Grandpa & Grandma's visit!

A couple weeks ago my parents made it out for a visit.  We were the last stop on their nearly 3 week road trip around the Pacific Northwest & Canada.... coming all the way out from Iowa! 

We started off by meeting them over at the coast for a couple of days.  Soon after we arrived, we took a 30 minute train ride to another little coast town.  We stayed at the town just long enough to get an ice cream cone (I think we had ice cream every day when they were here - it was great).  :)

Grandpa & Grandma with the boys

Gavin loved the train.  Elijah was quickly "unimpressed"

We started off the next day at the Tillamook cheese factory.  Honestly, it wasn't super impressive - there wasn't much going on at the factory on that morning (it was a Friday), so we just walked around a bit.  However, we did get some ice cream (before noon even) and I got some cheese curds (aka squeaky cheese - great stuff).

The Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Gavin communicating that he would really like a snack.

Gavin & Grandma went back to the hotel so Gavin could nap, so the rest of us took off on a little adventure.  We found this lighthouse and the Octopus tree.

After that adventure, we headed over to the beach.  Just to play.  We spent a couple of hours there and the boys just had a blast.  Elijah had some sort of imaginary game going on involving guys robbing our hotel and burying things in the sand.  Gavin enjoyed finding/throwing rocks, watching the dogs fetch, and just playing.  And I didn't bring my camera. 

On our way back home the next day we ventured over to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.  Gavin absolutely loves animals, so it was a lot of fun for him.  Elijah doesn't get too excited about animals, but I think he still enjoyed it. 

This is getting to be a long post, but they were here for almost a week!  We were busy!  That weekend we went for a drive up on the Cascade Lakes Highway and stopped at Elk Lake for lunch.  Just throwing rocks in the water and playing in the dirt can entertain the boys for hours.

On the way back home we stopped in the resort town of Sunriver and did some biking.  The town has bike paths everywhere and the resort pool looked really nice.  They are also in the process of building another pool.  But, I didn't bring my camera.  It was a lot of fun!





The last night Grandma & Grandpa were here we celebrated Elijah's 5th birthday (a little bit early). 

 Elijah designed the cake himself.  In between the candles are light sabers (insert creative imagination here).  He even picked out the colors himself.

Gavin continues not to like ice cream, but he has taken to enjoying cake and cookies. 

Elijah really likes to dress up.  He got a Yoda costume and a doctor costume for his birthday.  That adds to the collection he already has which includes a police officer and a fire fighter.  These costumes create hours of enjoyment for him and our family. :)




That concludes the summary of the visit with my parents.  So glad they were able to make the long drive out to Oregon and come see us!  :)