Portland

This weekend we took the boys to Portland. We used their birthdays as an excuse to take them to the city for a trip to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) throw in some pizza and fun hotel pool time, it all adds up to a great weekend for two boys. Fortunately, our good friends the Edwards were also headed to Portland for the weekend. So the boys got to have their friends M, A, A, R, and S (yes they have 5 kids) at the hotel with them. We were able to get adjoining rooms. A bonus because Jeff and Teresa had a military function to attend on Saturday night and Johan and I were the babysitters.

I think everyone who knows the Edwards has a great story to tell about their third child/second son, "A." I had a few of my own, but this weekend I got to add another to my collection of "A" stories. We were staying at the Embassy Suites, Johan and I were taking our time at breakfast with Jeff and Teresa, the kids had all wandered off and were checking out the fish in the water. One of the hotel staff gave "A" some fish food. He was thrilled to have this big responsibility all to himself. He was off to the feed the fish. Not two minutes later "A's" older sister, also "A," came around the corner to announce, "'A' Fell in the water." Immediately following this, "A," rounds the same corner completely soaked. He must have gone in head first, he wasn't just wading in the pond, he had been swimming! Classic "A." Unfortunately we were not quick enough to capture the moment on film.

After "A" dried out we all headed for OMSI. A great place for kids. The boys loved the Chemistry lab.

OMSI had a great exhibit about the Apollo missions to the moon. The highlight was this contraption.

The kids got to sit and pedal on these recumbent cycles that were all mounted together and spun around in a circle. The exhibit demonstrated how astronauts must first generate some G forces in order to get an effective workout in space.

After OMSI we took the boys through downtown quickly. Then it was back to the hotel for our babysitting duties. Johan and I were a bit nervous about taking on seven kids, but it worked out beautifully. All the kids were great. We took them swimming, then had some pizza, ordered an on-demand movie and then everyone fell asleep. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the kids swimming. This pool was filled with kids. We brought seven, and with my pregnant belly I am sure the other guests thought we were a bit off. There were a ton of kids swimming, I had to feel bad for the couple that thought they were headed to the hot tub for a quiet romantic evening. Not this time. There were easily 15 kids swimming, shooting water guns, and throwing diving rings.

We headed home on Sunday. Birthday Season Part II was a success.