Oregon Zoo

One of our stops when we were in Portland last weekend was the Oregon Zoo. The zoo was a perfect tie in with our science curriculum this year, which focused on land animals.


My father joined us at the zoo. He spent much of his time carrying Josh, who suddenly decided that he liked Papa. Usually, he's terribly afraid of him and won't go anywhere near him. He found out that Papa isn't scary, but rather quite fun. Papa found out that Josh is quite heavy to be carrying around all day.


This crocodile was too cool. He never moved; you couldn't even see him breathing. He looked just as fake in real life as he does in this photo, but no one wanted to get in the habitat with him to find out for sure.

The zoo has an insect exhibit, complete with this Madagascar hissing cockroach that Sam got to pet. He's not squeamish about bugs. Mika stayed clear of the cockroach, millipede, and tarantulas and enjoyed the ladybugs instead.

These two gorillas were hilarious. They were just lazing around, enjoying the sun. That is until...


...the alpha male came over and put them in their place...which apparently, wasn't sunning themselves on the pavement.


Here's Mika and Josh trying out this model of the polar bear maternity den. The polar bears were out and active today, which is always fun.

There was plenty to do and see at the Oregon Zoo. We really enjoy this zoo. My only complaint is that it is hard to get pictures of the animals because most of them are behind glass.

Lotus Isle Park

Yesterday morning, we had about an hour to an hour and a half to kill before Scott arrived so the kids and I went in search of a nearby park. We found a small one about 1/2 mile from the hotel, the only one on the island.

Sam wasted no time in finding a path down the sandy bank to the Columbia Slough. While I sat there gazing at the houseboats, wondering what it would be like to live on one, the kids played in the sand.


Joshua loved the sand and was very unhappy when it was time to climb back up the hill and head back to the hotel to meet Daddy.


Here's Mika and Sam doing their thing. Mika was taking photos of her Webkinz skunk, while Sam was trying to squeeze the sand. He's weird. I think it looks more like he's trying to reel in a giant pretend marlin.

In the park above the sandy bank, I was able to capture this great photo of Sam. I tried but couldn't get Mika to sit on the tree.


Josh was a little scared of the height of this slide. I had to reach up and hold his hand on the way down...then he loved it.

Mika loves monkey bars now that she can do them.

After our short trip to the park, we returned to the hotel to wait for Scott to arrive. We only had about 15 minutes left to wait. Then we packed up for the day and headed to the Oregon Zoo.

The Hotel

We made it to our hotel, no thanks to Google Maps. The directions said to get off at exit 308, take a sharp right on this street, a right at this street, and a right at this other street. There are no street signs, not a single one. So, if you follow the right, right, right you end up back on I5 towards home. Not good when you've been in the car for 2 1/2 hours and everyone has sore bottoms.

But we made it here on our second try after taking a left that is not mentioned in the directions.

The lobby of the hotel is one of the nicest, coziest lobbies I've seen in a hotel...not that I've been in a lot of hotels. Regardless, it was nice. The person checking us in was friendly, too.



Josh insisted on pulling his suitcase himself. It was so cute seeing this little guy rolling a suitcase almost as tall as he. He did it, though.


The hotel room is nice and in good repair overall. We have two queen beds with bolster pillows (the kids were amazed at the "round pillows"). There is also a sofa, coffee table, and regular height table with two chairs. The main entertainment center has a good-sized flat screen TV, DVD player, small microwave, and small fridge. The kids are enjoying the cable TV that we don't have at home.


Here's the love seat, complete with one of Mika's webkinz. Josh has already figured out that he can jump from the bed to the loveseat. He's also already picked up both phones three times each and attempted to turn on every lamp.

The sink area is right inside the door. It has a nice looking counter and pretty, large mirror. The coffee pot and hair dryer are also here. To the left of the sink, you can see the closet with mirror doors. The kids were surprised there was a closet. Inside is a full size ironing board and iron. Across from the sink is the bathroom which is clean.

So, we've made contact with my father and are resting our bottoms from the long drive while we wait for the evening reception...drinks appetizers.

Then we hit the nearby Safeway for diapers and snacks for tomorrow.

UPDATE: More about the complementary evening reception... The drinks were limited to two per person; they gave you coupons. The appetizers were potato chips, meatballs and gravy, salad (lettuce, red cabbage, tomato, cucumber), fresh veggies (celery, baby carrots, broccoli, cauliflower), cheese (cubes of cheddar and pepper jack), crackers (4 varieties), and ranch dip. Kind of a pleasant little addition to your usual hotel amenities.