Destination Portland

Washington schools have a "mid-winter break," in addition to the traditional winter (Christmas) and Spring breaks.  Since we are now beholden to school schedules, we decided to take advantage of the time off and head to warmer climates.  Well, not really warmer, but we did head a few hours south.  

Our main purpose in heading to Portland was to visit the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).  We have year passes to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, and the two have reciprocity agreements.  

We left on an extremely rainy Tuesday morning, and were not surprised to find Portland just as rainy as Seattle.  Our first stop was to VooDoo doughnuts in downtown Portland.  We brought along a friend on our trip - Flat Stanley (visiting from our kindergarten cousin, Kylee), and all that rain endangered his well being! We'd been warned to prepare for up to hour-long lines, but luckily for us and Stanley (who survived his dash through the downpour relatively unscathed), there were only a handful of people in the store!  We were in and out in five minutes, including the time it took the kids to choose their doughnuts.  

With no indoor seating available, we made another dash back to the van to eat the much heralded fare.

 

Even Flat Stanley had his share.  

After VooDoo, we stopped by Powell's Books, which is a monstrous bookstore with millions of new and used books.  We headed straight to the children's section, with visions of a couple hours of book hunting, reading, and enjoying.  What were we thinking?  Sometimes we forget we have 3 small, inclined-to-wild boys.  

By the time we were done with the bookstore, the kids were begging to get to the hotel, so we obliged. Within 10 seconds of entering our hotel room, Thane had stripped down to nothing ready to get on his swimsuit.  The other three weren't far behind him.  

They'd been wearing their rain boots around town, and that's what they had to wear to the pool as well. They weren't very happy that I made them wait to get in the water to take a picture first.

The hot tub was the favorite water spot.

Having all of us trying to sleep in one room often ends in fiasco, but this time around it went pretty smoothly.  Graham loved all the new spaces to explore.

The temperature controls were a particular favorite.

The following morning we arrived at the OMSI shortly after it opened.  We spent all morning in one wing of the museum, and could have stayed there all day.  Aubree and Bryce took the "biomimicry" challenge, where they tried to copy something in nature and make something that could fly.  Aubree made a quick creation, and flitted away to different stations.  Bryce worked steadily for 1/2 hour or more.

Meanwhile, Mark and Thane found a table of snap circuits.  Eventually, all the kids took time to sit with Mark and build neat little projects.  

Graham hung out with me and enjoyed making noise at the player piano-type type station.  

Our next main stop took us to a huge room full of blue balls, tubing, and air currents.  Balls were flying everywhere and the kids couldn't have been more pleased.

Flat Stanley wanted to see how well he could fly on an air current, but we advised against it since he's supposed to return to Kylee in one piece.

Graham's favorite part of the room were the three stairs.  He'd gather up a bunch of balls, throw them down to the lower level, then repeat the process.  

 I snapped this picture just as our arch came crashing down!

We always enjoy visiting the Pacific Science Center, but we have to admit, the OMSI is 10 times better!  There was soooo much to see and do.   And it's stunning location and views only add the the charm.  

They have a giant skateboarding exhibit.  The kids can learn about friction by running up and sliding down on different surfaces supposed to simulate snow, concrete, and dirt.  There were a number of other interesting things in that exhibit, but Thane chose that moment to have a meltdown, so I got to take him out.  

Thane recovered, and was able to enjoy many more awesome, hands-on experiences.

Graham took a short nap on my back in the Ergo, then was back raring to go.

What museum experience is complete without a stop in the water area?  Always a crowd favorite...

Our little mad scientist...

I HIGHLY recommend the OMSI to anyone who can make a stop in Portland.  I can't wait till we can go back!

When we were just five minutes from home, after a 3 hour drive from Portland, Thane informed us he wanted to go back.  We assured him we were super close to home, but he was adamant that he wanted to return.  Guess he had a good time.