Get out of town!

There is a very good reason why I have not blogged in the last couple of weeks: Too busy! Fortunately, it has been fun busy and not drudgery busy. There is a difference, you know. Perhaps one of the funnest things we've done is take a Memorial Day trip to visit some of my family in Oregon. What a gorgeous place! So green, so lush, and they have an IKEA!!

Here is Cole being his absolutely cute self in one of the falls we hiked up during our mini vacation. Who cares that it is May; anytime is a great time to wear a "mummy" shirt!
One of our outings was to visit the Portland Zoo. Jonah was snacking on a bag of Mike and Ikes when he caught this bear's eye. I do believe he was thinking he had found a nice tasty snack, and a bag of candy to boot!
The Portland Zoo had a great lorakeet exhibit. For a small fee you could purchase a cup of juice that the birds like to eat and if you were patient enough, they would come and rest on your hand for a snack. Poor Jonah tried so hard, in vain, to get a bird to sit on his arm. However, Mom doing it was the next best thing.
While the grown ups, and I use that term loosely, went to scout IKEA (it was awesome!) Aunt Jan stayed back to watch the kids. Here she is teaching my children what she is learning in college.
This skill she was born with naturally...
Here is an actual unretouched photograph of Damon and I alone. Dang, are we good lookin' or what? The beautiful Columbia River is behind us. The rain held off for one whole day so our family could have a great day of hiking, playing and being together.
I have trained my children to respond accordingly when I pull out my camera. All I have to do is say "OK, be brothers" and they stop what they are doing, stand together and smile. Now, if I could just get them to put their dirty clothes in the hamper...
Our boys again, being brothers, in front of one of the many falls we visited.
Lots of sights means lots of driving. Here is Cole catching a few Zs in between adventures. There ain't no way he's giving up that box of crackers.

The boys again, nesting at the zoo.

What a great get-away! We couldn't have asked for a better time, better weather or better company.