Time with the Red Grandparents

One week is not long enough after living with Red Grandma & Grandpa for five months! We enjoyed each moment we had while they were here visiting in early July. After our trip to the beach we took time to just enjoy small things around town. Mom & I went shopping in downtown Troutdale, a favorite spot for me and fun to share with her. Joel & I each had a special Starbucks coffee date with Mom and the kids got lots of play time with both Grandma & Grandpa. They loved waking up each morning, knowing that they were right downstairs, just like when we lived with them in South Carolina.

 

Mom's Aunt Betty lives in Tri Cities, Washington, so we met halfway (or thereabout) in The Dalles for a sort-of mini-reunion. I've heard about Aunt Betty for years and have been "Facebook" friends with her for over a year now, so it was wonderful to finally meet her in person as well as several others of Joel's relatives. Mom's Uncle (brother of Aunt Betty) actually came through town that same time as well. He is driving across America, visiting all the places he'd always wanted to and stopping to meet & see family along the way. Quite a trip and he's enjoying it very much! It was an honor to be the one to walk up to Multnomah Falls with him and take his picture of that monumental location along his journey!

On the way home, we stopped at Cascade Locks for some ice cream! I have no idea what the name of that ice cream stand is, but I do know that it's been there since I was a kid and it still tastes the same and pretty much costs the same, which is nice! It was a windy day though and HOT...eating some soft-serve ice cream on a hot, windy day makes for some messy kiddos, but it was a fun stop anyway!

 You can tell that Abigail enjoyed it!

We were able to go to the ZOO with Red Grandma, Aunt Erin & Cousin Noah one day too! We have a ZOO membership, and I'm so glad we do! Every time we go, we only end up lasting for about 2-3 hours before the kids are tired and needing to head home. This time was no different! It's nice to be able to see what we can see in that amount of time, knowing that we can always come back to see the rest another day! It was really special to be there with Grandma!!

Saying "goodbye" was difficult for us all! The second week Mom & Dad were here, they stayed at Jon & Erin's place in Sandy. They were flying out on Sunday the 11th, the same day our church was having a picnic, so we made a pit stop on the way to the picnic to say our goodbyes. I threw in one last "sure you don't want to move here?!" as I was heading out to the van...hoping they would change their minds at the last minute! : ) That conversation came up many times during their time here...we would all LOVE to live near Mom & Dad Woodard...such a gift that the Lord gave us that 5 months living WITH them, not only near them. I haven't checked, but I think that Oregon is about the same distance away from South Carolina as Slovenia is. Hopefully our paths will cross more now though! We love you guys!!