Solace: Portland Fun

So, I've realized I have no pictures with me to post as I am in Mom and Dad's hotel room waiting for them to arrive in San Fransisco and Mike has the camera in our room with the card on it. I can, however, tell you that we have passed the 1000 picture mark. Oh yes, friends, the slideshow after the trip is going to be FOREVERLONGAWESOME.
So just to bring you up to date....
We arrived in Portland and there was much rejoicing! yea! Ez and Hadley had made us cute little signs (yes, I'm claiming myself in the "us" because an Aunt can dream ya know ;) Cousin excitement and fun was so sweet to see. They all got along marvelously, especially considering that there was no such thing as down time while we were there. Sure Hadley could escape for a little tiny nap, but even then I napped with her one day (which was awesome and precious and she's the cutest and sweetest nap partner ever, she didn't kick me in the face once like some other "not-to-be-named" children who live in cincinnati) They had sleepovers every night that culminated in a giant sleepover our last night camping where both families slept in the same tent. Best sleepover EVER according to my children. but I have leapt ahead too far.
We ran around Portland a little, taking the kids to do fun stuff like play in a splash park, and eat ice cream at Ruby Jewel's. But we also gave them plenty of play time at home (which was Alyssa's favorite part, even to the point where she grumped a little about going out). The girls loved playing chicken farmers and practically reached under the chickens to get the fresh eggs. They loved getting the "still warm" ones. they had meetings in the chicken coop to plan defense strategies to defend the chickens from I'm not sure what, and they built forts in the kids rooms.
We did drag them out to Mt. St. Helens one day. we did the Jr. Ranger program at the Visitor's center and had a nice afternoon there. They all got their badges and were proud Jr. Rangers for a day.
It was a great visit in Portland, and then the best part was that when it was time to leave, it wasn't really like leaving because we all went! We camped in mosquito-ville near Crater Lake the first night and then drove and camped in the Redwoods the second night and then d-r-o-v-e to Santa Rosa and camped on Bodega Bay the 3rd night. For the record the 101 takes longer than a freeway and I'm pretty sure the Redwoods are so big that you don't really process the time passing as you stare at them. The great news is that while we have gone our separate ways today, we'll get to see them again in a couple days and that has made saying goodbye easier on the kids. I'll post pictures to go with this part of the trip tomorrow night when I'm with my SD card.