Busy Day

Wednesday, Dustin dropped Devan and I off at the Lloyd Center to do some shopping while he did other stuff. I was on a mission to find a cardigan for the wedding. I was just ready to give up, when I saw one that would work. It wasn't what I wanted, but it would have to do. I just couldn't believe how hard it was to find a cardigan in the summer!! :)

Devan was such a trooper! He held my hand as we walked through the mall and stayed with me while I was shopping. (Side note: at the last store he started riffling through the clothes and saying "cute". LOL).

After our purchase, he wanted to carry the bag. So we wandered back to the center of the mall and watched people skating on the ice rink for awhile. He was in awe and really wanted to go try it for himself. I felt bad I had to say no. So after a quick bathroom break, I found the little kiddy play area in the mall. He had been so good so I wanted to reward him :)

At first he was really timid and overwhelmed. There were 2 kids around 4 or 5 that were really aggressive and running all over the place (see pic below: she's the blurry one). After some encouragement, he started getting braver. A few times down the slide (his absolute favorite thing in the world), I was able to sit on the side and let him explore.

This place has TWO slides!!!

After I got the call from Dustin that he was on his way, we left the play area and started walking the streets. Devan got another bonus point for not throwing a fit when it was time to go! He was the only kid there that didn't throw a tantrum when it was time to leave :) Score one for me too!

Several hours at the mall, we never had one meltdown, I never had to yell at him for wandering away, and I never once heard "I eat!" (for those of you that know Devan, you know this is a HUGE deal!)

We left the mall and started walking the streets, headed to Chipotle several blocks away. (Side note: later that evening, I was informed by Erin that the Lloyd Center is the ghetto mall and it's not that safe to walk around town in that area. I, however, felt completely safe- especially compared to Richmond! I was met with smiling faces and cars waited patiently for Devan and I to cross the street or parking lot entrance). It was a gorgeous sunny day- close to 80 with a slight breeze. Ahhh.... I just love being in Portland when it's like that :)

Waiting in the outside seating for Dustin to park

Since Devan had been so good I got him a kiddy meal at Chipotle. And get this: they have corn tortillas for kids with allergies!!!!! I was shocked! They don't have that in VA. So Devan got his own kids meal and I let him eat the chips and apple juice :) Another treat for him, but he had been so good. Of course, he doesn't like apple juice, but at least I let him have a drink from the juice box. But he was happy with water.

After the mall we drove around a bit and then headed down to Wilsonville to the Family Fun Center. We had to kill time before heading to Erin's house for a BBQ with our college roomies. We walked around the fun center and Devan had to push all the flashing buttons in the arcade room. Then we went outside where we watched the Go-Karts (pictured below) and the water bumper cars. Then we headed to miniature golf. This proved to be kind of frustrating because he liked to run and pick up the balls after you hit them, and then not give them back. It took us a long time to get through the game. (I won by 1 stroke). Devan got to hit a couple holes. I was hoping this would be fun and he would leave the balls alone, but it didn't work. After the game, we enjoyed a big snow cone. I haven't had one since I was little! It was delish and hit the spot on a warm day :)

Then we headed to Scott and Erin's house. The BBQ was fantastic! It was so great to catch up with everyone (Megan's preggers with her first baby and due at the end of this month), and the food was perfect. They have a lot of land so Devan had fun running free and chasing their 2 labs. He ate a huge dinner- a whole chicken breast, almost an entire ear of corn on the cob (his first time ever having one and he loved it! A great way to get him to eat a vegetable since he's been so anti-vegetable lately), and 3 bowls of strawberries for desert. Thanks for hosting the get-together Erin! It was perfect :) After 4.5 hrs, we hit the road back to Corvallis and Devan crashed as soon as we hit the interstate.

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Friday, our last day in town before heading up to the wedding venue, we met my parents downtown for Crazy Days. First stop: Five Star Sports. Usually they have great deals on shoes, but not this time, and nothing I really needed. After wandering around town looking at the sales, we headed to University Hero for lunch. I haven't been there since college! It was so good. It's just a sandwich but the combo of all the ingredients with the bread make it so good....

After lunch we headed down the street to Central Park. Devan had a blast climbing around and going down the slides (of course). Dad and Devan played while my mom and I snuck across the part to the Art Center to check out the exhibit. Then we hung out enjoying the sunshine until it was time to go. Devan stayed behind for another day while Dustin and I went up to Portland.

