Spring Break 2015

Monday, March 23, 2015

Sunday, March 22, 2015

            Brooke, Emily, Camden, Tyson, Wynn and I all piled into Brooke’s van and headed for Boise at about 3:00 p.m.  Brooke and the kids stayed at Brooke’s brothers home in Eagle, Idaho.  Spring truly is in Boise; the trees were all in bloom. 

Wynn and I stayed in a hotel near by. 

Monday, March 23, 2015

            We left Boise around 9:00.  We had lunch in Pendleton, Oregon.  Tyson couldn’t wait to get out of that car seat. 

            We went to the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River and enjoyed the fish hatchery there.  Lots of huge fish.  The kids had fun; I think they ran everywhere they went.  They were excited to get OUT of the car. 

            We called Natalie and had her meet us at Multnomah Falls.  As we arrived, it started to rain.  So, we enjoyed ourselves in the rain!   Natalie was so excited to see these kids!  Camden road with her to our hotel.  Brooke was excited to get to her parents house and get the kids settled in.  Wynn, Natalie and I enjoyed a wonderful dinner together at Sweet Tomatoes.  (I have wanted to go there ever since we had Matt and Kayla’s wedding dinner there.)  It was pretty good and it was so good to be with our Natalie!  We also got to go see where Natalie lives.  It is so cute!

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

            Brooke was so excited to take us to Mount St. Helens.  She worked there when she was in High School and knows where to go and what to show us.  Wynn, Natalie and I drove to Longview to where Brooke’s family lives.  We all loaded in their van and headed out. 

            We made a stop to where Brooke’s Dad was working.  We got to see the house he is remodeling.  The kids had a ball riding on his loader. 

            We got back on the road and headed to Mt. St. Helens.  We stopped and looked at the statue of Big Foot.  Sightings of Big Foot has been seen around those parts…… 

            As we got closer to the volcano, it was very evident that nothing was open yet.  It was also cloudy so we couldn’t see the mountain anyway.  It was a beautiful drive but we were disappointed that Brooke didn’t get to show us the ins and outs of Mount St. Helens.  We had lunch at a gas station and it was pretty good. 

            We went back to the Robinson’s home and then we headed for Vancouver.

We drove around and looked for something to do.  Fort Vancouver looked fun but it was almost closing time.

            That night we went to the Cinetopia right there in Vancouver.  We saw Insurgent.  Natalie was excited for us to have the Cinetopia experience.  It was fun..

Wednesday, March 25th, 2015

Wednesday morning we drove back to Multnomah Falls.  We wanted to check out more of the sights there.  We went to the Vista House and enjoyed the scenery there.  We drove all over Mt. Hood.  It was so cloudy that we couldn’t even see the Mountain.  We drove by several ski resorts.  We checked lots of things out.  We drove by lots of cherry trees or apple trees all in bloom.  Simply beautiful!  We did a fun hike up to Latourell Falls.  So fun just to get out and enjoy the countryside.  Fun being with our Natalie.

            We wished we had a hot tub to climb into at our hotel after our hike.  No such luck.  We had a fun day! 

Thursday, March 26th, 2015

Thursday morning we drove over towards the coast.  We went to the Tillamook cheese factory for lunch.  So many people were there.  Fun eating toasted cheese sandwiches there.  

            We then went and checked out the Tillamook lighthouse.  I just never grove weary of lighthouses.  I just love them!   They are just so cool.  We have been to this lighthouse before but I love it……  We went and saw the octopus tree again too.  So fun…. 

            We kept driving down the coastline and enjoyed tons of stuff and such beautiful scenery.  We ended up whale watching all along the coast.  This was the best week for this.  There were signs all over the place telling us where to whale watch.  We saw lots of them.  Oh, I just loved it!   We watched the sun go down and Natalie and I had tons of fun taking pictures.  

            Words just can’t explain how nice it was to be with Natalie.  Wynn and I had her all to ourselves.  We had a great time. We ended up eating a seafood dinner at Mo’s.  It was good. It was so interesting to me to see the light in the lighthouse turning.  I just loved it.   We stayed in a little hotel in some little town.  Fun, fun, fun……

Friday, March 27th, 2015

            We toured the coastline of Oregon.  We saw several lighthouses and like I said before, Wynn and I have seen them before but I loved revisiting them.  I don’t know, they just give me hope.  I loved it…  We headed back up the coastline heading towards Seaside.  We were meeting Brooke and her family there.  We had hopes of playing on the beach with the kids but it was so cold.  Natalie did go out with Camden and they had such a fun time.  We ended up going to McDonalds for cocoa because we were so cold.  Natalie got to spend some time with the kids and that was her wish.  I wish she could have had more time with them.  Brooke had to split time to be with her folks and with Natalie.  Natalie just loves and missed the kids so much.  She is such a good Aunt. 

            We went back to Vancouver and stayed in a hotel.  Wynn got Natalie’s taxes going and so Natalie and I went to the movies.  We went and saw Into The Woods.  It was fun to spend some time with just Natalie.  She is the best.

We took Natalie to a steak house in Seaside for her birthday.  Here she is with big foot.

Fun dinning with her.  We hope next year is as good as this one has been for our Nat.

We love you with all our hearts!   

Saturday, March 28th, 2015

Brooke picked us up early this morning.  We headed for home.  I hate that our little vacation was over.  I especially hated leaving our Natalie there.  She is doing so well in school and things seem to be going well for her, I just hate leaving her there all alone.  How I wish she could find her a eternal companion.  She is constantly in my prayers.