Climbing the Falls

After our night in Portland with friends, we drove out to Multnomah Falls to enjoy the continued nice weather.

We hiked all the way to the top of the falls. We stopped several times to catch our breath on the way up . . .

and warned the kids several times not to get too close to the edge.

Our cute hiking buddies, Owen and Riley. . . they were little troopers!

I was really impressed with how well all the kids did hiking over a mile up the trail. There were alot of switchbacks!

Bowen was excited to get back down to the bottom.

He got to take a nap on the way down so he really had nothing to complain about.

And the final shot is of the triumphant family of hikers after their long journey. . .

Ready to pile in the car and head home!

Portland with Some Friends

Our friends, the Henricksons came for a visit and we spent some time with them in Portland.

We went to the Oregon Zoo on Monday afternoon. The weather forecast had called for rain, but not a drop fell from the sky so we thought we should take advantage of that and do something outside.

The lions were rather hungry and Alaina almost became their meal.

The kids all love to be together, but Rylan and Owen have a special friendship.

We got a glimpse of what kind of a driver Emily will turn out to be . . .

and saw how our kids would choose to ride if there were no seat belt laws.

Somehow we missed the crocodiles, which was the one animal the kids specifically asked to see.

We made the trip even more of an adventure by getting to and from the zoo by riding the MAX (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAX_Light_Rail). Here we are waiting to get on after the zoo.

We made it safely back to the car and fed all our wild animals and tucked them in bed at the hotel. It was a fun day in Portland with some friends.