Road trip part 2

We are heading out of Portland tomorrow bright and early. We did so many great things here I haven't gotten an opportunity to blog them all but I will work on that as soon as we get home. Which if things all go according to plan will be August 2nd.
Chance and I are on our own tomorrow then we pick Scott up at the airport in Billings, MT on the 29th to continue our journey to our friend Dan's house. We are going to hang out with him till the 1st then take off for home. As before I will blog if I can but you can definitely keep up with us on Twitter or Facebook.

Friday night we had a great outdoor adventure, we went camping. I love camping and turns out so does Grandpa Von so we packed up Chance and off we went.
Grandpa Von picked a great place near some ponds where he goes fishing. There was a flat spot for the tent, a fire circle and a nearby fishing hole what more could you ask?

We set up our tent then went for dinner at the General Store. After a tasty meal we went back to the camp site for dessert. Chance was a great helper gathering sticks for the fire which took off fast with the help of a Duralog from Safeway. We decided since Chance had never been camping before it would be wise to take out one variable and make the fire as easy as possible.


Chance did a great job roasting marshmallows then passing them on to us to eat. Much like last time he wasn't into eating them but that was ok with us.
After the sun went down we all climbed into the tent. Chance had all his usually sleeping things but I wasn't sure what would happen when bedtime came. We listened to the frogs croking by the pond and owls hooting in the trees. The moon was shining bright but after a while Chance began asking fewer questions and moving his flashlight around less and fell asleep.
We were up in the morning with the sun, it was chilly but perfect for camping. We built another fire and had a couple marshmallows for breakfast then went down to the pond for a little fishing. Afterward we packed up our campsite and headed back to the house for some coffee and breakfast.

OMSI

We made a trip recently to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. This was a great museum, we all had a lot of fun exploring all the great science experiments and seeing the awesome science artifacts like this space capsule (picture #1).

in the picture above Grandpa Von and Chance are releasing a 2 litter bottle that they had just filled with the right amount of water and air. If you follow the pillar to the left you can see a green blur near the top of the picture, that is their bottle.

There was also a whole room of vacuum tubes and blue balls. You could connect the tubes however you wanted making them go around the room or up in the air and into cones or mazes or other fun things. In the above picture Chance is using the vacuum tube in his hand to suck up the balls then they will go up into a trough where they will be released onto the conveyor near the ceiling with you can see at the top of the picture.

Chance enjoyed watching the experiment in probability in the above picture. When you pushed the button all the balls were released then taken up to the top and dropped back into the middle of the board. The idea is that even though it is random the probabilities lay with the balls falling in a curve pattern as indicated on the board in from of Chance. And true to form the balls did fall in that pattern.

There was a Chemistry Room which was a lot of fun and I think might have been my favorite part of the whole museum. Chance and I did an experiment while Grandpa took the camera for this one. We put water, vinegar and ammonia in dishes then added Grape juice, Cranberry juice and beet juice to see what happens. Each juice turned a different color depending on which substance they were added to. Chance thought it was neat that the same juice turned different colors, I am happy that he was interested even though it seemed kind of boring at first.


Now we come to what we are pretty sure was Chance's favorite part of the museum. A representation of the Port of Portland with a big crane that you can really use to pick up big lego blocks moving them off a boat onto the land then move them over another crane that can be used to move the blocks onto another boat then onto a truck that you can drive through a tunnel which will read an actually bar code on the side and tell you what is supposedly inside the container on a computer screen on top of the tunnel. See picture below.

Another science experiment we did was to find our DNA. I had no idea it was so easy but it is, Chance and I swished some water around in our mouths then spit it back into a paper cup. Then the ladies working the table added our water along with some salt and meat tenderizer to a test tube and let Chance shake it up, after it was well shook they added a little vinegar and amazingly the DNA just separated and began to float to the top. Below you see Chance and I watching the DNA move to the top of the test tube.

In another room made just for little ones under six years old. There was a little cave to explore with flashlights and sections set up like the big rooms around the museum but smaller for little guys. Below you can see Chance and Grandpa Von stacking blocks on a scale testing their weight.

