This year for Spring Break we decided to take the kids to Oregon. We feel so blessed to be able to travel and make special memories together. I asked each of the kids what their most memorable thing about the trip was. Here is what they said. Kyle said, "playing drums with Grandpa Les." Jared said, "playing drums and my favorite thing about the trip was finding sand dollars and star fish." Landon said, "seeing the ocean for my first time." Spencer said, "playing with Grandpa Les' old trucks that he had in storage." I loved watching Chad and the boys at the beach. I could tell Chad was so excited. At each new tide pool he would say, "oh my gosh you guys look at this." The boys would all run over and huddle around Chad and discover new things with him. I loved watching Chad with his step dad Les. Les was a very important part of Chad's life. He did so many fun things with Chad as a child and I know that Chad wants to make fun memories with us, because of Les. We spent the first two days in Cannon Beach. We stayed at the light house in right across the street from Haystack Rock. We spent the rest of the week with Les. We visited with Chad's mom Judith in Vancouver and were able to see Jon and Jen Van Wagoner and their sweet kids. We packed a lot in 5 days and made so many special memories that I hope to always remember.
This is Cannon Beach! Before we left the forecast said it was supposed to be sunny and in the 70's. It turned out to be cold and windy. That didn't stop us from having a great time! The boys dug in the sand, discovered sand dollars, star fish and sea anemone.
This is our Hotel. It had pretty gardens, where bunnies hopped freely. We got breakfast and hot chocolate each morning and cookies at night!
On the second day we traveled up the coast. We went to the Astoria Column and climbed 164 stairs to get to the top of the column. We also stopped in Seaside. We shopped, and let the boys ride the tilt a whirl and rented a paddle boat.
On our way from Cannon Beach to Les' house we made several stops. Our first was Ecola State park. We heard sea lions (we all thought it was cow Mooing..haha), we saw the lighthouse out on the rock and watched surfers.
Our next stop was Fort Stevens. Chad had remembered going their as a child. It was pretty cool to see the old Army Barracks. It wasn't the kids favorite stop until they found a gross frog near the end. I am just happy it wasn't a rat!
We also made it a point to stop at the Portland Temple. Chad and I were engaged at the Portland temple and so we have a lot of special memories there. Someday I would like to go and do a session at Chad's favorite temple!
We will NEVER forget Multnomah Falls. Chad and I also visited here when we were engaged. We were so excited to take the kids and hike to the top of this tremendous waterfall. The hike is just over a mile straight up! It has 11 very steep switch backs. As we started hiking Jared was determined to get to the top first. Not because he was excited about the hike, he only wanted to get to the top fast, so he could get down fast. It was raining and cold! When we were at about switchback 9 Spencer started to slow down. So, I slowed down with him and decided to let him take his time. Chad also slowed down to wait for us. He hollered at the other three boys to not get to far ahead. At the top there will be a fork in the road, and he didn't want them to get lost. Well, to make a long story short they didn't listen. When we got to the top, we couldn't see the boys. We could see which way to go to see the overlook of the falls, but it was muddy and didn't look like the right path. Chad and I took the path hoping to find the boys at the end. When they were not there I panicked. So, we snapped a couple of quick pictures and took the other path. We didn't find them. Chad had me wait there and he hiked about a mile further looking for them. We asked everyone we passed if they had seen our three boys. We didn't find them and my heart was racing. Of course I thought of a million things that could have happened to them! Chad told me to start down path and keep asking everyone if they had seen them. Half way down Chad got a phone call from a California number. When he answered he heard Kyle's voice..."Dad". He sounded scared, probably for more than one reason. When they hadn't seen us at the top of the path they took they turned around and headed down. When they didn't see us at the bottom they asked a stranger to use their cell phone. We were happy and relieved they were safe, and let them know that, but they also got an earful! It was a good lesson for all of us!
The final part of the trip was the most special. We were able to see family members that we hadn't seen in a very long time. Chad was able to spend quality time with his step dad Les that he has such great memories of. We were able to see Les' mother; Grandma Zinn. This was special to all of us. She is in a care center now and we don't know if we will see her again as she is very old and frail. We saw Chad's mom and her new house in Vancouver! We had a great time visiting Jon and Jen even though we didn't get pictures. The highlight for the boys was seeing Les and all of his Drum sets and musical instruments. He jammed with them; and for them and let them all play the drums at the same time together. It was so fun for them!
This is our Hotel. It had pretty gardens, where bunnies hopped freely. We got breakfast and hot chocolate each morning and cookies at night!
On the second day we traveled up the coast. We went to the Astoria Column and climbed 164 stairs to get to the top of the column. We also stopped in Seaside. We shopped, and let the boys ride the tilt a whirl and rented a paddle boat.
On our way from Cannon Beach to Les' house we made several stops. Our first was Ecola State park. We heard sea lions (we all thought it was cow Mooing..haha), we saw the lighthouse out on the rock and watched surfers.
Our next stop was Fort Stevens. Chad had remembered going their as a child. It was pretty cool to see the old Army Barracks. It wasn't the kids favorite stop until they found a gross frog near the end. I am just happy it wasn't a rat!
We also made it a point to stop at the Portland Temple. Chad and I were engaged at the Portland temple and so we have a lot of special memories there. Someday I would like to go and do a session at Chad's favorite temple!
We will NEVER forget Multnomah Falls. Chad and I also visited here when we were engaged. We were so excited to take the kids and hike to the top of this tremendous waterfall. The hike is just over a mile straight up! It has 11 very steep switch backs. As we started hiking Jared was determined to get to the top first. Not because he was excited about the hike, he only wanted to get to the top fast, so he could get down fast. It was raining and cold! When we were at about switchback 9 Spencer started to slow down. So, I slowed down with him and decided to let him take his time. Chad also slowed down to wait for us. He hollered at the other three boys to not get to far ahead. At the top there will be a fork in the road, and he didn't want them to get lost. Well, to make a long story short they didn't listen. When we got to the top, we couldn't see the boys. We could see which way to go to see the overlook of the falls, but it was muddy and didn't look like the right path. Chad and I took the path hoping to find the boys at the end. When they were not there I panicked. So, we snapped a couple of quick pictures and took the other path. We didn't find them. Chad had me wait there and he hiked about a mile further looking for them. We asked everyone we passed if they had seen our three boys. We didn't find them and my heart was racing. Of course I thought of a million things that could have happened to them! Chad told me to start down path and keep asking everyone if they had seen them. Half way down Chad got a phone call from a California number. When he answered he heard Kyle's voice..."Dad". He sounded scared, probably for more than one reason. When they hadn't seen us at the top of the path they took they turned around and headed down. When they didn't see us at the bottom they asked a stranger to use their cell phone. We were happy and relieved they were safe, and let them know that, but they also got an earful! It was a good lesson for all of us!
The final part of the trip was the most special. We were able to see family members that we hadn't seen in a very long time. Chad was able to spend quality time with his step dad Les that he has such great memories of. We were able to see Les' mother; Grandma Zinn. This was special to all of us. She is in a care center now and we don't know if we will see her again as she is very old and frail. We saw Chad's mom and her new house in Vancouver! We had a great time visiting Jon and Jen even though we didn't get pictures. The highlight for the boys was seeing Les and all of his Drum sets and musical instruments. He jammed with them; and for them and let them all play the drums at the same time together. It was so fun for them!
1 comment:
Looks like a fun, but COLD vacation.
I can't even imagine how scared you must have been when the boys got lost. Im so glad that nothing happened and the boys were smart enough to get a cell phone to call Chad.
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