Family Vacation: Portland {Part I}

So a couple of weeks ago we decided that the summer was hot, and we needed a vacation.   We loaded up the kiddos late in the afternoon, with hopes of sleepy kids and a quiet drive to Portland.  Well, I'd like to say that my plan worked like a charm, but you know better than to think that. But after I stood on my head and pulled all the tricks out of my dollar store treat bag, the kids finally fell asleep.  We were so glad to finally see the lights of Portland.

The kids were thrilled to wake up in a hotel room, and ready to explore the city.  We decided that since Ikea was nearby, we'd head over there for a little shopping and some breakfast.  I know, we're dorks, but we went to the cafeteria and had some Swedish pancakes, and checked the kids into the playplace and Dax and I spent an uninerrupted couple of hours wandering the aisles of Ikea.  You say dorks, I say brilliant.

Van even got in on the deals. 

 I love that store.  I seriously dream of living there permanently.  The kids loved the playplace and were convinced that we had driven 7 hours just to play at the store.

We headed off to our next destination, the Portland Children's Museum.  If you haven't been, you seriously need to go.  It's in the same parking lot as the Portland Zoo, and it's fantastic.  The whole place is made just for kids, from a water works room, to a veterinary clinic, to a train room, the live stage, and art rooms.  It's a kids dream, and there are plenty of benches and chairs to sit around and watch the kids go nuts.  It was a great time.

We promplty wore everybody out and loaded everyone up to trek over to the beach.  The kids zonked and we quietly drove west and watched the temp drop from 100 in Portland to 68 in Seaside.  Stay tuned for the next phase.