Evergreen Air & Space Museum

Last week, Spencer and I drove down to McMinnville to take advantage of the free tickets we had for the Wings and Waves Water park.  I didn't date take my camera in and that was ok because we only wound up staying for about an hour.  They had some fun things for younger kids, but Spencer is not very adventurous around water and got bored after a little while.

Luckily, I had checked out the libraries' pass for the Air and Space Museum next to the water park as well.  Spencer liked the air museum a lot better than the water.  There had to have been close to 100 planes in the building.  The main attraction is the HUGE Spruce Goose.  Built by Howard Hughes in the 1947, the giant plane that was also a boat, only flew once - during testing.  Then Hughes put it in a hanger and spent millions of dollars on its upkeep.  Then, they spent millions more dollars to get from California to Oregon.  What a waste!  It was cool to look at though.

 

Spencer wanted a picture in front of this jeep that looks like Sarge from Cars.

My favorite was the B17 because my Grandpa Heap flew in one in WWII.  He was the radio operator.  My Grandpa's patriarchal blessing told him that he would return from the war safely as long as he was living righteously.  He had some close calls with shrapnel coming through the plane and once everyone of the other 11 planes in his squadron was shot down, but my Grandpa's plane made it back safely.  Pretty amazing!

There was a really cool kid's room with several flight simulators and other hand's-on science experiments.

We were both pretty tired after the air museum, but didn't want to leave without at least checking out the space museum, so we gave it a half-hearted effort.  The air museum was really a lot cooler, but Spencer did get to ride in this carnival ride.

We also found this plane that looks a lot like Skipper from Planes. 

It turned out to be such a fun day even though we had to go without Alan.  Sometimes it's hard not to wish away the time until the baby comes, so I have been really trying to cherish these last few days of summer.  I'm glad I got to spend the day with my buddy!

Portland Temple

Spencer and I spent a few minutes walking around the temple grounds and visitor's center on our way to physical therapy last week.  The flowers were beautiful, but Spencer liked the reflecting pool the most.  It was neat to walk around and talk about what it will be like when we get sealed to our new baby after the adoption is finalized in 5-6 months.  Not many kids Spencer's age get to go inside temples other than for open houses.  It's going to be so special!

American Ninja Warriors

Spencer doesn't get to watch American Ninja Warrior at home because it comes on way after his bed time and we don't have dvr.  But, he's managed to see re-runs at other people's houses a couple of times and thinks it's one of the coolest things ever.  We had this cute, little friend over last week and the boys set up an obstacle course in the back yard.  They took turns running the course and counting to time each other.  They had a great time and were super sweaty and tired when it was time to take B. home.  Too bad he moved out of state the next day!

The Pudget Sound

My sister Katelyn and her husband Zac moved to a suburb just north of Seattle last January.  We finally made it up to visit them last weekend.  Katelyn was registered for a half-marathon on Whidby Island.  Alan decided he needed a redemption race after his last one on July 5th, so he registered too.  We left first thing Friday morning so we could have a little time to sight see with Katelyn before the race. 

Seattle is only about 3.5 hours north of Portland, but it has a whole different kind of beauty.  I wish I could have taken more pictures of the sound and all of the sailing boats.  It was gorgeous!  Kate took us to the Mukilteo light house and ferry harbor.  We had fun watching cars board the ferry and playing on the rocky beach.  

I loved the colors of the pebbles on this beach and brought a bunch home.  Nerdy, I know.

Spencer was being an American Ninja Warrior on the playground. :)

We didn't have too much time to spend because we needed to head up to our hotel about an hour north of Kate and Zac's before Seattle traffic hit.  We didn't make it before half the rest of the city though.  Seattle is gorgeous, but their traffic is terrible!

We finally made it to our cheap hotel and then let Kate and Alan carbo-load at  Olive Garden.  After dinner, I decided that our room smelt too strongly of cigarette smoke and requested a change.  There were no vacancies for that night, but luckily a nice man in the lobby offered to switch us rooms.  There are good people everywhere!

Alan and Kate left for the race early the next morning and Zac, Spencer and I left a little later.  The race was about an hour drive from our hotel.  We got to go over a really cool bridge called Deception Point on the way. 

The weather on Whidby Island was perfect for Alan's easily over-heated body.  It was quite cool and foggy for most of the race.  Alan was really happy with his time of 1:40 and Kate missed her goal of 2:00 by one second!

