Mid-Winter Break

Since Matthew didn't have preschool this week and since a week with nothing scheduled scares me, I decided to make a quick trip down to Portland with the boys. We had a few must-do items on the agenda, but we crammed a lot into those few days, including a quick trip to Eugene.

We spent our first afternoon at the zoo and enjoyed some incredible February weather! No crowds and lively animals (maybe not lively, but at least awake) made for a great day. Two lively animals of my own made it pretty difficult to capture many pictures. These are the best ones:
One day two, we headed down to Eugene, mostly to visit Aunt Mary. I hoped also to visit one or more of our favorite parks. Aunt Mary surprised the boys with a quick trip to Build-A-Bear, where Matthew built a bunny and Sethy built a bear. I didn't get any pictures; chasing Seth took most of my time and attention. However, I will forever associate with the trip with a mental image of Sethy dragging his bear house (which is nearly as tall as he is) all through the mall because he loves to do everything all by himself.

After visiting with Aunt Mary, we headed to Spencer View, of all places. We didn't have much time left and planned to meet up with our friends there. I enjoyed seeing the old place and recalling the many memories we created there. So, we didn't end up going to one of the cooler parks in Eugene, but we definitely went to the one that we visited most often while we lived there.

Our last half day we spent at the Portland children's museum. In the words of another, this museum seems to have been built for Matthew. Seth loved it too! The boys favorite spots included the dig pit,

(this is a lousy picture, but I loved Seth's look of concentration in it)

the water area,
the boat,
and finally the ambulance.
These two make a great team!

We also previewed a show that is in Portland this week. This was one impressive baby dinosaur!
Though they probably could have spent hours more at the museum, we had to head home. The boys performed well on the ride; they were worn out! We picked Jon up early on the way home and enjoyed a restful weekend together, mostly because Jon cleaned the entire house while we were gone. I'll call it a successful mid-winter break.