We arrived in Portland on the 4th of July, moved into the PACE house, then went to Jeff's cousin Debbie's house for a family gathering. I met Susan and Aubrey for the first time, and really enjoyed spending time with them. And, as always at Debbie's house, the food was amazing and abundant.
Tuesday morning we let Blake take a long catch-up nap and then headed to the OMSI. I love that museum! We could have made several more visits that week, but, alas, we just spent a few hours there. Ben and Ethan spent some time working together loading freight onto cargo ships and then onto trucks at the harbor:
We all spent some time in the ball room:
A floating ball? Such fun for our ball-loving toddler!
Wednesday was the first day with therapists. We started with Steve, our favorite, and chose to visit the mini-golf course. We like Steve because he starts with our natural abilities or tendencies and builds on them to make them better.
Steve set up the swing and Ben and Eliza each took a turn. I, of course, wanted to see them really fly, but Steve was very appropriately respectful of their comfort zones.
We also worked with Kathi that day - in the house and then on a hike in the nature park. I didn't take any pictures because she was really working with some grouchy kids. That night we went to Oregon City to have dinner with Aunt Pat and Uncle Cornell. We took a walk in the beautiful evening and fed the neighbor's farm animals, including this very domineering white goat:
Thursday morning we spent with Eric in the backyard, trying new games. In the afternoon we enjoyed a trip to the Oregon Zoo with Steve.
Ethan, almost as tall as a Black Bear (actually, that chart's a little off because Ethan is measuring 5'5" these days):
Ben, the height of a Sun Bear:
Each of the big kids donated a dollar to the (live) Vulture after the bird show. Ben accepted many re-directions from the zoo-lady without freaking out. Phew!
A beautiful, BIG, Bald Eagle, up close and personal:
ROAR!
Critters:
Hello little beaver friend!
Beautiful, green Oregon! How we love your lush vegetation!
Ooo Ooo a Monkey:
Friday morning we spent with Eric at the house, coaxing some play in the loft. We made sure to get a new family picture in the bean bags. This is a fair represenation of how we all felt after 2.5 days of family therapy:
But we had one last session with Kathi to go! So to the bowling alley we drove:
Blake - everyone's biggest fan:
Friday afternoon we spent enjoying the fun backyard of PACE Place on our own - (something we couldn't do on our last visit in cold January).
Friday night we visited Jeff's BYU friends, the Halversons, who served us dinner and Wii and kindness. Saturday morning we packed up and were off to Sunriver ... but with some side trips on the way. Krispy Kreme! We don't have one near our home town, so this was a fun indulgence:
And a lovely hike to see two more luscious, Central Oregon waterfalls.
Don't worry, Blake didn't jump in - he's just enjoying the scenery and not interested in looking at the camera:
It was a good family vacation - full of fun but learning at the same time. Will we go to PACE Place again? Not sure, but we'll definitely be back to explore more wonders of Oregon.
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