{ the great northwest } ::

back in september brody and i took a trip to Portland to go home and visit my family! it has almost been 2 years since we've been back home in oregon and we had an absolute blast! 

we tried to do as many things as possible and had lots of family time and cousin time. if only we had of had more time. 

some of our days were packed with multiple activities just to get everything in i wanted us to do. 

 even though our trip was so fun, we totally missed tyson sooo much, but he had to stay back in Richmond and work. next time we will have to bring him with us! 

 we flew out of D.C. and it just so happened that our flight was Alaska airlines inaugural flight, meaning it was the first time Alaska was flying direct to Portland for the very first time ever from D.C. (shhhnazzy, huh?) at our gate in D.C. they had a huge party for us to celebrate our flight. good times. and when we got into Portland they greeted us by giving us Roses. Because Portland is the known as the City of Roses. even though it was a LONG direct flight to Portland, brody was AMAZING. he is without a doubt the best little traveler. he rocked our 6 hour flight and didn't even nap. which worked out great because when we got to Oregon, we got to my parents, ate a little food, had a bath then went to bed and he slept long enough for me to transition him onto Oregon time zone. which he did great with as well. let's be honest, he's my dream boy! 

 but without further a'do...a play by play of pictures from our trip...

leaving on our flight from D.C. ... to Hello Portland Oregon!

our first order of business was to ride MAX. I knew this would be without a doubt brody's favorite thing to do. we probably rode max daily. total blast for my bear!

we made sure to go to the zoo a couple of times. and even got in some quality cousin time too. brody loved the zoo train! we may have rode the train a couple of times! 

not the best picture but i don't care! we were able to squeeze in some aunt Amy (tyson's sister) and cousin Mackenzie time. oh so love them! we met up downtown and went to the waffle window! one of our favorite yummy things to do with them! so wish we had of had more time with them, but glad we got to see them! 

even though family time is great. one afternoon brody and i went on a little date just him and i to ride MAX downtown and go down to the waterfront for a little bit to see the boats and play in the fountain for a bit. nothing beats just being with my bear. we had a great time together. 

 a trip to oregon isn't complete without going bowling with my dad. perhaps brody will follow in Papa's foot steps and become a professional bowler, eh? just say'in! if only i had of had my own ball with me, i probably could have bowled a lot better that day! :)

a lot of our evenings before dessert and bath was playing in grandma and papa's hot tub aka "the hot pool" as brody liked to call it.

one morning we hit up the Portland Children's museum. brody loved the theater and vet office the best. Dr. Brody says X-RAYS work as great blankets in healing doggies.

 

we went downtown one afternoon for lunch to go hit up the famous food trucks. we got food from the grilled cheese bus. and boy howdy is was so good! brody ate almost all my sandwich. so yeah, it had to of been amazing! it was! 

it's probably a toss up...but brody's #1 favorite thing to do - may be a toss up between riding MAX and hanging out with grandma. oh he loves her. and he LOVED helping pick her tomatoes and helping water her flowers and plants every evening. so cute!

one afternoon after church we packed up a lunch and went up to the Pitock Mansion. it has some really pretty views of Portland and it was a perfect weather kind of day!

we also made sure to go to the Portland Oregon LDS Temple. we love the temple and brody thought it was great. he LOVES to see the Temple. the grounds were beautiful (as always) and it's always so nice to remember that we get to be a family forever!

another must do was going to the Beach. and once again it was great! cannon beach and seaside are our favorites! when we were in seaside brody, cousin hayden and my mom rode the tilt a'whirl like 6 times! crazy kids!

another fun outing was going to Multnomah Falls. so beautiful! it was a perfect day and being out in the green outdoors is always a treat! 

our last night we had family dinner and "attempted" a picture with grandma and papa. um yeah kinda wasn't happening. ha! brody and i flew back to D.C. on another direct flight but at least heading back the flight was only 5 hours long. still long, but better then 6 hours! and of course brody rocked it and did awesome flying home to Richmond. we were over joyed with excitement to see Tyson! 

 oregon was oh so good to us. the weather was perfect the entire time we were there. crazy, seeing that it's oregon and you just expect it to rain. but we must have brought the sun with us. ;)

 i'm happy we got to come and see my family that we love so much. and i'm so happy that brody got to do so many fun things that i love in Portland. it's just too bad that oregon is on one side country and we are on the other. 

 so until next time...