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we just returned from a fabulous 2 week trip out to portland to visit travis' family. it was seriously so nice to be there and spend time with nana, papa, taylor and ashley and some of trav's extended family, too. we did a lot of different things but really could have just stayed home at nana and papa's house with plenty of room to run around, swim, and relax! i wish i could say that it's good to be back home in boston, but i have to admit that the longer we live here and are so far away from family, the harder it is to come back! we did miss all our friends, though and also get to look forward to a visit from my parents next week! anyway, here is our trip. i took about 100 pictures so i will try and cut down but i can't promise anything! get ready for picture overload:

the zoo:

the elephants-

calvin could have spent the entire time here. he stood here with kari for a long time just watching these enormous animals! it was really pretty cute and he was a very happy boy.we really only got to spend a couple days with trav's sister ashely but we were glad we got at least that before she had to head back to oregon state to start her volleyball season (sorry ash, but i think it's a cute picture! oh-and will you send me some of those pics from your camera, too)holly:

calvin loves dogs so he was so excited to play with holly whenever he wanted to. pretty much every morning he came down the stairs and asked to go see "hawyees". although, i think this picture better sums up their relationship!tualatin crawfish festival:

one saturday we spent most of the morning at this festival. there was a parade first thing in the morning that went right by rick's dental office so kari and i went and blew up a bunch of balloons with the office name and logo on them to hand out to all the kids waiting for the parade. just a little friendly advertising!playing at the park during the festivalcalvin got to go on some fun kiddie rides, too. taylor was nice to take him on this big slide but i think they got some good air on the way down and tay took the hit for calvin!calvin spent most of the time on this huge blow-up bouncing toy. he loved jumping around with all the kids and would occasionally come over to say hello to all of us on the sidelines. how much do you love this picture?!fishing:

so, believe it or not, i've never really been fishing. the more time i spend with travis, his dad and brother the more i realize that i am a city girl. and i'm ok with that. but i think rick wanted to make sure i got a little of the good outdoors in me so made sure that calvin and i learned how to fish! here's calvin with his own fishing pole! i caught a fish! it wasn't all that hard, though, considering we were at a trout farm where everyone is guaranteed to catch something.

the men of the family doing what they do best.

we did get to eat what we caught and calvin enjoyed his very own cob of corn.

newport, oregon-the coast:

kari was so nice to watch calvin so that travis and i could go have a night out by ourselves. we headed to the oregon coast to newport, walked on the beach, went out to eat, spent the night without having our own little alarm to wake us up in the morning, and then some more time walking around in newport the next day. it was SO good for us to spend time alone. on the way home we also got to go watch ashley during one of her v-ball practices since we never get to watch her play during her season. go beavs. thank you again, kari!

seaside, oregon-also the oregon coast:

a few days after our trip to the coast we went back to a different coastal town with travis' parents and brother, taylor. unfortunately we weren't as lucky with the weahter here as trav and i were but we still had a good time.

papa took calvin on a ride on the carousel. calvin loved it even though he's not really showing it here!

the big 2-7. travis' birthday:

my husband is 27! while in seaside we celebrated travis' birthday. we tried to make it as fun as possible for him by eating some thai food, cake and ice cream, playing hearts and watching the olympics. i told him that night that i am so glad he was born! happy birthday babe!

we also got to see my sister, keri and her family, who lives less than an hour away, we swam a lot in nana's pool, did some shopping, pedicures, lots of tennis and golf, LOTS of watching the olympics every night and most of all just really enjoyed spending time with family! we miss you guys and can't wait to move out there in less than a year. let's hope this year goes fast, right?!