Oregonian Adventures...

I have been a horrible blogger lately, mostly due to my lack of motivation on vacation, coupled with dial-up internet at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Reece and I took a week off and drove to Oregon to see some green and visit family.

Fact: loooong car rides become bearable when you have an Ipod car hookup and seasons 1-3 of The Office (I can drive, listen and visualize every scene in my head...all at the same time. Is it sad that can quote all three seasons without breaking a sweat?).

First stop: Multnomah Falls, just outside of Portland. Gorgeous.

Naturally, we wanted a picture with this fabulous wonder, so we found the perfect bridge, set up the perfect shot, found the perfect couple to capture this momentous occasion on film....and got this:

What waterfall? Come on people. When someone asks you to take a picture of them at a well-known place, it is safe to bet that they want to include the landmark. "Ahhh. Here I am at the London Bridge. Take a close up of my face so that I can remember how good I looked while I was here." I have had similar luck with this very phenomenon in the past. Let's recall my trip to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Grab a Frenchman to take picture...check. Assume tourist photo position...check. Smile so as to make Frenchman swoon...check. Giddily view picture to admire my handiwork...but wait, where is the cathedral? And why is the top of my head cut off?

Back to Oregon. We forged onward to Portland, where we spent a wonderful weekend with my aunt and her family. Highlights:

Cousin Ellyse's Baptism:

Downtown Adventures. We hit up the market, the waterfront, a FABULOUS Greek restaurant and my favorite bakery:

The Oregon Zoo (we are officially the coolest cousins EVER...the kids got out of school for this one). I fulfilled my lifelong dream of purchasing an animal-shaped water bottle and filling it with soda. Parents always said no. Major complex from my childhood:

We absolutely ADORE Portland, and added it to our list of places we want to live someday. Green, green, green...everywhere you look.

Ok, so I have a hard time reading REALLY long posts without losing interest, so I will spare you the pain and split our adventures into several posts. Look for more tomorrow :) It's good to be back in the blogging world.