Northwest is Best

You may recognize the title of this blog post as one of my hashtags on Instagram

from our recent trip to Oregon (sidenote: we better be insta friends!!)  

It's true.  Northwest -specifically Oregon, is the best.  They have 

beaches, mountains, the Columbia River Gorge, breweries on breweries, 

the food scene is on point, and duh, Grandpa Jim and Grandma Sugar live there, 

so enough said.  If I could somehow transport my whole family, plus get all the loved

ones jobs (read: Rob, me, and Auntie Stacy) - we would move in a heart beat. 

Until that happens (read: when I win the lottery...but I'm also open to sponsorships)

we will have to make due with family vacations!  

And this vacation did not disappoint.  Read on for more Hauck family fun!

(Max constantly, "what that noise mommy?" - see 

also best family photo in the history of ever). 

(Want to know how we made it through three airplane

flights? My little friend the i-pad)

(This is our "we survived and made it to PDX" face!!)

I may have mentioned this before, but Grandpa Jim 

is somewhat of an amazing tour guide.  Like seriously, 

someone should hire this man.  He knows everything about 

everything - from the climate, to the history, to the local hot spots!

So, we started off our first day in Oregon by keeping

it local - a park just around the corner from

the Winkel Manor (aka Grandpa Jim's house) called Tanner Creek.

(Getting toddlers ready to go anywhere makes me crazy)

Tanner Creek park was perfect because there was your

typical park situation on one side - and then lo and behold

once you tire of the park - you can push a button

and the splash pad fountains come on! 

Max and his cousin Brooklyn hit up the tire swing, 

teeter totter, and slides pretty hard core and then decided

to streak across the splash pad. 

Max could constantly be heard saying "over here Brookie", 

"want to do this Brookie?", and "where's brookie?".  

I think he loved his new little friend - except of course

when she didn't want to do what he wanted (he's seriously so bossy). 

But most of the time they were all good. 

And of course, what's the park without a little snack?

Pouches, clementines, and juice boxes all around! 

These two also tried to make this park visit clothing optional - but

we managed to keep them at least semi clothed :) 

Man, toddlers are nuts, like in a good way.  But, also

a tiring way, you know? please tell me you do. 

Sunday://  (day after the wedding) - we decided to venture into downtown Portland 

with the hopes of hitting up Voodoo Donuts and the Ducks store.

Voodoo donuts was great!  The line was manageable and Max

quickly picked the M&M donut from the case. 

I think he was just plain overwhelmed with all of the other ones. 

At one point he said, "there's a pretzel in that donut mommy!". 

(It was a voodoo doll shaped donut with a pretzel stick through the heart). 

However, there were also donuts topped with bacon, crushed oreos, 

fruit loops, and even coco krisp cereal.  

Weird is sort of the name of the game

at this donut shop!

Once at our table, he basically just cherry picked the M&M's off the top. 

Meanwhile, Papa Rob managed to eat his in no time :)

(Max cozied right up to this tiny donut delivery truck)

Then, it was on to the Ducks store - except it wasn't open yet. (womp, womp). 

But, in true Grandpa Jim fashion, he remembered the Saturday Market

was going on (apparently on Sundays too!).  This market is right up my 

alley - as it is filled with people selling handmade goods like photographs, 

cards, jewelry, scarves, soap, and on and on. I love browsing through 

these types of places.  Max wanted to browse for like five minutes

and then kept insisting we go to "the park". Like, any park. 

Thank goodness that right at the end of all the rows of handmade goods -

it opens up to a bricked splash pad of sorts. 

Max was hesitant at first, but then stripped down to his 

underwear (home slice loves to be in his undies) and then 

proceeded to run all over!  He was soaking wet 

when done - but honesty it was a warm day - so we didn't 

mind too much :) 

We finished up with our jaunt downtown by eating

 at the famous food trucks!  We all had yummy falafel (so GOOD) 

and Max requested an enormous smoothie!  The Ducks store was finally

open so we went in and stocked up on some goodies for Max!

Monday://  When Monday rolled around, we decided to take our party to the beach...Cannon Beach!

This is perhaps my favorite spot - I just love how calm and serene it feels - well worth

the drive over the mountains! We kept telling Max we were going to the beach - 

but in true toddler fashion - he has no concept of time and just wanted to get there NOW!

As soon as I see Haystack Rock - I feel my whole body relax. 

This particular morning - there was lots of fog surrounding the rock and the tide 

was starting to come in. 

We brought a bag of beach toys, one towel, and one blanket. 

Max of course chose to use one red shovel the whole time, 

and proceeded to explore the small tidepools in just his underwear. 

The tidepools had small crabs, some sea shells, and lots of rocks in them!

We made our way pretty far down the beach. 

Max splashed the whole time - running through the 

stream of water and then stomping his feet. 

He would occasionally fling some sand or dump it. 

He also decided once we made it down to the beach, that he

in fact, needed to go to the bathroom. 

Papa Rob was able to convince him to use the sand dunes

as his one "secret potty", in lieu of walking the long way back to the 

public restrooms! Once he tired of the beach and the "smokey" rock 

we ventured to our favorite lunch spot - Mo's.  

This restaurant has some of the best views on the beach. 

The views were so good - that Max requested we go back to the beach!

So, while Rob and Grandpa Jim finished up their lunch and took care of the tab, 

Max and I took off toward the water. 