Chance almost never wants to stick his head in one of these things so I had to snap this last picture at the end of the day. We saw so many more things that just couldn't make it into the blog so if you are interested you can check them out by following the link to the right to our Flickr account. We had a ton of fun at OMSI we stayed past nap time and there was still more to do, next time we come back maybe we will check out the submarine or an Imax movie.

Fishing for Cars

A few days ago we all went for a drive and a bit of fishing in a new spot. This little pond was in a beautiful area as you can see in this first picture. It is easy to imagine spending a day here relaxing with a fishing pole and a picnic lunch.

Grandpa Von and Chance worked their strategy one casting and one holding the pole, we all waited. Chance was a bit distracted by the new location and wasn't into holding the pole as much as before but we pressed on. We walked all around trying our luck at each available spot but the fish weren't biting today.

That does not mean we came back empty handed. At the end of one of the little piers Grandpa Von spotted a little car then using the fishing pole and a little reaching he came up with it. A perfect toy car in full working order.
After fishing we stopped at a local restaurant (one of Grandpa's favorites) it used to be an old general store and still is actually with a restaurant attached. You can see Grandpa and Chance playing with the new car below while we are sitting at the table waiting for our food.

Riding the Light Rail

every time we see the light rail go past Chance asks to ride. He was pretty excited when we actually got on it to ride. He sat up in his seat looking out the window most of the time. talk, talk, talking all the while. Asking about every little thing we passed and every person who got on the train. He is super observant as I imagine most kids are and is at the stage where he needs to announce what he sees to the world, so he would share out loud every little thing that happened. It's great when that happens because you know he is happy, interested and excited about what he is doing.

Both of these photos are Chance on the light rail.

Rose Garden

We decided a bus would be the best way to get the Rose garden so we hopped on the park shuttle and in just minutes we were at the gates to the International Test Rose Garden. This is where new and different strains of roses are spliced together and planted as well as many already established varieties.

It was really pretty. We walked all around, smelling each type as we passed. Chance would point at the little sign in front of each rose bush and I would read the name of the rose then we would both smell. Most were simply delicious. They try to bottle it but I haven't smelled an air freshener yet that smells as wonderful as rose in bloom.

There were white ones and red ones, yellow ones and pink ones, orange and purple and blue too.

Chance said his favorite were the orange ones. He kept going back to them to smell again and again.

After our time in the rose garden we walked down to a nearby playground to play for a while before catching the bus back toward the light rail station.

World Forestry Train

...we started walking across the parking lot toward the station to go back to the house when we spotted this train. We had to go check it out, this is "Peggy" an old logging train used to carry logs from where they were cut down to the lumber yards back in the day. Now "Peggy" is on display in front of the World Forestry Center which looks kind of cool but something to come back to when Chance is a little older. Playing on and in the train was plenty of fun for now.

We were able to walk all around it and climb up inside where Chance could pull some levers and turn some cranks. Great fun! We stayed here for a while to play, Chance was having a great time and the weather was so good we just stayed to enjoyed it.


After playing here for a while I looked at my clock to see it was still kind of early in the day so I discussed it with Chance and we decided to stay at the park and explore for a while before heading back to the house. After a little research we figured it would be best to take the park shuttle...

Portland Children's Museum

A few days ago Chance and I had a all day adventure, we rode the light rail to Washington Park which is home to lots of fun things to do like the Children's museum, the World Forestry Center and the Rose Garden. The first thing we did when we got there was head over to the Children's Museum.


The Portland Children's Museum is the sixth oldest children's museum in the country. It isn't the largest children's museum we have been to but it is definitely the cleanest and in the best working order (I didn't see a single thing broken or not working properly). The first room we went to was the water room, they had little plastic smocks for the kids to wear over their clothes, the whole room was for water play. There were water wheels and river tables, boats to float and pumps so we could pump the water up and around the room through tubes. The water room was Chance's favorite, we stayed for a while the first time and at the end when I asked him which room he wanted to go back to before we left this was the room he requested.


One of my favorite areas was the theater, at different times they use it for shows but during off times the kids can just play. There is of course the stage but there is also the wings which they had stocked with costumes to play on one side and special effects equipment like rain sticks and locks on the other. There is also a board out in the audience where you can actually take the lights up and down and push the buttons to play recorded sounds. Chance liked working the sounds and light board then running onto the stage to sing into the microphone.
I liked how they took the Theater theme through this whole area with a garage for building sets and props (Chance was too young to build here) and a dressing room area with face painting (which Chance didn't really care about).


