On Saturday we went to the driving range near Uncle J’s house to hit some balls. It was a really nice day to be outside. Tyler was eager to hit the golf balls, but Natalie was very girly with her swing.

Yesterday, my friend came to San Jose for a visit and since I was going to be gone for most of the day, David took the kids to the city to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge. Tyler, true to form, kept riding ahead of Natalie and David and would occasionally stop to let them catch up. When they got to the other side of the bridge, he sped ahead and the path split in half. Tyler took one path and David and Nat took another. Tyler soon realized he was lost and started to cry. A lady asked Tyler if he was lost and he said yes. He only knew my cell phone number but when she called me, I missed the call.

When I checked my phone later, I had 2 voicemails. One from David and one from a strange number. I listened to David’s first. His message was telling me to ignore the first voicemail and that everything was ok. The voicemail from the strange number was from the lady who found Tyler. She was letting me know that he was lost and that she would stay with him until he was found.

The path that David and Nat took was downhill. When he realized he had to look for Tyler by riding back up the hill, he told Nat to wait at the bottom so she wouldn’t get too tired riding back up. David soon found Tyler when he rode back up the hill and when they rode back down to Nat, he found her teary eyed. He asked her if she was worried that Tyler was lost forever and she said yes.

When I saw Tyler in the evening, I told him it was a good thing that he remembered my number and he was lucky that a nice lady helped him. I was glad everything turned out OK. I’m also glad I missed the woman’s call. I would’ve been a nervous wreck while David was looking for Tyler.

Our final day in Portland. So far so fun! I can imagine myself living here. Everything is so green! The air is clean, traffic isn’t too bad, food is great, and there’s NO SALES TAX!

For breakfast, we went to Slappy Cakes. Another recommended place. This place was so much fun. You order pancake batter and any sides and make your own pancakes. The kids loved this. They said it was their favorite eating place during our trip. Nat got creative and made Hello Kitty and Tyler, of course, made Peep!

After breakfast, we went to the Japanese Garden. This garden is suppose to be the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan. It was so beautiful inside!

Our final stop before heading to the airport was the Portland Aerial Tram. It was a quick couple mins up and down a hill, but we got a great view of Portland!

We drove about an hour and a half out to Tillamook to visit the Tillamook cheese factory. A lot of cheese is made here! It was cool to see the factory and how cheese was made and packaged. We got to sample a variety of cheese and enjoyed some grilled cheese and ice cream!



After the cheese factory, we drove about 5 miles north to Bay City and found a small seafood restaurant that served the best clam chowder and raw oysters I’ve ever had! Afterward, we drove back to Portland, did some light shopping, had ramen for dinner and then headed over to an ice cream shop called Salt & Straw. This place was also recommended. They have hand made ice cream in special flavors. Tyler got sea salt with caramel ribbons, Nat got freckled woodblock chocolate, and I got coffee & bourbon. David just tasted all of ours.



On our second day, we drove over to Multnomah Falls which was about a 40 min drive outside of Portland. This place was beautiful! The waterfalls and the views were really spectacular. It’s also a great place for a nice hike. The hike was about 1 mile from the bottom of falls to the top. We weren’t prepared for the hike, but the kids marched on and went all the way to the top.

In the afternoon, we met up with Auntie Cindy and Uncle Mark who live in Portland. They took us to a local winery for some wine tasting and then over to Big Al’s for some bowling and fun. Big Al’s was Tyler’s favorite part of the trip. It’s a place with a bowling alley, arcade, and sports bar/restaurant all in one. We need one of these in the bay area.

David ordered this huge burger called “Crazy Al”
  

VOODOO DONUTS!
 

Here’s a video of the kids playing at the winery

For Spring Break this year, we spent a few days in Portland, OR. I’ve been wanting to go to Portland for some time now and since I failed at planning a trip to Disneyworld, Portland was an affordable alternative. The kids were excited to go anywhere on a plane so they didn’t mind.

We were lucky to be visiting Portland just in time for the tulip festival that seems to happen once a year. There was a field full of tulips! Being there exacerbated Tyler’s allergies though. His eyes were very red and itchy by the end of the day.

There was a U-Pick section and the kids each picked a couple of tulips. We put them in the ice bucket at the hotel.

Our first big meal in Portland, southern food, by recommendation. The place is called Screen Door. We waited about an hour for our table but it was good!

At the tulip festival, the kids got to try zip lining!