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.

To the coast

Last Friday Scott, Chance and I went to spend a day on the coast. We drove over to Seaside, OR where they have a boardwalk with shops and restaurants and a wonderful beach.
This part of the shoreline looks a lot like Florida with one major exception, it's cold! The air is chilly coming in off the water and the water itself is way too cold for any of us Southerners to actually get in but it is still tons of fun to take your shoes off and play in the sand as the waves roll up and that is exactly what we did.

When we first arrived the air was foggy so much so we couldn't see the water from the top of the beach. Chance played and played running into the water then running away as a wave would come. He did this till we made him leave, he was soaked and starting to shiver from the cold.

We changed his clothes then walked back up the boardwalk area, we stopped at a pretty cool toys store where we added to Chance's car collection then Chance and I rode the Merry-Go-Round while Scott bought a new hat and took video of us on his new phone which unfortunately didn't turn out but don't worry there is more video to come very soon.
We then had fish and chips for lunch (how could you not considering the location) which was really good then drove down to a little state park where it was nap time so we all curled up and took a nap in the warm summer sun.

After our nap we checked into our hotel for the night but after bringing in our bags and resting for a little bit we decided it was still to early to call it a day so we went on another adventure this time to the North...

Concert at the Zoo

We went to a concert at the Portland Zoo. We all had fun sitting on the grass listening to the music, just relaxing and enjoying the weather and being together. This first picture was made awesome by Scott. He and Chance are waiting for the concert to start.

The zoo itself wasn't officially open but we were able to walk through some of the areas and see some animals. We saw bears and mountain goats and actually an animal that Chance specifically requested though I am not sure what made him think of it, an Eagle. Chance had a good time riding this big John Deer tractor and though the Polar Bears were in their beds for the night we took this cute picture of Chance in the polar bear exhibit measuring his height. He is 3 feet and 3 inches tall but still shorter than the shortest bear on the wall.

Powell Butte Nature Park

Portland is known for it's parks and we had a wonderful time this week exploring the ones nearby. We walked the trails at Powell Butte Nature Park through meadowlands and cedar groves (the first picture is Scott and Chance in the meadow walking toward the cedar grove in the background). Chance was running and ready to go when we started and although he had the adventuring spirit he was a little tired near the end and started to whine. Whining gets you nothing especially not carried to the car so after a brief rest we pressed on with a whiner in tow. It's kind of humorous because with his vocabulary he now says things like "I'm going to die" and "the car is too far I'll never make it." Despite his best verbal efforts to thwart us we all three pressed on down the trail. When Chance saw that we had indeed made it back to the parking lot he said "I made it" and you could obviously hear the amazement in his voice. For a few moments there he really thought he wasn't going to make it so when we finally arrived he was a bit unbelieving. We gave him lots of praise and told him we knew he could do it, he had a huge smile on his face.

Even though these are out of order this was our first hiking/walking adventure this week and I am happy to report Chance had no trouble keeping up or believing in himself for any of the rest of our explorations.

Mt Tabor Park

We also explored Mount Tabor Park this past week. A really nice park close to the house with a playground and nice hiking trails. We parked the car and started out for a walk first following the green trail then the blue trail then the red trail not really knowing where we were going but just looking for some fun adventure. We found both as we walked up and down and all around the "mount" getting in our daily exercise for sure and finding a geocache in the process, bonus! After our hiking exploration we rested while Chance played on the playground with some other kids. He's such a social little guy it was great to let him play some kids his age.

Latourell Falls

This entry is postdated.We dropped Scott off at the airport today so I will be working hard to catch up on the blog, because we have been keeping ourselves busy the last week.
We went to Latourell Falls after stopping at the Vista House on our drive a few days ago. The falls are beautiful, we followed the trail down to the bottom of the falls where we could feel the spray as we stood on the bridge over rocks and water looking up at the falls.

We continued along the trail beside the creek and under the bridge we had just driven across to a picnic pavilion and marker dedicated the the first settlers in this area. Chance loves being outside and the weather is perfect for hiking here so we have been outside a lot the last few days.

In Portland

We made it to Nana and Grandpa Von's house around 3:00pm on the 4th of July. We saw some beautiful countryside in our five days going across the country but it was oh so good to arrive in Portland. We visited and took it easy for the rest of Sunday then Monday Grandpa and Nana took Chance fishing. Grandpa had already gotten Chance two fishing poles sized right for him so they were ready to go bright and early Monday, actually Chance was a little more bright and early than the rest of us but after a little waking up they were off. Together they caught two fish, Chance was reluctant at first but he got the first fish on his line he was ready for more. I think he's ready to go again anytime.
Today Nana and Grandpa Von let us drive the Lexus for a quick drive down Multnoma Falls Highway to Vista House and hiking near the waterfalls.

Vista House is an observatory along the highway affording a wonderful view up and down Columbia River Gorge. We walked all around it then inside and up the stairs to the upper observation deck.


It is a very pretty building, it was completed in 1918 and it shows in a good way. It is solid with beautiful Marble floors and little appointments here and there that make it a sight to see in itself. Then to be set among these wonderful views, Vista House is a great place to stop and have a look around.