The Children's museum also had a grocery store



A pet hospital



A clay room where we fashioned this little pot. After you finish your creation is left on display all day long for others to see then the clay is recycled at the end of the day.



A room with lots of vehicles to drive and of course a train table.



And a Digging room full of rubber mulch, dump trucks, buckets, shovels and more things used for digging.
After grabbing some lunch in the museum cafe we started walking back toward the light rail station but we got a little side tracked...

Indoor Playtime

The community center here is just great. They have all kinds of wonderful classes and facilities for people of all ages at really reasonable prices. We went swimming here a few days ago which was just great, the pool is perfect for Chance, well for all of us really but there is a whole portion of the pool where Chance can stand up all by himself, it's between 1 foot and 3 feet deep. He loved being able to control his own actions in the pool. There is also a lazy river area and two slides one for Chance size people and one that he isn't quite tall enough for yet.
Well, in the same community center every Tuesday and Thursday they have an indoor playtime for little guys just Chance's age. They separate off half of the basketball court and fill it will balls, ride-on toys and push toys then the kids are able to run around and play, play, play.

Chance had a great time riding on all kinds of toys, playing the whole two hours including some time jumping on the trampoline. The kids take turns jumping 20 times each while the parents spot (that's why there aren't any pictures of him jumping). Chance loved it, he did a great job jumping his allotted times then sitting back down on the edge to wait for his next turn.

Fishing with Grandpa Von

On Monday Chance and I went fishing with Grandpa Von. Chance was excited to go and I was looking forward to watching if not the actual fishing. Where we went to fish is a kids only stocked pond, in other words, perfect for Chance. Grandpa Von picked out two poles for Chance and had them waiting when we arrived last week so they are were ready to go out right away. Von and Chance work so well together as a fishing team, Von casts then Chance holds the pole waiting for a bite. I just stepped back and tried to stay out of the way while they sat fishing together. They have their own fishing banter back and forth just like old fishing buddies, talking about the pole, the water and whether or not the fish are biting.
Von and I were both close but not watching when Chance caught his fish. I heard him say "it's pulling, it's pulling" and when I looked over the top of his pole was bending down. We told him to hold on as we both hurried over to him. He did an excellent job holding his pole and reeling in the fish. chance was interested in the fish until it started flopping around and then he was a little scared of it so I wasn't able to get a good picture of Chance with his fish before Grandpa Von released him back into the pond.

Another reason this is a great fishing location for a Chance size beginner is there is a playground nearby so after we were finished fishing we all went to the playground to swing and slide and just play around for a while before heading back home.






Here's a little video I took of Chance and Grandpa Von fishing.

The Goonies House

You've seen The Goonies right? When I found out we were driving just a few miles from the House where part of the movie was shot I knew we had to make a little detour into Astoria, OR.

So here I am in front of The Goonies house. They must have a lot of people stopping by because they have a special sign welcoming Goonies to visit the house on foot (instead of driving up their drive way) and we ran into another couple coming to see the house at the same time. The Goonies celebrated it's 25th anniversary this past June with a big party in Astoria.

Cape Disappointment

For our second major adventure of the day we left the hotel and went to Washington. Only 40 minutes away Cape Disappointment state Park promised trails, beautiful views, beaches and two lighthouses. It delivered on all counts though we didn't walk down to the beach this time (one soaking per day is enough) we walked two wonderful nature filled trails each leading to a lighthouse and a beautiful view.

This area is still run by the US Coast Guard, one of the light houses (the second picture) is still a working lighthouse with the light going round and round just like the old days and the other (first pictured) doesn't go round but has added signal lights all around to warn ships and had a member of the Coast Guard in an outlook post with the largest binoculars I have ever seen at the time we were there.

The cape was named by a British fur trader in 1788, he was looking for the Columbia River and not finding it he turned around at the cape thereby giving it the name Cape Disappointment. Little did he know if he had only gone a couple more miles he would have been at the mouth of the river.