Spring Break 2013

We took a road trip this past spring - a vacation to Oregon! What made it interesting was that we took the car so, the four of us were quite intimate on the 17 hour drive :) Plus, I was nearly 5 months pregnant with Alison! It was a good memory making trip and I am so glad we went.

 Taking a lunch break during the road trip at a cute little rest stop.

Downtown Oregon City at the old elevator!

Downtown Oregon City

Had to show the girls where Gramma Karen worked :)

Went to lunch at Mike's Drive-In and to the park with uncle Russell in Oregon City. The girls had a good time. This was the first time that Lauren met Russell and she just loved him. She got him pushing her on the swing many, many times. She still talks about him and wants to visit with him but doesn't quite understand how far away he is which makes it difficult to see him on a regular basis.

Yes, the girls had a long day and are passed out in bed but I took this picture because Lauren isn't even on her side of the bed and is sharing Tahlor's pillow all snuggled up to her. I thought it was cute and funny.

Tahlor made a new bug friend in Oregon. I wish we had them in Las Vegas.

One day we went to downtown Portland and it was gorgeous! I took the family on a walk in Waterfront Park. I remember Tahlor was running along the cement path in the grass and came upon a patch of mud (something not seen often in Vegas). I am sure she did not even notice it and whoosh there she landed.

While we were in Portland we had to have lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory. It was delicious - wishing they would bring it back to Las Vegas.

A super large, almost adult-sized swing we found in the park near our hotel.

What is a trip to Oregon without heading to the coast and visiting the cheese factory in Tillamook?

The best treat ever - elephant ears! A fried dough sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

These are taken at the beach in Seaside, Oregon.

Another long and exciting day for the girls - love how they are both sleeping in the car (usually it is just Lauren that falls asleep in the car).

Dad's takes

A few pictures that John has recently captured on his iPhone. I love that he does stuff with the girls and sends me snapshots like these throughout the day.



Tahlor is upset about some sand fleas at the beach.





Lauren has buried her hands.



The beginnings of a grand sandcastle.

June Vacation

I am thinking you've guessed it from my earlier post...yes, we headed to Coronado for some relaxation and playtime. It was fantastic! We could not have asked for better weather although I have to say that it was deceptive compared to Vegas weather in terms of making sure to be protected from the sun. There was a bit of burnage but none the less still a great time.

There was the beach, the bay, the pool, bike riding, fireworks, lots of walking and even a trip to the Wild Animal Park (which is now called Safari Park but I will always refer to it as the prior).



Hello from Coronado

Summer vacation...final leg

The last part of our summer vacation was actually, well, a staycation. However, we still managed to get out to do somethings we hadn't done before. One of which was take the tour at the Hoover Dam. It's funny that after all the years of living in Las Vegas and Northern Arizona with trips to Las Vegas, I've never stopped to explore the dam. And now that they have finished the bypass bridge, it gave me even more reason to make it one of our destinations this summer.

The tour started out with a short video on the history of making the dam then followed up by an elevator ride down into the earth and power plant. The girls had fun too. Especially, Tahlor. The tour guide allowed Tahlor to select the different levels in the elevator that we were to visit. Post tour, we wondered around the souvenir shop, picking up a nice commemorative coin and our family photo superimposed over an image of the dam. We also checked the exhibits. There was an upper level that served as an observation area and we captured some nice images outside of the dam and bridge. Across the street we found a great show about the water system within the southwest states which including a large, mapped exhibit.

After leaving the dam, I requested that we drive over the new bridge just to say we did. It was disappointing though because you could hardly notice that you were on a bridge and you cannot see the dam or anything for that matter.

 Underneath us here is one of the several canals of water that are coming from Lake Mead and getting ready to pass through the power generators.

 This is what it was like to walk through the side of the mountains to get to different areas of the power plant.

 The area where the generators are!

 The Hoover Dam, of course.

 The girls cooperating to take a picture at the observation level.

A glimpse of the bridge.