Memorial Day Weekend

We usually like to go out of town for Memorial Day weekend and do something fun.  This year we went down to my parent’s house in Corvallis for the long weekend.  We left Friday afternoon and got to Corvallis in time for dinner.  We were lucky and the weather, which had been a really mixture of rain and coldness mixed in with sunshine a few days in between, was really nice and warm the entire Memorial Day weekend and got into the 80s.  On Saturday we enjoyed hanging around Corvallis and took the kids and Pumpkin to Avery Park.  Brandon and Olivia loved going on the beloved Avery Park train and went up way high this time with Sean (Mommy did not venture up there due to her fears of heights).  After we went to Avery Park, we took the kids back home where they had some quiet time and Sean and I got to go out to our favorite brewery Mazama and Two Town Ciderhouse and get some flights of beer and cider.  After that we went to Block 15 for my birthday dinner and then came home to a surprise carrot cake for dessert.  I also got to open my birthday presents from my parents which included a lot of new cute clothes for the summer.  It was a good 3^rd birthday celebration! 

The next day we decided to go to Mary’s Peak to go hiking for the day.  I got this hiking book that I found at the library, Hiking with Kids in Oregon, which suggested two fun trails with kids and gave the directions and the mileage.  The first hike we went up was to the top of Mary’s Peak.  Olivia ran up to the top of the mountain (all 1 mile of it) she had a blast!  The views on top of the Peak were beautiful and breathtaking.  We then hiked back down the mountain and had lunch at the picnic benches near the car.  We then went on a hike through the forest to a beautiful meadow that ended up being another 2.5 miles.  The kids did awesome on the hike and were such troopers.  It also helped that they got chocolate for energy.

Playing at CiCi's house before the hike

Near the top of Mary's Peak

Brandon and Olivia near the top of Mary's Peak 

It was such a beautiful day

Sean and the kids-we used this photo for Father's Day gift 

Family shot will probably be our Christmas card this year

Such a beautiful day 

The clouds were so pretty

My dad and Pumpkin 

Pumpkin enjoyed the hike

Brandon found a hiking stick

Making the way down the peak 

Sean and Brandon 

Going on the other trail

Sean and I with Pumpkin

Selfie on the hike

Brandon found a cool tree 

Enjoying chocolate on the log

CiCi and Baba 

We got back to Corvallis in the afternoon quite tired from our hike and thought the kids would want to rest but no, they wanted to go to the park now!  Sean stayed behind and made dinner (he was making Shish Kabobs) and we decided to try to take Brandon’s training wheels off of his bike.  He was nervous at first as he is a cautious kid.  We went to Hoover Elementary school (my old elementary school) where it is nice and flat.  When he started off Brandon was a bit wobbly and would make it for a few seconds.  But he got better and better quite faster to where 30 minutes later he was riding for a minute!  He still had some problems steering and going street but was quite good at turning.  He was so proud of himself.

Brandon learned how to ride his bike without training wheels at my old elementary school Hoover

The next day was Memorial Day and we took off mid-morning to go home as we needed to unpack and get ready for the week.  We ended up going to a fun brewery near down town for dinner and to see Sean’s Cousin Neil off who is moving to New Mexico.  It was a very fun and busy Memorial Day weekend!

Happy Memorial Day from these cuties!