Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Paige and the Boys Visit Portland

 Zach had to do flight training in North Dakota all summer so Paige decided to visit me in Portland for a few weeks instead of hanging out in a North Dakota hotel with 4 kids all summer:) We had SO much fun doing all the cool Portland adventures. I hope the boys have great memories of visiting T-Chelle at her house!

Conquering the climbing rock at Orchard Park

Splash Pad fun on a hot day

New video games to play

Alistair being a cutie

Having fun at the rock museum

The loved this playground with a giant wooden monkey you can climb on

Penguins at the zoo




Everyone loved the new baby elephant

Salt and Straw ice-cream...

...so yummy you don't even care if its dripping down your elbow:)

The boys had a lot of fun playing with the RC car over at the Patterson ball field

They loved using the light boards to trace images I printed off for them. Then they would color them and create cool backgrounds, it was lots of fun

Ali was a great helper in the yard pulling weeds...

...and feeding the squirrels 

We made necklaces out of breakfast cereal then Graham hung some cherries on his ears for earrings...so gorgeous 

S'mores!

Playing in the sandbox

Ali and Peter...just checking each other out

At the top of the fire lookout tower at the Tillamook Forestry Center

Our friend Smokey the Bear

At the Tillamook cheese factory

The Cape Meares lighthouse was just closing right as we got there so we weren't able to explore the inside but it's still a fantastic view of the ocean...even outside the lighthouse

We had a great time playing in the sand at Oceanside

Snuggling a cold Ali at the beach

The cool rock tunnel at Oceanside

Paige and her boys

In Vernonia

Found some very personal graffiti on the wall!

Playing in the creek in Vernonia



Ali got pretty cold...that creek water is freezing!

The twins joined us on this adventure. They were so great with their little cousins!

Skipping rocks at the creek

Movie Time. Over the course of the summer I took the boys to see "Lilo and Stitch" (live action) "How to Train Your Dragon" (live action) as well as the new Pixar movie "Elio"

OMSI had an amazing dinosaur/lego exhibit

Everything was made from legos!

Lots of hands on things for the kids to do

Showing off their lego creations

Cecil and Graham did a week long summer camp at Patterson with Mr. Twigg. They played PE games all day and had so much fun!

While Cecil and Graham were having fun I took Remy and Ali to feed the ducks at the library:)

Frozen Yogurt!!

The boys wanted to show Townsend all their drawings

We went to the Hillsboro 4th of July parade where the boys each got enough candy to last them a whole year!

Zach came to visit from North Dakota for the 4th of July weekend. We had a wonderful walk around Fern Hill wetlands

We saw my favorite animal...baby ducks:)

Grill master for the 4th of July barbecue

Doxey's, DeShetler's and Durtschi's...oh my!


We played with some sparklers while we waited for the big 4th of July fireworks

Happy 4th of July!!

Ali playing in the fountain at the Hillsboro farmers market

The "big boys" hanging out at the market

Oma flew up from Utah to be here for baby Stevie's baby blessing. Four generations of good looking ladies 💖

Hyrum and I took Oma over to Sand Island for a little walk and swim...Oma didn't get in the water but it was a super hot day and I'm glad I brought my swimsuit!

Zach loves playing games so he got us all together for some fun.

Blueberry picking is the BEST because they fall off the bush super easy and they don't have any thorns!

    
Playing around at Camp 18 on our way to Astoria

Remy having fun with an old chainsaw at the logging camp

Ali "driving" an old logging truck

Cecil wanted to punch big foot in the nards 😆

Camp 18 has the best burgers!

At the Astoria column with the best view of the Columbia River

We bought some airplanes for the boys to throw from the top of the tower



Up, up, up we go to the top of the tower

Made it to the top, what a view!

The boys doing some hands on activities at Fort Clatsop in Astoria...learning to write with ink and quill

These boys are ready to explore with Lewis and Clark!

Fort Clasp with some crazy kids!

The newest sworn in Junior Rangers:)

Playing fascination in Seaside


In Seaside


It doesn't matter how cloudy and cold the day is (or the water) boys will get in the ocean when they ave a chance!

Gelato in Seaside

A long and busy day in Astoria and Seaside but we had so much fun!

We went out for a sail with the littles

Oh my goodness...so cute! Captain Ali!



Hyrum docked at Sand Island and we had so much fun swimming in the little cove beside the dock

We went into downtown Portland for some fun and voodoo donuts

We found a fun playground for the kids

Mmmm....Voodoo donuts

Enjoying donuts by the waterfront

We walked all along the waterfront watching boats and people along the way

We took the train to OHSU...

...then the aerial tram up, up, up to our parked car. What a fun day in Portland!

On the last weekend Paige was in Oregon we headed up to Lake Tanwax to stay at the Christensen's lake house. 

We were going to be there one weekend...Hyrum packed enough food for a month!

Remy and Graham jumped from the high dive

The kayaks were a lot of fun

A little family of ducks stopped by each morning for some bread for their breakfast:)

Hyrum and the boys relaxing at the lake house

Cousins!!

Aaron and Kari brought their boat to the bakehouse and we all had tons of fun riding around....

...these brave boys even got towed around the lake!

Living their best lives at the bakehouse!

S'mores face!

The Christensen's are seriously the BEST!

Ducks looking for their breakfast

Paige's first time paddle boarding and she was able to stand up!! Well done Paige!

Townsend making this look easy:)

Food just tastes better at the lakehouse


Playing spike ball...

...and Kubb

Jacob and Aodhan came out for dinner and a swim

Getting ready for one last paddle down to the river and back. Paige had 3 boys...

...I had one:)

It was sad to say goodbye to the lake house but we stopped in Ridgfield on the way home for some delicious ice cream...

...and we got to stand on the overpass as a giant train ran under us!...

...and we got to explore around the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge 



Climbing around on a giant tree

Walking around the Tuesday night market looking at all the classic cars on display

Remy got to stay up late with his cousins on his last night in Portland...they had tons of fun playing together.

Townsend and Emerson came out to say goodbye and wave us off as we started our drive to Wyoming!


We certainly packed a lot of fun things into 3 weeks together. I'm so glad that I got to spend time with these cute boys and their mom before they move so far away. I'm really glad my boys got to spend time with their young cousins as well, I think it was great for them to hang out. The DeShetler's will be gone overseas for 2 years but hopefully they will make a plan to stop over in Portland when they are coming back to the States...there will always be a place for them here:)

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