Salem-Oregon

My dad had to take a surveying test in Oregon to get his license there. Then he and Donna decided to go visit my grandparents in Washington. They asked if the boys and I wanted to go with them; all we needed to cover was our food. We accepted the generous invitation, I was worried they didn't understand what traveling was going to mean with two boys but it all turned out great. On Friday we drove to Salem. We made pretty good time, the boys didn't fuss at all. Once at the hotel we took the boys swimming. Cedrik LOVES the water. Freddie likes the water. Cedrik had a round float tube that he hung on to. Grandpa taught him how to kick his feet and that was it! He went from one end to the other, over and over and over. He wasn't too excited about floating on his back, but he tried.

The next day my dad took his 4 hour test (which took the whole four hours) and Donna and I were with the boys. I took Cedrik swimming again after breakfast and he did even better than the day before. I couldn't get fully in the Jacuzzi (being pregnant) but I sat on the top step and it felt fantastic.

We got ready and headed out to A.C. Gilbert Children's Museum. He invented the erector set and they have a cool museum that is made in four old Victorian houses that back up to each other, dedicated to him. The "back yard" is huge and has a probably three story metal and plexi glass climbing thing. It has a huge deck with stairs and slides, many xylophones, and a huge dirt pit with a dinosaur skeleton for the kids to play in and around. Inside the houses were a grocery store, small submarine room (with tons of buttons-Freddie's favorite room, Cedrik's second favorite), a safari room, a Chinese (?) room-complete with a panda bear, plastic serving plates, cups and slate rocks to paint with water on. There was a toddler house, which seemed Montessori-esqe with shelves of puzzles and different toys for toddlers. This house also had a cow you could milk (water) and you had to milk it the correct way-good thing I remembered how because of the one time I milked a goat. It also had an ocean area that had creatures nailed down so the kids could feel different textures. Other rooms: vet room, shadow room (you stand against glow in the dark plexiglass, press a button that flashes a light and it keeps your shadow on the wall for a few seconds), a movement room (again, don't know the name but it was a dark room with a projector and red light coming from the floor and a white plastic wall behind you. Your image was projected in colors on the wall and in a kaleidoscope fashion. There were hula hoops to use as props), and a reading room.

Cedrik's favorite house was the train house. They had mechanical trains that had buttons you needed to push to keep them going. He sat here for about 30 or 40 minutes. The adjacent room was for dinosaurs and you could uncover skeletons in this sand/tiny foam balls (I have no idea what it was made of) and a dinosaur slide as well as other things that were for older kids, so I didn't take notice.
Once we got there, the sun disappeared and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees so we only played outside for 10 minutes-it was still fun.

After, we drove, picked up dad and drove to Washington. I had forgotten how huge Portland is and it made me glad I don't live there anymore. It rained off and on, Cedrik peed in his car seat, but we made it. Long, eventful day.