More from the Northwest...

Day 4

August 8

Battleground Washington is right across the Columbia River from Portland Oregon so we spent a lot of time there.  Portland is known as the City of Roses, there are even roses growing along the side of the freeway.  So of course we had to visit the Rose Gardens.

This is a spectacular place with roses as far as the eye can see.  The wonderful smell is apparent as soon as you walk through the gate.  Each rose is labeled throughout the garden. 

We went to this amazing park to let the all the kids play and let the parents relax.  But I think the parents ended up playing just as much.

Indie loves a good swing.  Don't worry I "wet oned" her hands after.

This is my cousin Meagan going down the slide with her kids Jackson, Bennett and Wilohm.  It was hysterical.

Afterwards Ellynn and Jason took us to downtown Portland to walk along the waterfront.

That night we went to Cory and Meagan's beautiful home for a delicious dinner.  And talk about an amazing view...you can see Mount St. Helens from their house.

Day 5

August 9

Saturday morning Geof, Tony and I went for a run in Battleground.  We weren't quite sure how to react to all that oxygen.  Brooke and her kids got packed up and headed to California to start their new life.  We decided to head in to Portland and go to the original Spaghetti Factory.

It is a really unique building with a purple roof and tons of windows so you dine with a fantastic view of the Willamette River.

Afterwards we took a walk along the river.

Seriously everywhere we went there were tons of rivers and lakes with trails all along them.  There were always people out walking or biking.  It is awesome.

This is Tony's signature move and the kids were getting in on the action.

We found a park with the only remaining teeter-totters in the world.  Just kidding but I haven't been on one in ages.  It really starts to hurt your inner thighs after a while.  I can see why they have been removed from a lot of parks, we had a few close calls.

This is my new favorite picture of my babies.

Day 6

August 10

Their ward doesn't meet until 3 p.m. so we had some time to kill before church.  We walked around Lewisville Park.

And then played at a park.

Couldn't you just eat her with a spoon?  I swear Hazel is adorable.

That evening we had a delicious dinner of fresh salmon, broccoli salad, roasted potatoes, garlic bread and sushi for an appetizer.  It was awesome.  We had family home evening and then snuggled down for some Olympics.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Until tomorrow...