More pics to come.... I still have some pool pictures and a couple from the wedding to post. Still waiting to get pictures from everyone so the only ones I've posted are from my cell phone.

Have a great weekend!

July 4th Weekend

I love being in Oregon for the 4th of July holiday... You get TWO shows!!! :) July 3rd we always go to Waldport to watch the fireworks on the beach. We make a day out of it. Get a good spot, gather enough firewood to get you through the night, and hang by the fire roasting hot dogs and making smores :) Yummy!

This was the first year Devan went. We felt he was old enough to enjoy the beach, understand to stay away from the fire, and wouldn't be scared by the fireworks. He did great! This year they didn't have music so it was quiet. But Devan was a great helper gathering firewood, until he found the perfect stick for him, so this meant he spent time beating logs and drawing in the sand instead of gathering wood.

He got a little spoiled, but we let him have fun and enjoy it. He got to eat lots of chips, a couple Mike & Ikes, and even roasted a marshmallow (which he didn't care for). He was good and ate his hot dog, so then he could participate in the festivities of junk food. Plus, he needed the sugar to stay away for the big show at 10pm!

He always went to Steph to beg for chips

And then the fun began... throwing rocks into the bay! This was a fun game for a loooong time :)

Look at this one!

After every throw he had to wipe his hands off because they were dirty. And then wanted another rock. Funny kid :)

Around 9pm a guy showed up with a guitar. He joined a group near us and started playing and singing loudly. Devan enjoyed the music and started dancing and "singing" along.

A couple videos I took of us hanging around the fire and Devan dancing to the music:

Once it started getting dark, people started letting of their personal ones. Devan called these fireflies :) "Another firefly!!!" "There's another one!" What a funny kid.... And the little embers that flew off the fire he also called fireflies. But the difference was that "fireflies are hot"... :)

When it was time for the fireworks to start he cuddled in our laps and called out the colors of each one. Super cute! He even knew purple and orange! That surprised me. He got bored after awhile and became wiggly as he was trying to stay awake. But after the show, some guys came down and let off some illegal ones right next to us. Very cool. Devan LOVED these. Perhaps because they were closer?

For the 4th we went downtown for the Corvallis show. We met my parents and my sister and Michael. They had the perfect spot this year! It's always a gamble. You never know exactly where they're lighting them off and most years you're seated behind a tree. But this year, the trees perfectly lined the fireworks. AND this year was the best show ever! Go Corvallis!!! They really had some unique ones.

Before the big show, we walked around, watching everyone else light off their fireworks in the street. And we wandered down to where the food and music was. So many fireflies everywhere!!! LOL

As it turns out, it was a good thing we were in Oregon for the 4th. Virginia had horrible storms Monday night and all the fireworks everywhere were cancelled. And most places didn't even do them the next night.

Portland Zoo

The Saturday before the holiday, we went to the Portland Zoo. Devan loved it. Staring at all the animals. He could even spot the tigers taking a nap in the back corner! He was a real trooper and walked the whole time.

One of his favorites: the elephants. We had to stand here and watch the big guy walk in circles....

Knock knock.... Don't leave Mr Elephant!

We had to check out what the roaring was by the elephant exhibit. It's their new dinosaur exhibit here for only the summer. We didn't go though. It might've been too scary for him. But he liked this dinosaur.

"Bear taking nap? Night night bear!"

Another favorite: the monkeys (of course!)

This guy was a real problem. He would run full speed at the glass and bang his hands against it as he jumped up. WHACK!!! And everyone would jump and the kids would scream. He did this several times. Devan did not like this chimp! He was very scary.

We wanted to sit on the lions but they were very hot. So we tried to put a shirt down first but it was still hot. So we took a couple quick pics and moved on to the real thing.

These drums were a lot of fun! We had to do them before AND after lunch :)

"Right there! He's right there!"

Ummm.... Nana.... I think there's something on your head....

"Oh no! Tweet tweet on Nana hair!"

This leopard we had to watch for a long time too. "Big kitty!" as Devan called it.

We spent some time brushing the goats but he soon decided that brushing wasn't as fun as feeding them (at Maymont Park in VA)

Back at Nana and Papa's house after a refreshing 2 hr nap in the car... Time to throw the ball for the dogs!