But, before it gets too far from the actual trip, I thought I should post about it. Hannah did very well on the planes. Thank the Lord! Between reading books, opening "new" toys, coloring, listening to music, and playing with the ipad, as well as pretending to go to sleep, the trip went fairly quickly....ahem. We were both VERY THANKFUL to get off the airplane and stand up! Prior to going on the trip, I drew up some simple airplanes and wrote numbers on them. Each day, for 11 days, she took one down every morning. Gotta love the little teaching opportunities you can create for them! We reviewed numbers every day! The night before we left, she was too excited to sleep. Paul was at an engineers' banquet that night, and I attempted to put her down a whole 30 minutes early. Let's just say it didn't work. We woke her up at 4:45am on the day of departure and hit the road, hard boiled eggs and snacks in hand.
Yada yada yada, we arrived in Portland at 11:30am, Pacific Time. That is certainly nap time around here, especially considering someone woke up 3 hours early to get on a plane. Oh and did I mention, she was excited? The Manns live about 35 minutes from the airport. I'd say Hannah lasted about 20 minutes before falling asleep. And well, that was her nap for the day.
Our first full day, we went to the coast. Did you know Portland is 2 hours from the coast? Crazy. I would never have guessed it was that far, but sure indeed, it is! On the way is a cheese factory that has an observation deck, which allows you to watch them package the cheese. The kiddos loved it. Afterward, we went downstairs to their little shop and got free samples (I bought some of their black pepper white cheddar cheese). Then, to complete the cheese factory experience, we got ice cream. Go figure. Whenever Paul isn't around, Hannah and I get ice cream. Seems appropriate.
Next, we were off to the coast! We weren't actually at the coast very long, but the drive there was spectacular! This was my favorite day, by far. The kiddos amazingly held up pretty well, even though we were in the car for 4-5 hours total.
On Friday, we went to the zoo and then Laura dropped me off at the Keen store so I could try on some shoes... I know, fun. I've been on a search for shoes that are comfortable enough to fit my ginormously wide feet in...any suggestions are welcome :) After we got the kiddos down for naps, Laura let me get out and explore on my own. I went to a nearby shopping area, purused a kitchen store, talked on the phone with Paul, went to Peet's Coffee Shop, and wandered into Anthropologie (per recommendation of Tara Ferrell). Then, I proceeded to get rained on as I tried to find my way back to the car :) Fridays are pizza night at their house, so I brought gluten free dough ingredients and made taco pizza, while they made pepperoni & pineapple/ham pizza. What a fun tradition! We got lots of good time to fellowship that evening!
They just bought a house and Dave went to work over there on Saturday. Laura and I ran to a few places around town. We went and checked out this huge fabric store, and then she dropped me off in another part of town to do a little shopping. She was so gracious and kept the kids entertained in the car while I had a few minutes to myself. That afternoon, I let Laura go run some errands of her own. :)
On Sunday, I got to go check out their church. I liked it! It is a ton smaller than Cornerstone, but I like that. Everyone knows each other! It was encouraging to worship God with believers in a different church, in a city I have never been to before.
The last day was spent just hanging out talking to the Manns about lots of good things. They are so easy to fellowship with and have significant conversations with! I just wish my hubby had been there to enjoy the conversations too! Dave & Laura went out on a date for dinner that night and then Laura & I went out for chocolate afterwards. Yummm chocolate :)
Monday came and Hannah and I jumped back on a plane :( Back to reality, but also back to a wonderful husband and daddy! We are glad to be home, although I would say it was a bit difficult to get out of bed this morning, and a bit difficult to get Hannah to nap this afternoon. Hopefully we'll be back on schedule soon!
On another note, the kids had a blast playing together. Eadie Cate is 4, Levi is 2 1/2, and June is 10 months. Mostly, Hannah played with the oldest two. I think Eadie Cate and Hannah both enjoyed having another girl around, and well, they are all just so silly. I loved watching Hannah have constant playmates. She also seemed to go forward leaps and bounds in a few areas of independence while we were there because the other big kids were doing certain things (like eating a sandwich not cut up or getting up on her chair all by herself). Ohhhhhh boy. I'm trying to encourage her to be humble enough to accept help from me at times. :)
