so fast, but that's because we were busy having a blast!

Here is the entire gang at one of Portland's Rose Gardens.















And this is a picture of Kent and Phyllis's house where the Dills, Schmankes and Portland Snyders stayed. (My parents and Grandad stayed at a nearby hotel). They remodeled it a few years ago so it was sustainable and therefore it uses the environment to be a more efficient home. For example: See those big vines that cover the front of the house? Those grow high in the summer months to shade their big glass windows on the south side of the house. In the fall, they drop their leaves and the sun can shine in and heat the home during the fall and winter months. Then as the weather warms, they grow their leaves and act as shade. They also have a rain water purification system, eco friendly flooring, a garden etc. I really enjoyed learning about all the rennovations they did and the reasonings behind them.

I thought this tree was amazing. They actually have 2 giant Sequoias growing on their property. To give you some perspective, the kids are playing at the bottom of this picture. Each afternoon the temperature was about 75 and gorgeous.

Kent and Phyllis also had this fountain at their front door. Nolan loved playing in it...I wonder if he also stopped to appreciate the art?

On our first day, we saw Papa and Nonnie right away and the kids had fun hanging out with them in person We have recently gotten a webcam and so have Papa and Nonnie so we have been using those a little to visit "in person". Seeing them in the flesh was a lot more fun though, so we shared lots of hugs and tickles during our trip.

Maya and Nonnie bonded quickly. Maya kept teasing Nonnie by starting to feed her cheerios and then at the last minute she would take it and put it in her own mouth. Eventually, she was kind enough to let Nonnie have a couple of them.

Here are our hosts...Kent, Phyllis, Bryce, and Taegan. We took this picture on the last day everyone was in town.

On our 2nd day, we went on a nature walk at a nearby park. The kids had a blast finding things along the trails, identifying plants, and learning about the area. It was a bit chilly in the mornings there so we all had jackets (and I was able to borrow some for my kids since I didn't plan ahead very well!)

The next day we went to a big farmers market. There was a balloon guy there who made balloon daisys for Lana and Janae. The girls held on to them the whole trip!

We brought our stroller for my kids, of course, and Maya had lots of company during the day. The kids loved to talk to her and show her things...I wonder if she felt like royalty getting wheeled around and shown about Portland? This picture makes me think they are gossiping or having a pow wow.

That afternoon, we went to the Saturday Market. There were lots of vendors selling food, jewelry, clothes, and playing music. For the first time, I tried an elephant ear and boy was it delicious. It's basically fried bread with butter and cinnamon sugar (or maple glaze, or other toppings) on it. Let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS.

Here Papa and Nonnie are treating the Dill girls to a delicious cupcake! Yum!

After that, we took the streetcar (stroller and all) to this sand-castle-building contest. It was amazing to see the artistry these people can create using sand! wow.

Another afternoon we decided to go on a walk. K & P live right next to Lewis and Clark college so Taegan took us on a stroll around campus. It was pretty quiet since it was summer time, and the campus didn't have many people around. Taegan took us to this small apple orchard which she said was her favorite place and it was so peaceful. The kids each picked some apples and immediately started chowing down. Nolan especially couldn't get enough. Darin took this picture on his camera phone of Nolan with his mouth filled with apple.

We also couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit Voodoo doughnuts. The Dills and Darin and I saw them on the food network and thought they looked pretty yummy. You can see they are popular from the line! My dad is waiting at the end of the line with the black jacket and pink shirt. It took about 15-20 minutes to get our donuts...a small price for a delicious treat! I think I got a neapolitan donut which was chocolate with strawberry icing and marshmallows on top. Weird but good! They also have donuts with oreos, fruit loops, nuts, sprinkles, etc. They even have a donut in the shape of a little chocolate voodoo man.

So we took our donuts to the rose garden (where we got our big family pic taken) and the kids stopped to smell the roses. hee hee. It was really beautiful there...and the roses smelled divine. Kent and Phyllis said that they have a lot of weddings at the rose garden and I understood why.

After the rose garden we hit a nearby park to play. Here is a pic of Lana and Papa having some fun.

And Daddy Darin helped Maya ride the little seahorse. She caught on pretty quick and loved rocking on that thing until she got tired.

One of our last days we took this air tram gondola thing. It was incredible. At the top we had a beautiful view of the city of Portland. We took this opportunity to get lots of family pictures to remember our travels. I thought this was a good picture of Gwyn and me.

Here are my mom and dad with my Grandad, who made this trip possible.

Here are the Dills (all bundled up cause it was C-O-L-D up there!)

Although we had a lot of adventures, we hung out at Kent and Phyllis's house a lot. They had a big yard that the kids loved running through and playing in. Here is Papa with his 3 granddaughters.

The kids played indoors a lot too. Here is Bryce helping Maya and Nolan stack cups.

Janae, Lana and Taegan also got Phyllis to french braid their hair one morning. They were so proud!

And here is Kevin playing with Nolan.

This was a sweet picture of Maya I couldn't pass up.

We had such an amazing trip. Thanks to my family for making it possible...we had such a great time hanging out and can't wait to do it again!