He was much braver this time - actually wanting to run into 

and out of the waves. He was actually making me nervous because

I'm paranoid and kept thinking that the tide was going to sweep him under. 

He was throwing his frisbee (his kid's meal came in a blue Mo's frisbee)

into the surf and then chasing after it....and getting completely soaked...again. 

At one point, Grandpa Jim called out, "Max you are being really brave" 

(because the water is not actually that warm) - and then Max kept saying 

"I'm a brave boy" as he ran in and out of the waves. 

Thankfully, we actually packed enough crap in the diaper bag to deal with two sets

of wet clothes (this is a small miracle as Papa Rob and I don't have the best history with keeping the diaper bag packed or even remembering it at all)!  

After Max had face planted two times directly in the sand - we decided to 

wrap things up and head back home.  

Tuesday://  Another local spot, called Oaks Amusement Park, just happened to be having their 

"Preschool mornings" on Tuesday - so we drove over to check it out!  And, boy

was it FUN!  They had about ten awesome rides, perfect for little ones - and we did all of them 

(some of them even twice...looking at you carousel!)

Max was pretty pumped about the slide (pictured below) as he had taken a ride

on a similar one at the state fair not long ago. Max rode on Papa Rob's lap

and Brooklyn rode with me.  Both of them seemed to have a good time! 

And, they both walked all the way to the top - ALL BY THEMSELVES

(three cheers from the parents!!)

The other rides were things like mini cho-cho trains, 

boats (with wheels that you could spin!), and cars that went up and down.

Max and Brooklyn were having the time of their lives!

*There were two crying incidents - one when Max hit his lip

on the steering wheel because the ride was a little bit too bumpy

**And two, when the carousel closed for the day (and he wanted to ride again).

It was nice having a built in seat buddy  

(not that we're opposed to meeting new friends) but...

they do look pretty cute together. 

We capped off the morning by just barely making the last train ride around the park!  

I tell you what, these Oaks Amusement Park people know what's up - 

the price is just right (I think around $7 bucks) for an all inclusive

ride wristband - and they let parents buckle the kids in and get them out

(while checking to make sure it meets safety standards, I'm sure). 

They let you take one million pictures - and all the kids are preschool age - 

so you don't have to worry about some rogue tween knocking your tiny tot down!

Brilliant I tell you!

Wednesday://   You'd think by mid week we would have run out of steam, right?

Of course not! We still had some things to cross of our to-do list - and one of them was the 

Oregon Zoo by way of the MAX train.  In Portland, the train is actually called the MAX (which stands for Metro Area Express) and this little fact was mind blowing for my Max :)

We first spotted the trains running while we were driving into the city on Sunday. 

Then, we actually saw them running again (and fairly close up) while wandering the 

Market.  Max can recognize his own name and the letters - so he knew immediately 

that the train was named after him!  To satisfy his (and our) curiosity about the MAX,
we parked our car in the city and rode the train the rest of the way to the Zoo.

When we first got on - he was upset that he didn't get to 

choose where he wanted to sit - but he was soon pacified and we were 

on our way to the Zoo!  The Oregon Zoo is a great Zoo - super walkable, 

lots of interesting animals, and unique animal experiences. 

We started our experience by hiking through the "Northern Trek"

and looking at Bald Eagles, Mountain Lions, Black Bears, 

Mountain Goats, and even the California Condors!  

Our half way point ended up being around the barn area - 

which Max was more than happy to explore!  He went inside the

barn, looked at some rabbits, enormous guinea pigs, touched the goat, 

and rode on the rocking horses. 

The polar bears were also super active - one was splashing around in the pool

and the other was walking on the rocks. 

We ended up eating lunch over by the Africa region - seeing some elephants, 

warthogs, and riding the train.  The conductor even came by to

greet each and every passenger!  At the conclusion of our visit, we rode the MAX

(by going underground this time!!) back to our car and our Max fell asleep on the  

ride home. I think that's a pretty good sign that he had an excellent time. 

Thursday://  Our last true day to explore!  We all slept in a little later (Max was getting 

spoiled by sleeping in our bed) and so by the time we all got ready - we decided to just

do some shopping and playing at the Bridgeport Mall (no sales tax in Oregon, yo!)

(Must hydrate if you are going shopping - so we stopped 

at Starbucks first!)

There are no pictures of us at the Mall - because Papa Rob was too

busy keeping Max out of the fountains and Mama was too 

busy spending money! (The Lucy store gets me every time!). 

We made an emergency stop at the Crocs store (ugh, I know) - 

because Max's shoes were wet from said fountain splashing. 

He ended up with a new pair of Crocs - that he can mostly put on himself, 

so I'm calling that a win - and we filled our bellies with pizza for lunch.

Our afternoon fun consisted of one last park visit with Brooklyn! 

This park was a big hit - having an "enormous" slide (a new word

Max learned from Brooklyn), lots of ride on structures, a teeter totter, 

and even lots of tall trees for playing hide and seek.  

I can honestly say I think I was as tired as Max after this park! ha!

This trip was SO GREAT!  Max did so well on the airplane rides, 

his behavior was okay (for the most part), and we made lots of new

family memories and plans for our next visit (Powell Books here I come!).

I know I've mentioned this before, but traveling with a toddler certainly

has its share of crazy moments but in the end - totally worth it. 

Oh Oregon - you are one great state - full of 

our favorite people - and we can't wait to come back!

XOxo