Well, I've been back to reality for 3 whole days now and am finally able to blog about our vacation.
I just want to say off the bat that considering it was our first vacation with just the 3 of us, I didn't expect it to be as smooth as it went. Avery, who has NEVER flown before was a champ and was such a mellow traveler! No melt downs, no freak outs and oddly enough, she slept the majority of the travel time! (Thank you Jesus!)
DAY 1:
We were out the door to the airport at 4:45am to catch our 7am flight to Portland. Security was super easy and they let Avery keep her cuppy of chocolate milk after testing it (made me laugh). She was alert and bubbly carrying her princess suitcase behind her as we made our way to the terminal while I was freaking out over all my mental checklists. We had 1 suitcase with Evan and I's clothes and shoes, 1 suitcase of Averys clothes and things that was thankfully carry-on sized and then her backpack and a tote bag filled with everything you could think of to keep her entertained/distracted/content on the plane.
I totally didn't need to pack any of it. We boarded the plane when Evan started doing his freak out thing (he hates flying, no joke, like I doubt we fly ever again if we can drive to our destination). So I decided I would just leave him alone and focus on Avery who was not happy about having to have her seat belt on for take off. After a few tears and a bribe of gummy letters (at 7am, sure why not) she settled down as we approached the runway to take off. Apparently all the bumping and jostling was soothing to her because by the time we were in the air still over DFW this is what she looked like...
Yep. Head in my lap, blanket over her and snoring!
It was a 4 hour flight and she slept 3.5 hours of it!!!!! Seriously, I had to laugh about it and be thankful none of the hundreds of scenarios I imagined actually played out. It made me have a boring flight to be honest. I was so absorbed in making sure she was comfortable that I failed to pack anything for me to be occupied with. Evan slept off and on which helped his nerves. The flight attendants must have felt pity for me because they kept bringing me juice, cookies and a crossword puzzle all while being in awe of how good Avery was! She even got a pair of Alaskan Airlines wings she wore out of the plane. :)
These two crack me up so much, like father, like daughter....
I must also say that I am one of those window flyer's who just loves looking at the view, it's just so incredible to me how amazing everything looks from 35,000ft up!! Just so inspiring and relaxing.
X Marks the spot.
Anyways, we made it to Seattle where of course it was raining. We boarded our next plane which we had to walk out onto the runway to climb up a step ladder to board which was way cool! Avery was more excited that it was a pink plane (maroon really). It was a propeller plan and super little compared to other planes I've been on so Evan got to sit elsewhere while Avery and I were beside each other. 30min flight easy-peasy and Avery entertained everyone by singing the alphabet over and over in different versions.
We arrived in Portland and made our way to baggage claim where Jarrod was waiting for us. I wish I had gotten some pictures because I tell you it was super emotional for me watching her spot her Uncle Jarrod and take off at a run shouting his name while tons of people watched from security. She literally leaped into his arms and knocked him over she was so elated to see him. When we caught up and hugged Jarrod she turned and shouted "Look mommy, my uncle Jarrod!" and then proceeded to hold his hand and jabber about her being in an airplane. *heart melting all over again*
We got our bags and headed to Portland where Jarrod and Evan caught up a bit and all the giddy-ness and "We're really here!" bliss almost suffocated you in the car. We were a bit hungry and with the time change it was still too early for lunch so Jarrod took us to
Slappy Cakes for brunch. WAY COOL PLACE just fyi. You pretty much buy batter and your own toppings and make pancakes on a griddle in the middle of your table. So fun! I got Lavender Honey and dried cherries, Jarrod got blueberries. So good. We had a fun time seeing who could make the better pancake. Then it went from that to making Avery mickey mouse and heart shaped pancakes and seeing which looked better.. (Again, I failed to take pictures)
After brunch we headed to Jarrod and Sarah's place where we got the tour, met the kitties and relaxed for a little bit deciding what to do. We finally decided to go check out a park and stopped at a store to buy a kite and a huge hello kitty bounce ball and bubbles and made our way to Laurelhurst area in Portland (I told Evan if he bought me a house there, I'd never complain) Long story short (since I have days left to cover) Jarrod took us to the wrong side, we walked around forever trying to find the play area, all the kids swarmed us due to being so awesome with our toys and then we went grocery shopping to make home made pizzas for dinner. Time change hit me and Avery hard and we both went to bed at 7:30 Portland time.
