Parents Visit

So about two weeks ago my (Kirsten's) parents visited us for the very first time and it was so, so exciting. We knew that Portland was right up their alley, and I think they would agree. Plus, we did much in the "country" and saw plenty of the mountains, the coast and even some orchards...

But let's start at the beginning...

We went to Por Que No?, one of our very favorite restaurants, did a general overview of portland, Powells, the Rose Garden, Council Crest, and the waterfront all within the first day and a half.

Then the next day we drove out to the hood river valley, to pick cherries. We saw some amazing "kite boarders" on the river and then cut lavender, learned about alpacas (and i got an alpaca finger puppet!), and then got tons of cherries, lots of raspberries, and some garlic...

Plus, it was an astoundingly clear day to see Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams, which we didn't even know was visible from out there.

 

But that wasn't all...we spent the rest of the day driving around the other side of Mt. Hood, with some incredible views of the peak, and stopped at Timberline to check it out.

Then the next day we began at the farmer's market


and then headed to the coast, officially one of Nickel's favorite place in the world (but a bit windy and cold for the rest of us...she didn't seem to notice...) 

Sunday after church we went out to the waterfalls...

and one of the high schoolers we know got us some free snacks

Mom and dad flew in and out of Seattle, so we got to spend their last day there!

We ate lunch at a pier

Saw the space needle

Went to the market

And took a ferry over to Bainbridge Island

All in all, we stayed incredibly busy and had lots of fun. I am SO SO SO glad we got my parents out here and SO SO SO glad that I'm pretty sure it won't be there last time.

There's someone else who was glad they came...

...really, both these guys were. Nickel and Ben (matt and kim's dog that we dogsat while they were in Hawaii) not only shared (Ben's) bed, but got more walks than either had seen in a long time, I'm sure...

(the view from dinner before mom and dad left...)

Chris

So from May 29 until June 3 our cousin Chris (Monroe—there's a Chris Byrd on my side of the family, too, so just to lessen any confusion) came and stayed with us for his first trip to Oregon. We stayed super, super busy and had a lot of fun...

The day he got here we went out to the gorge (which is the Columbia River Gorge, about 20-30 minutes East of our apartment. The Columbia is the river that separates Oregon from Washington.)

We did a really pretty hike that got us high up in some trees, close to "cliffs," seeing some pretty waterfalls, and back into a little watery cove.











That night we ate dinner with Matt and Kim, and the next day all five of us took a trip to Silver Falls State Park, which is essentially an area with a loop-trail of 10 waterfalls, including three that you walked all the way behind...


(see the people back there?)

Most of the 10 were super impressive, but I think the general consensus was that the second was the majority favorite.





Daniel and Chris also tried to go behind a waterfall that didn't have trail behind it...and got way too high up for comfort. That's us somewhere down there.



Pretty awesome.





Then the next day after church, Daniel, Chris, Nickel and I left to camp at the coast. It was Nickel's first time seeing the beach and I'm pretty sure she's in love. Plus, we even built a camp fire right on the beach (totally legal we came to find out, but I definitely had my doubts) and made s'mores. It was amazing.



















The next morning we headed out on a hike over a cape and saw a great view and sea lions, too. Pretty far off (we had to use binoculars), but still. Awesome.





We saw the gorge waterfalls, too, before Chris left, and had hamburgers with Matt and Kim. Super fun...hopefully all of our guests this summer are as easy as Chris :)

PS Any pictures left are on our newly updated Flickr page...that hopefully we can continually keep updated from now on...