Mini Vacay: Portland

Since we're having a baby in early August, that means we won't be able to take a longer summer vacation.  Instead, I planned a series of mini vacations a little earlier in the year.  We just finished our first trip, an overnighter to Portland.

We took advantage of reciprocity benefits from our Pacific Science Center membership, and spent the afternoon of day 1 at the Portland Children's Museum.  We'd been to this museum once before, about three years ago, which ended up being both a help and a hindrance.  It helped Mark and I have a better idea of how much time to allot to each area, but Aubree remembered some of her favorite areas and was always in a hurry to move on to the next fun thing.  Graham was happy to follow her wherever she went, but Bryce and Thane (Bryce especially) preferred to take their time in each area. 

Aubree is just on the cusp of being too old for this museum, but she was great about sticking with Graham and playing with him as much as possible.  They're really great buddies. 

I definitely saw personality characteristics come to the surface on this outing.  As I mentioned, Bryce liked to get fully immersed in each area.  He was particularly drawn to engineering-type tasks.  He really enjoys figuring out how things work and designing, planning, and building things.  

When we ventured into the ubiquitous grocery store, Bryce quickly designated himself a "worker" and started putting the food left behind by other, less conscientious kids, back where they belonged.  

Speaking of being fully immersed, Thane loved the hands-on exhibits.  "Bury me!" he begged.  Thane is a little scientist.  He really thinks about all the things he hears and asks numerous follow-up questions.  He has an intense desire to understand what's going on around him.

Aubree loved the art and story-telling areas best.  She carefully designed a pinch pot in the clay room, and was eager to set it on the display table.  

Actually, all the kids loved the clay area...even when they added too much water and their clay turned to mud.

A new exhibit this time around was a circus area.  This was a pretty big hit all around.

Walking the tightrope:

What a strong man!

We left the Children's Museum shortly after 3pm and headed for our hotel.  The kids were eager to go swimming, and the hotel pool did not disappoint.  It was warm and relatively shallow, and all our little fish loved every single minute.

Once they were done swimming, we changed back to regular clothes and went out for dinner.  The Mexican restaurant right next to the hotel just happened to be having a Kid's Eat Free night.  Score!  All four kids got dinner for free, including an ice-cream cone.  I wish I could say it was great planning on my part, but really it was just tremendous luck.

The next morning we headed off on our final Portland adventure, a return visit to the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry).  We went last year and had such a great experience we were all eager to return.  And again, it did not disappoint.  We hit some of our favorite exhibits (such as the earthquake house), but were impressed with how much was totally new.  

Our kids are at a really great age.  We didn't need a stroller, and for the most part they stuck right with us and were enthusiastic, willing little scientists.  We had a couple melt downs (Thane), but that's just life.

Bryce experimenting with static electricity

Aubree showed off her musical skills when she found a pipe organ.

We stopped exploring briefly to have a picnic lunch in our car.

Complete with Jelly Belly trading posts as a conclusion.

Then we were right back to exploring.  That meant two days with no nap for Graham, but he handled it like a champ (and fell promptly asleep as soon as we started driving home).  Our last stop of the day was in the little kid science playground.  Aubree and Graham explored lots of different areas, but Bryce and Thane stayed in the sand pit until it was time for us to leave (and even then they were reluctant to go).  As you might expect, this lent itself to lots of sand in their hair, car seats, and later, their beds.  Still, so much fun.

As we were driving home, reflecting on every one's favorite vacation moments, my driver's side windshield wiper suddenly flew off!  Within a few moments, the skies opened up in a torrential downpour.  I put the remaining wiper on full speed, leaned over to Mark's side, and made our way to the nearest exit.  

Did I mention we were in the middle of nowhere?  Nearest WalMart? 69 miles.  Nearest auto parts store? 89 miles.  Excellent.

Mark is a genius, and had the brilliant idea to switch the passenger side wiper over to my side.  Then he took a baby wipe, wrapped it around the exposed end of the empty blade holder, and held it together with an elastic from Aubree's hair.  It worked great for the remaining two hours of our drive.  Nothing like ending a trip with a little excitement!