We hit the Tulip Gardens with Penny and Waklee.
Surprisingly the guys didn't want to go? I don't know why? We went out to
Woodburn and hit the outlets while there. A perfect girl's day out. The weather
could have cooperated a little more

My little dutch girl, Indee.

The best part of the outing was the cotton candy we scored at the tulip garden snack bar.
We left Portland the next day for Anaconda, Montana. We made a huge circle in our car and across 4 states. It took us all day, we left Portland at 9 a.m. and arrived in Anaconda at 7:30 p.m. Mia was a bear that day. She'd had it with the car. Chad kept saying "Mia, you're such a joy".
A side note: Chad's team lost out in the tournament. It was hard to take. The 2008 season is not looking so good.

Portland

Eric took us to the Portland Zoo. It was a great zoo and he was a great host. Somehow, he managed to get us all in for free (bonus).

Black bears sleeping with their mouths open and tongues hanging out. It was also Spring Break in Portland and you wouldn't believe how crowded this place was!

We were kind of sighted-seed (is that a word?) out. We enjoyed day 5 because we got to go to Pen and Eric's and just hang out. They cooked us some great food and it tasted so good after eating out for 4 days straight.

Orangatangs. (spell check please?)

Leaving the Coast

We stopped by Devil's Punch Bowl. It was kind of anticlimatic. Maybe if the surf were higher, it would have been more attractive. It had a great picnic area, if you went at a warmer time of year. There was a whale watcher volunteer here also.

We stayed at the Shilo Inn right on the beach. Our room looked out at the ocean and it was so pretty. The kids were all swimming and Mia was taking a nap in our room, so I sat with my feet up, reading my book, and looking out at the ocean. It was very relaxing. I would love to rent a house and spend a few weeks on the shore sometime.

Mia, going for a dive.

Yikes, I think these are called spider crabs?

"Thar she blows"

This was the highlight of the trip. We went whale watching. We took a fishing boat that was about 50 feet long out to watch the 45 foot gray whales. It was national whale watching week in Oregon and all along the coast there were volunteers with binoculars helping you spot them. The whales are migrating back to Alaska to feed after being down along the Baja penisula for the winter.

I wish my pictures could do this experience justice, but they don't. By the time I clicked my camera, they were already going back down. Every time one surfaced the captain would yell "Thar she blows" at 2:00 (or wherever). Then everyone would look and try to snap pics. We went out about 1 1/2 miles. They told us that the whales travel a little highway out there and the captain put us right in the middle of it. We followed a pod of 3 for quite a while.

The closest one we saw was about 50 yards away. It was close enough that we could hear the blow hole not just see it. It was amazing. I thought for sure Chad would get sick. When we were trying to decide what to eat for lunch before we went out on the boat, I told Chad "you better get whatever will taste good coming back up." He has a weak stomach and gets motion sickness easily. But with a little help from dramamine, he did great. But let me tell you, that boat was rocking and rolling. The swells out there were 30 feet high. It was crazy, like a roller coaster, how your stomach drops out. I loved it!

Back to the port. What a great time this was on Day 4.

Day 3 p.m.

In Newport, there is the Oregon Coast Aquarium. The 2nd largest in the nation. We spent the whole afternoon here and went through some exhibits twice.

The kids loved this and the volunteers there were very helpful and knowledgable. You could touch all these living sea creatures.

"The Passage of the Deep" was the highlight of the Aquarium. You walk through tunnels of glass. Sharks swimming over you, under you, and beside you. It really is like you are in the water with them. Not sure what Indee's problem is in this picture. She has her "I'm pouting" face on.

AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Tagged by Cassie in Ohio

What is his name? Chad
How long have you been married? 13 years

How long did you date? 4 months (too short! I would die if my girls did this)

How old is he? 35

Who eats more sweets? For sure me. I love chocolate anything, cookies, brownies, m & m's, etc. He's like you Cassie, rather have seconds on dinner and skip dessert. I don't get it.

Who said I love you first? If you know me at all, you know I have the worst memory ever. So I can't really remember. I'll have to ask Chad...

Who is taller? Chad by a few inches

Who can sing better? me, but that's not saying much.

Who is smarter? ditto on what Cassie said, Chad's smarter, but I'm not an idiot. Chad's just has been in school for the last 13 years.

Who does the laundry? I do for sure, I have my quirks about my laundry and have anxiety if anyone else tries to do it and doesn't do it right by my standards.

Who pays the bills? I do, but I don't love it. Chad says that after he's done with this class he's taking this semester, he's going to take over the budget. So this should be good.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do. I can't think of a reason why. ditto Cas, not sure why...

Who mows the lawn? I have a story for this one. When we lived in Mud Lake, we had this huge lawn. We had this crappy mower (walmart $90.00). So Chad would always tell me that he would mow the lawn but it would be like 3 weeks later and I would bug him and nag him to mow as he's leaving to go golfing AGAIN! So I said "if you buy me a riding lawn mower, I'll never ask you to mow the lawn again." The next day he was down to Simmon's Equipment and had me a brand new riding lawn mower. He hasn't mowed it since, maybe except for a time or two when I was 9 months pregnant. I love to mow now. I look forward to the day when it's long enough.

Who cooks dinner? I usually cook although when I was pregnant with Mia, Chad did a lot of cooking and now he's very helpful in the kitchen. I think he realized that it's not that hard. His favorite things to cook: tacos, fried potatoes, french fries, fish, and eggs and bacon. (all fried unhealthy stuff which I don't make...too greasy)

Who drives? Chad mostly, but he's not scared of me driving. I don't really like to drive because I have to pay attention.

Who is more stubborn? Me for sure! Thank you Reed family gene.

Who kissed who first? Chad for sure. He'll tell you different but I was kind of surprised he kissed me on our first date.

Who asked who out first? Chad got my phone no. at a dance and then didn't call me for a week and I was so anxious for him to call. He was playing me I think. I loved him the first time I met him though and would have been heartbroken if he never called me. But it was against my rules to ever call him.

Who proposed? Chad and it was sweet although I don't really remember all he said, I wish I did (again with the memory problem).

Who wears the pants? We were just talking about this with some of our friends. I think it's pretty mutual but I would say Chad just because I can't really make a decision and rely on Chad a lot.
There you have it - now I tag Megan, Penny, and Marisa.

Day 3 a.m.

We headed to the coast on Day 3. Just outside of Florence are the Sea Lion Caves.

We took an elevator down into a cave 12 stories. When the doors opened up, we were in the middle of a cave.

You couldn't use the flash on your camera so this picture didn't turn out very well. But this is the cave with all the sea lions. It was stinky in here and so loud. It sounded like someone had the sound system turned up as loud as it would go. They were barking and whaling.

This was still inside the cave. You could walk up a little path and look out at the ocean and see the sea lions out there feeding. They would bob up and down. Doesn't it look warm and inviting out there? (Not!)