1st Big Family Vacation

The whole family packed up last week and headed off to Portland, Oregon and then to Astoria for my cousin's wedding. Getting all of us packed was exhausting and we hadn't even made to the airport yet! But I have to say, Nathan and I navigated the security and terminals pretty dang well with the 2 kids in tow. Our cute kids get us lots of attention as we seem to attract other parents with young kids. This also has the opposite affect.... like when we got to our Astoria hotel. We got off the elevator with an older gentleman who, with a thankful and relieved sigh said, "Oh good!" as we headed the opposite way down the hall to our room. Gotta say - don't blame him after some of the tantrums Owen threw. 

Overall the kids were marvelous! Being out of their normal environment took it's toll on them and us. Several teary nights of "I want to go home," and "I want my blue bed." (That was a particularly bad night. Poor Owen.) 

The Astoria Column was pretty cool. 164 steps all the way to the top where you can see all of Astoria and the river. Unfortunately visibility was poor the day we went up and it was rainy, but it was an adventure nonetheless. Owen's grumpy face in the picture was because of an airplane. They sell little wood airplanes for people to toss off the top of the column. Really cool! Of course until your 2-year old tosses it and then freaks out that someone is going to take it before we can get down and pick it up..... But we got a quick family shot at the top.

The four of us ventured out in the rain for a walk (partly because a 2-year old locked up in a 1 bedroom hotel room is not ideal... ever...). We found an historic boat donated to be shown off on the Cannery Pier. So of course we tossed Owen in!

 And for the main event! Every day prior to the wedding was rainy, chilly and cloudy. But Wedding Day was perfect! I'm pretty sure my Aunt Chris (the bride's mom who passed a few years back) had a hand in the beautiful day for her daughter. Kim looked stunning! The new Curry's are so happy, in love, and all together wonderful!

First dance <3

This one cracks me up! My sweet niece Kara squats down to talk to Riley. She is 6 months to the day older than Riley. They are really sweet together. My brother Lee got a precious one of them holding hands at the reception. Great friends!

Cape Disappointment isn't too far north from Astoria, so we hit the road. We got to hike threw one of the state parks to the lighthouse. Along the way, we stopped to check out several banana slugs. One innocent snail fell victim to my destructive son.... it was slimy, so he stomped on it.... not once... but several times to teach that poor snail not to be so slimy. Yikes! But he enjoyed being an adventure!

Dead Man's Cove - It was like we were explorers
and found a hidden place never seen before. Really cool!

Awesome giant tree

We had an awesome cousin night! The 1st cousins are Michelle, Jenn, Lee, Cody, and me (and Kim! But it was the rehearsal dinner night.) From there, we've grown and added Courtney, Brett, Joshua, Benjamin, Connor, Owen, Kara, Riley and Emma! And our spouses!! So amazing. Gramma and Grampa must be so proud looking down on the beautiful lives that started with them so long ago. 

Uncle Dave's crew stayed in Long beach, WA. So after dinner, we took a walk on the beach. Very different from the beaches we are used to in Texas. Riley stayed in the house since it was pretty chilly and rainy.

 You are probably noticing that Nathan isn't in many of these photographs and that's cause he isn't. He was the master behind the lens. He has been working hard to learn more about our fancy camera to utilize its capabilities. This photo shows how good he is getting! This is a beautiful sunset in Astoria of the huge bridge and the river. To the far left is the Pacific Ocean.

More great photos taken by Nathan. He captured some sweet moments of the kids and me. We were at Cannon Beach, OR. This was Riley's 1st time on the beach. The sand was lots of fun to dig in! The town was super cute. My mom remembers going there as a little girl and getting salt water taffy from Bruce's. It was still there with the same yummy taffy. Pretty awesome that we got to go there and her grandson got to share the candy and new memory.