Spring Break: Day 4 & 5

Spring Break 2017: Day 4 & 5

Waiting to ride the light rail.

One of the issues of having four kids is that sometimes things slip through the cracks with kid #4. In this case it was the zoo. I'm not a huge zoo person. I like going to the zoo occasionally but I am never going to purchase a zoo pass (if there was a zoo in our area) or go multiple times a year. I just won't. Neither will Tyler. So let's just say that the zoo hasn't been on our radar of things to do for years. Awhile ago Bryn was talking quite wistfully about how *someday* she would really like to go to a zoo and I said, "What are you talking about? You've been to the zoo." and she replied with, "No, I've never been to the zoo before." What?! That couldn't be true. Even though we don't have a zoo here we are in Salt Lake all the time so I thought FOR SURE that she had been to the zoo. After much talking amongst all of us and consulting the blog...which really is our go-to source for finding out if things really happened...ha ha...we discovered that the poor kid really had never been to the zoo before. Who knew?! Tyler and I promised Bryn that the next time that we were in a city that had a zoo we would definitely take her. When we were discussing where to go for spring break and Portland came up Bryn ever so sweetly reminded us that Portland has a zoo. Indeed it does.
For the two months preceding spring break Bryn and Ailey were always on the Portland zoo website looking at all the animals, researching, and making a plan for their visit. It was pretty cute.

My cousin Paul who lives in Portland told us that the best way to get to the zoo was to ride the light rail down. You don't need to mess with parking or traffic. Being from SLC we love light rail so we were all for it plus it allows the kids to see another slice of life and experience mass transit. Always a good time! While we were waiting for the train a funny little lady came up to us and said, "You guys aren't from here... you are too colorful and beautiful. I KNEW you weren't from here. Portland is full of WEIRDOS!!! Go back to where you came from!! Don't move here!!" It was pretty funny. She stuck to us like glue the whole train ride and told us how much she hates Portland and wants to get out of there. But then she would tell us about a bunch of cool places to go and see and we would say "Yeah, that sounds great! We will have to check it out." She then yelled, "BUT DON'T MOVE HERE!!" She gestured to all the other train riders and yelled, " SEE!! Portland is FULL OF WEIRDOS!! LOOK AROUND!! WEIRDOS EVERYWHERE!!"  We had the hardest time trying to keep a straight face when talking to her. We were like "Yep, I think we see one!!" Ha ha! She was hilarious. When we got off at the stop for the zoo. She yelled out the door, "Have fun but remember...DON'T MOVE HERE!!" I heard her say to another rider..."They are TOO colorful for this town!!" We were dying laughing.

The kids had a great time riding the Max!!

The Portland Zoo was awesome!! I guess it is actually called the Oregon Zoo officially. We were super impressed. It was beautiful and clean. It makes the Hogle Zoo in SLC look pretty shabby. The exhibits were awesome. The kids loved it.

I won't bore you (and me) with a ton of animal pictures well maybe a few. ;) 

We got to watch a demonstration on how they train the elephants so that they can do medical examinations. Very fascinating.

These were some cool exhibits where the kids could get inside with the animals.

In this one the tiger came right up to where Bryn was looking out. It started pacing right by her. The plexiglass did not seem like enough of a barrier. So unsettling.

Once when Reilly was little we were at the zoo and a giant snake came slithering past us. We didn't really pay much attention to it. Tyler and I aren't afraid of snakes and we just thought that it was part of the zoo. Wrong. An enormous python had gotten out and the zoo keepers were suddenly everywhere trying to capture it. People were freaking out as they blocked off a huge area until they caught it. That sucker came right by us and we didn't even bat an eye. Ha ha!

We rode the cute Zooliner train.

I think I still like the Hogle Zoo train ride better. Come on, who doesn't want to see legs sticking out of quicksand!?! I think we all do!

We spent the entire day at the zoo and enjoyed every minute. I just can't get over how NICE it is. It has made me rethink my zoo ambivalence. The exhibits are fantastic and so interactive. We also had an outstanding lunch at the restaurant there. The beer cheese soup is fantastic. Tyler did almost make Ailey and Bryn throw up by telling them that he was eating a zebra burger. Ha! Vegetarian kids. They buy anything. To them if you'll eat a nasty disgusting dirty ol'pig why wouldn't you eat a zebra!! :)



We had a such a great day and then we hopped back on the MAX. The stop for the zoo is Washington Station which has the distinction of being the deepest transit station in North America at 260 feet below the surface. The elevator ride down deep to the station was pretty trippy. So cool. Everyone had to stand up for the ride home because the light rail was packed and the kids thought that it was pretty awesome.

Then it was time to see some of our favorite Portlanders... Paul, Whitney, and Zoey. This is always one of the highlights of our trips to Portland. We love hanging out with these guys and don't see them nearly enough. After the zoo we headed back to the hotel to clean up and then we went over to Paul and Whitney's house. They are expecting a new baby and we are so excited for them. Zoey is going to be the most adorable big sister. We went out for dinner to their favorite ramen house. It was amazing! We had so much fun with them. I wish that I took more than one picture...and not just of the kids table... but we were all so busy talking and laughing and catching up. There never is enough time to do all that we want to and talk as much as we want to!! I am so glad that we were able to see them this trip. It was such a great night!

The kids table...Kam was not thrilled that I took a picture in a crowded restaurant. Whatever.

The next day was spent as a true buying trip for Sisters Creed. We went all over and found great things. I love all the stuff that I found!! We did so much shopping that day. Plus, the kids were all on a quest for Nike merchandise in the land of Nike. It was a fun but super busy day!! We left town late that afternoon. On our way home we stopped to check out another one of my favorite waterfalls...Horsetail Falls. I can't describe how powerful that water is coming over the falls. So cool!!

We were getting totally soaked in this picture. So much spray from the waterfall!!

We stopped in the Tri-Cities for a bbq dinner and then were home by about 9 pm. We had an awesome trip and packed in so much...more than I can even blog about. We made great memories and enjoyed one of our favorite cities. It was also nice that we still had a few days left of spring break...perfect to celebrate Bryn's 8th birthday!! Woohoo!!