Day 2:
After a lazy morning we all packed into Sarah's car for a drive to the coast. Such a beautiful drive!!!! We ended up in Cannon Beach which was so amazing and Evan and I are thinking of doing a summer vacation there. It was close to raining so we ate lunch on the beach at
Mo's which is known for their Clam Chowder. Their homemade bread was outstanding and melted in your mouth!! I had the chowder and it was amazing as well, so good and the view was amazing as well. Avery and I had never been to the ocean or beach so we were very excited. (I've been to Normandy Beach but I don't count that, it's a sacred place and very odd and calm and not the type of place you want to go swimming and strolling along). Anyway, after lunch we debated on walking along the beach but it started raining and Avery freaked out once we went down the barge because of how cold, windy and wet she was getting, I also think the loud waves crashing scared her so we headed back to wait out the rain. The guys however, decided to get their feet wet since Jarrod said the water was super cold.
Headed to the Ocean!
Lunch at Mo's
Our view from our table.
Getting caught in the rain.
sooo windy!
So stinking cute.
Getting their toes wet.
<3.
After drying off a bit we drove to the actual town of Cannon Beach and walked around the shops. There is a candy store called
Bruce's Candy Kitchen that Sarah and Jarrod wanted to go to for their Sea Salt Caramels (which were fantastic, yum!). The sun started to show so we walked back to the beach at the end of town where I got my turn to put my feet in the ocean and Avery wasn't so afraid since there was no wind and it was more calm then where we had been. The water wasn't that cold actually and I loved it!!
Soo much fun and it was so beautiful. We headed back to Portland where we took a side trip to the Japanese Rose Garden for the City view and walked around making fun of the names of the roses. We ate dinner at
Burgerville which was a neat place that made it's mark by being all local and fresh and recycled and reused a lot of it's material (Something Portland is very big on!).
Day 3:
We packed our bags and made the 3 hour drive to Seattle!! I had booked us a hotel in Bellvue which is on the other side of the Washington bridge which is maybe 15minutes away from Seattle. Once we got settled into our rooms we went to Seattle and had dinner at a Pizzeria called
Bambinos which was pretty good. Service inhaled vigorously, won't lie there, but the pizza was different and prepared in a fire so it had a crisp taste with the fresh ingredients they used. After walking around the space needle a bit we headed back to Bellvue where we stocked up on snacks and rested for our day in Seattle.
Day 4:
We spent the majority of our time in the market which it being Saturday was super busy. I really liked Seattle, after the market and lunch on the pier we headed to the space needle before making the drive back to Portland.
Once we got back to Portland we had dinner then went and grabbed donuts from
voodoo doughnut a big hit in Portland. I wasn't too fond of them but I don't really go for donuts anyways. cool place though and very creative.
Day 5:
Jarrod had to go to work that morning so we lounged around until lunch time. Sarah drove us to Rocky Butte where we checked out the views of Portland and where Jarrod worked and enjoyed the sunshine for a bit before going to lunch. Sarah and Avery have a huge thing in common food wise and that is their love of grilled cheese sandwiches. Sarah took us to this awesome double Decker bus called
The Grilled Cheese Grill where we enjoyed grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup and this amazing dessert called the Jayme which was Marscapone cheese, bananas, and nutella grilled in a sandwich. OMG, so good!!!
We got back to the house where Jarrod waited for us. The three of them headed to Saturday market while Avery and I enjoyed some quiet time and watched a movie. Once they got back Sarah and I went to Powells city of books which I L-O-V-E-D. Biggest book store I have been in and the smell alone was what I love so much about books. We wandered around for an hour or so before heading back to the house. Evan and Jarrod headed out for some brother time while us girls made dinner and relaxed the rest of the night.
Day 6:
With an early flight we pretty much spent all morning packing up before we made our way to the airport. Security took forever and by the time we got to our gate we were already boarding! Made for a fast flight process. Once again Avery was awesome and sat quietly and colored and watched a movie. The end of our flight was horrible though I mean so turbulent and shaky. Poor Evan was a bag of nerves and in such a bad mood, even I was so nauseous and a little nervous while Avery just kept calm and let me read to her for the last 20minutes which were VERY rough. We had a 2 hour layover in Albuquerque so that helped calm Evan a bit after lunch we lounged in the terminal where Avery fell asleep on my lap and slept the entire boarding process and flight only to wake up once we landed in Dallas.....again, seriously easy to travel with!! Dad picked us up and we had dinner at
The Foundry in Dallas, definitely worth checking out if your in the Dallas area. ;)
Got home around 10:30 and we all slept until noon the next day thanks to the time difference. :)
Such a great trip and the rest of our pictures are on FB too. It was so good to see Jarrod and Sarah and it was so nice to get out of Texas for a bit.
Thanks for sticking around this long :)
-Brittnye
