Oregon- Part three- Oregon, Washington & North Dakota

Alright here is the run down of the rest of our time in Oregon and our trip to Washington and drive home. 

After getting home from California, Stephanie and I took Deveney out for tea. This was her mother's day gift from this last mother's day and we were excited to take her to cash it in. 
We did the "high tea" and it was so fun. 
We each got to pick out our own pot of tea- whatever flavor we wanted. 
Then they brought out cream and sugar and we poured our cups. 

I tried a new one called "Rooibos" and it was delicious. It's an herbal tea from Africa and it was great with cream. 

The food consisted of little finger sandwiches, a soup and then little sweet treats. 
It was fun and we enjoyed some quality time with Deveney

That same night the kids and I went with Dad to visit a childhood friend. This is actually Michael Mattson's older brother and we went over to have dinner together. 
I didn't realize we would be eating over the campfire, but it was delicious. 
While the food cooked on a spit over the fire, the kids enjoyed ziplining and swinging. 

We had a nice night and got home long after dark. It was fun.

Besides that we just hung out with the cousins and Mimi and Grandpa.

Bailey absolutely loved Aunt Stephanie's kitty, Luna. 

We had one more sleepover. Chase and Conner slept over at Mimi's with Tanner, while my other kids went over to Aunt Stephanie's to have a sleepover with Paige. 

Our last night was spent at Mimi and Grandpa's house. The kids had picked blackberries that day so Mimi could make a cobbler. Tucker loves picking berries and eating all the fresh fruits and veggies around Mimi's garden and orchard. 

Chris and Grandpa wanted to do some shooting and Tanner was all about that. 

Chris even taught Bailey how to shoot. She didn't love it but she had fun. 

The rest of us just hung out outside. It was a beautiful evening and we wanted to take full advantage of it. We really love the evenings in Oregon. Sitting on the back patio, watching the sun go down is one of my favorite things about our Oregon visits. 

Tucker also enjoyed gathering apples and feeding them to Grandpa's cows. His entire shirt was filled with apples and it was pretty cute. 
I helped him feed them to the cows and he made sure that all the cows got at least one apple. 

The next morning we left to drive to Washington state. My best friend, Christie, lives in Washington and we decided to stop for a visit on our drive home. 

But before leaving Oregon, we stopped in Portland at Powell's book city. This bookstore is massive. We are talking multiple floors and it spans an entire city block. We could have spent much longer there, but we had fun. 
Mimi had given Bailey some money for her birthday so she spent that at the bookstore and it was really hard for her to narrow down her picks because the selection was massive. 

Portland was also a weird experience. It's been overrun with homeless people and the police can do nothing about it because the state has made laws against it. 

Because the police aren't allowed to enforce the laws, businesses have hired private security. 
There is security everywhere, but there are also homeless people everywhere. 
The area where "Powell's" is located is not an area you would want to find yourself after dark. It felt sketchy even during the day. 

From Portland, we drove the 4 hours to Christie's in Richland, WA. 

We got there in time for dinner. Steve left to grab pizza for the kids and the adults went out for Thai food. It was delicious and we had fun getting to chat and catch up.

Our kids are all similar ages, except I have a fourth child and she has three.

Our kids all get along well and they were happy to hang out while we went to get dinner. 

The next day we ate breakfast and then packed lunches and went over to the river to play. 
The Columbia river is massive and runs from Canada down through Washington and into Oregon. 

But we were able to just play in a little inlet where there wasn't much of a current at all. 

We had  a great time. We canoed, paddleboarding and just swam and played on the shore. 

Chris took the kids out on the canoe and they had a great time. 

Naturally, Bailey laid on the grass reading most of the time. 

Once back at Christie's house, we changed and hung out. My kids were completely obsessed with Christie's dog, Fritz. 

While the kids were chilling at home, Christie and I went out to run some errands and she took me to her restaurant supply store so I could stock up on soda syrups. Honestly my van was so packed that it was a challenge to find a place to put these bottles. I was shoving them in every nook and cranny but it was totally worth it.  
Chris thinks I'm crazy because I really don't drink a ton of soda, but when I do, I love to have syrup flavors to add to it. 

 That night was our last night together. After the kids went to bed, Christie and I stayed up until almost 3 am talking and catching up. We talk all the time on the phone and marco polo, but its not the same as talking in person. It was so nice to have some quality time to catch up and really check in with one another. We have grown up in motherhood together and as our kids get older, the challenges change and I'm so grateful for our friendship and the support it offers. 

The next morning we left to drive home. It was so sad to leave but I'm grateful we had a chance to see the Thornocks. 

We drove home via North Dakota because that's one of the states we hadn't been to yet. 
We drove about 14 hours when we left Christie's. We got a hotel for the night and then the next morning we visited Theodore Roosevelt National Park. 

We couldn't get over the bison just roaming around the park. They literally walked right next to our van. 

We did a short hike to the overlook to view the painted canyon. 

The canyon is beautiful with the variety of different color rocks. 

We didn't have long to spend in the park but we enjoyed it. 

Then we hopped back into our trusty van and drove all the way home. 

We had a wonderful trip and now that we are back it feels like summer is over. 
Tanner leaves for Youth Conference tmrw. Then we have about a week and school starts. 

I'm grateful for a husband that is willing to make visiting family a priority. These trips build relationships and those relationships are important. Plus, they are fun!