Trip to Oregon

We had a great time visiting John's Grandpa in Oregon. It is neat to see four generations of Manning's under one roof!! We flew into Portland on Thursday, the 21st. The boys did such a great job!! I knew Carter would do great but was a little worried about Preston. Since he has learned to crawl the last thing he wants to do is sit in some one's lap for 4 hours. He did such a good job, though. He ate a bottle on take off and actually fell asleep on me during the flight. I haven't had him sleep on me since he was a newborn so it was a nice treat. Carter watched Scooby Do and Barney and ate chicken nuggets. There was a little girl about the same age as him sitting right in front of him so they played quite a bit between the seats.

John's parents picked us up from the airport as they flew in two days before us. Beckie picked up some baby food which was a life saver! One less thing to pack when you are traveling with a family of four is always better! They also took our Pack n' Play with them for Preston. I've always wondered why families travel with so much luggage and I now know why. I remember the days of just having one suit case! :)

Thursday night we stayed in and got settled. The kids had a hard time going to sleep that night but eventually fell asleep. The adults stayed up and played Hand and Foot.

The kids woke up bright and early at 5:45 Friday morning. I was not ready to get up as I was still trying to put Preston to sleep at 11:30 the night before. But it did allow us to get an early start. We all got dressed and headed into Portland. We ate lunch at The Original Pancake House. This was actually the ORIGINAL restaurant and it really does look like a house. After a delicious breakfast we rode the Portland Aerial Tram. It was such a clear day and could see Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens. We got some great pictures of both mountains. It was fun to use our new camera!!

Saturday was the day I was looking forward to the most! We went to Tillamook Cheese Factory. We ate grilled cheese sandwiches and had Tillamook ice cream. It was so yummy!!! From there, we drove a little bit and went to a coastal town called Garibaldi. We took a train ride from Garibaldi to Rockaway Beach. The train ride is called the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad. The train was pulled by a steam engine and it was so much fun! We went right along the coast the whole way. It was cold since we were right on the coast but it didn't stop Preston from going to sleep. I couldn't believe he slept the whole way there and they whole way back. He is normally such a light sleeper but he slept through all of the rumble of the train and even the whistle of the train. It was a very fun and exhausting day!

We got a much later start on Sunday. I think the kids were finally used to the time change and sleeping in an unfamiliar place. We headed out to Lincoln City which is another coastal town. We ate lunch at Mo's. There was such a long line when we got there around 1 and it was still there when we were leaving between 3 and 4. I don't think the line ever ended. Carter had four butterflied fried shrimp and ate every last one of them. It's crazy how much he loves seafood! Preston ate saltine crackers for the first time while we were there. He loved them!! I think he will really like anything we put in front of him.

After Mo's, Grandpa wanted to show us where he goes for fun...The Casino!! John's parents took care of the kids and Grandpa, John and I went in to play some slots. I was surprised at how fast you can lose money while playing penny slots. It was fun though and neat to see what Grandpa does for fun.

After only three short fun filled days, it was time for us to pack and head back home. We left Grandpa's house at 9 on Monday morning and flew back to Dallas. It is nice to be home but we definitely will miss Grandpa. The kids are still trying to adjust with all of the travel. Carter has been unusually fussy with multiple tantrums and we haven't even been home for 24 hours. Preston is excited to finally get to crawl where ever he wants. You don't really realize how baby proof your own house is until you go somewhere that isn't baby proof with a crawler! :)

I am still going through pictures and will post those as soon as I get them all downloaded.