And we're back to our regularly scheduled programming. Our spring break was wonderful, surpassing our expectations. We managed to drive to Vancouver, WA in one day and got to see our very lovely friends, The Wild Ls, for two nights. Mr. Wild has been friends with Tiger Daddy since high school and they were groomsmen for each other's weddings. They have two daughters age 8 and 6 (well almost) who got along famously with Nana Bear - they had Princess Fashion Shows, built forts, and basically had two nights of slumber parties. Dare Bear, while not as involved with the girls, had a wonderful time with them too, being that Mr. Wild is also a train enthusiast.
The Wild Ls took us to the Oregon Zoo in Portland, which is fabulous. One of the most gorgeous zoos I have seen (not that I have seen many). Their Northwest exhibit is awesome as it winds down the natural landscape. They have a little creek running through the exhibit and at different points talk about the salmon spawning, the insects supported in the ecosystem, the types of tracks you would find, etc. The piece de resistance is their Eagle exhibit. They have two bald eagles and the creek empties into their habitat. The creek contains live fish for the Eagles to feast on. Next to the Eagle habitat is the otter and beaver habitats and you could see the otter having a grand time jumping into the water and swimming about. It was a drizzley day, so after the Northwest exhibit we rode the train. After exiting the train, we were met with a sudden downpour and quickly hightailed it to the car. Dare was so tired from all the activity, he fell asleep on the way back to the car.
After our wonderfully relaxing visit with the Wild Ls, we went to Portland, where we stayed at a gorgeous hotel. As part of the deal, we got upgraded to a suite. We put the kids in the main bedroom area, on a nice King sized bed and we slept on the pullout sofa. Sounds a little backwards, but we got to sleep together on vacation for the first time in a while. Usually, Dare Bear and I take one bed (as he is quite the mommy's boy) and Nana Bear and Tiger Daddy take the other. So I was very happy at the sleeping arrangements.
We visited with Tiger Daddy's family, which was lovely. We hadn't visited them in quite awhile so it was quite nice to see everyone. Tiger Daddy's brother and sister-in-law had flown up the day before and we got to introduce her to the rest of the family.
On Monday, we went to OMSI - Oregon Museum of Science and Industry - where everyone had a great time playing with all the hands-on science projects. It is like the Exploratorium but more polished. The kids did not want to leave.
After Oregon, we went down to Sacramento to visit Tiger Daddy's mom and relax a little before we picked up my mom and headed to Reno, where we spent the last few days of our vacation. No one won big, but the kids had a great time at the arcade, where the family won 1,046 tickets.
Not much crafting was done - a lost my yarn needle and forgot my batting at home. Now my crochet equipment and WIPs are in Sacramento... So this week may be light on the crafting.
All in all it was a great vacation, but I am glad to be home. I have a month at my "old" job and then I start my new job at the beginning of May. So lots of tidying and organizing before I leave.
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