Oregon in May (continued)

After playing at the beach we went back to my Grandma's place for Emmett to nap. She stayed at home with him while my mom and I went shopping and Jim went photographing. We all convened again for a good lunch and then we drove back to Corvallis.

On Tuesday Jim, Emmett, my Mom and I walked to a fun park that I remember playing at when I was little. There is a big steam engine, which was a little intimidating to Emmett at first. He got his courage up enough to get up in it, and ate his snack up there. They also have a concrete sculpture area that we always called the dinosaur bones. They are so fun to play in!Then Emmett and Jim went to his parent's and my mom and I hung out for the afternoon.

On Wednesday we packed up our things and made the move to stay with Jim's parents. In the afternoon we headed up to Salem to have Jim's sister, Beth, do some family pictures for us. The weather was pretty rainy and windy but she got some great shots! Her husband, Aaron, came along too and held umbrellas and got some good smiles from Emmett. After pictures Winn and Audrey got home from school and we spent the afternoon with them. In the evening Jim's parents and Grandma came over for a big dinner.

Thursday Jim went fishing with his Dad and a friend. They were fishing for kokanee and had some luck, but not a lot. My Mom in law, Emmett and I met my Mom in town to shop and have lunch. In the afternoon we did some other errands including stopping at a fun toy store where I picked up a lot of art supplies for Emmett. The weather was fairly rainy so it was a good day for being inside...glad I wasn't fishing!

On Friday morning Jim helped his Dad on a job. While Emmett was playing with Grandma she got out some Sesame Street figures and he promptly went to the TV and asked to have it on. That was kind of strange since Emmett never really watches TV. He's seen a few short clips of Sesame Street on our computer, so I guess he's sort of got it figured out. We also went downtown and met Mikaylee who came to town for part of the weekend. We took Emmett to another fun toy store and he played at the train table for a good 30 minutes. That evening Mikaylee, Mom and I went to happy hour at a great bar. My sister just recently turned 21, so that was a first for the three of us!

On Saturday we went up to Portland. We travelled up with my parents and sister and stopped at my Aunt Dee and Uncle Michael's home. My cousin MB was also there. I spent a lot of time with them as I was growing up, our families meshed really well as both of us older cousins are only 4 months apart. So I love spending time with them and having Emmett get to know them too. We had some fabulous bagels and a good time catching up. This also gave Emmett a chance to get a nap before heading to the zoo. Mikaylee's boyfriend Mark also met up with us there.

So then it was off to the zoo to meet up with Jim's Mom, sister and niece and nephew. There were 11 in our group and we stayed together pretty well. Emmett had lots of "helpers" to carry him, hold his hand, push his stroller, hold him up to see animals, etc! I've included lots of pictures and a few memories.

The big tank that Emmett is standing by was full of fish. My dad found some worms along side the path and threw them in one at a time. It was crazy to watch the fish gobble them up!

After an hour or two of walking we decided to take a ride on the zoo train. With Emmett's recent facination with trains we thought this would be fun and exciting for him. The train we rode was pulled by a steam engine that made all the cool noises. It mostly winds through the forest, you can't see a lot of animals, but it is quite the experience. I think the train ride pushed him over the edge and turned him into a train maniac...he talks about trains all the time now!

Emmett loves to talk about animals, especially monkeys and elephants. He is used to watching monkeys at the zoo by our house, but the Oregon Zoo had much bigger monkeys, like chimpanzees and orangutans (technically apes I guess). It was fun to see an elephant in real life, I think he was kind of surprised by how big it was.

After the zoo we all went to Red Robin for dinner and then headed back to Corvallis.

Sunday morning we went to church with Jim's parents. Afterwards Jim's mom had an early birthday party for me at their house. My parents and brother came and Jim's grandma, sister and kids. We had a great lunch and I got to open presents. We had a great trip, and it was long enough that we felt ready to get back into our normal routines. We got the car all packed on Sunday night and after a few hours of sleep we left just before 3am. That allowed Emmett to sleep for a good portion of the trip and Jim and I each got a little sleep in the car too.