The two awesome runners!

We decided to go check out Fort Casey on the Island after the race.  There was no where for Kate and Alan to shower though, so they just had to stay stinky.  :)

Fort Casey was built to protect the Pudget Sound from enemy ships right around 1900.  It was built into the hillside so as to be invisible from sea.  The fort was never actually used though because the invention of airplanes just a few years later rendered it obsolete.  Still kind of a cool place to walk around though.

Spencer and I played frisbee for a few minutes.

The highlight of the trip for Spencer was riding the ferry back across the sound.  It was one of the huge ferries that you drive your car onto.  The ride was only about 20 minutes and that gave us just enough time to take a couple of pictures on deck.

We hung out for a little while at Kate's house while Alan showered and then we headed down to Olympia for the night.  We stayed in a much nicer motel there and actually got upgraded to a two-bedroom suit when that our original room smelled like cigarettes again.  Geesh!  We were too tired to go swimming, but Spencer had fun playing with his cars in the room.  We slept in on Sunday morning, had a nice breakfast at the motel and then drove home in time for 2:00 church.

Thanks for letting us come visit Kate and Zac!  It was a fun weekend and we'll have to do it again!

A little bit of summer and an adoption update

Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to lately.  Nothing super awesome, but just enjoying summer with friends and water.  We've had a lot more days in the 90's than normal here which is great except that we don't have air conditioning and our house gets pretty warm.

Despite the freedom and laziness of summer, I haven't felt very relaxed this year as I've been trying to get ready for a new baby in 6 WEEKS!!!  The wait has seemed long but at the same time, I can hardly believe we'll be bringing him home next month.  I still have a lot to do, but it's fun and exciting so I don't mind too much. 

Spencer still had several items of baby furniture in his room, so we've been rearranging in there first.  He is excited about his new dresser and pet net, but will be sad to see the glider chair move out because that is where I've held him and read stories to him for over 6 years.  I will actually be super sad about that too.  Reading together has been such a special thing for us.  We will certainly still read after the baby comes, but will have to find a new place to sit.

Baby is doing well according to his recent ultrasounds.  Our birth mother got rear-ended a few weeks ago.  They monitored baby in the ER for 5ish hours and everything is ok.  His kidneys were also measuring large a few weeks ago so they did a follow-up ultrasound this week.  Everything looked normal again.  He is about 4 lbs and already has some hair.  Hearing those details made him so much more real to me and I can't wait to meet him and see what he looks like. 

Without any physical evidence of him here, there have been many times when all of this has seemed like a dream that could evaporate any moment.  That is why I have put off preparing for so long.  But time is short now and I can't wait any longer.  Family members are making receiving blankets and bedding for him and I'm super excited to see how everything turns out!  I'm very lucky to have so many talents family members who can make up for my complete lack of sewing skills.

We are having a terrible time deciding on a name.  Alan and I each have a list that hasn't been vetoed, but the lists are not the same and I'm not sure how we're ever going to agree.  Here's where the lists stand at the moment:
Alan: Caleb, Nicholas
Kristin: Drew, Mason, Emmett
Spencer: Dustin (I'm pretty sure this is a reference to Dusty from Disney's Planes movie.)

I think that's about it.  Any advice on bottles and formula feeding would be appreciated.  That is new to me.  Actually, I kind of feel like everything is new.  I hope my previous newborn knowledge comes back quickly.  It's been a long time!

LeFevre Reunion 2014

My Dad's family reunion was held in Hagerman, Idaho this year.  That's about a 9 hour drive for us, but since Alan has been working like a dog all summer and would be the weekend of the reunion too, I decided to take Spencer on another road trip.  We've become great road-tripping buddies in the last year or so.  I had never been to Hagerman before and got a little lost trying to find the reunion, but it was great once we finally got there.

 My Dad has six siblings and I have over 30 cousins on that side of the family.  This reunion had a fairly small turnout - partly because it was held in Idaho and most of them live in southern Utah and partly because a lot of my cousins are married with kids or jobs now and can't get away.  I was the only one from my immediate family who was able to go this year. 

My Aunt LuAnne and Uncle KJ manage an indoor pool at a camp ground on the Snake River.  Some people camped, some stayed in a hotel, and LuAnne was nice enough to let Spencer and I stay at her house just 10 minutes from the campground.  We spent the entire day on Friday hanging out by the river, swimming in the pool, and kayaking.  Well, it took me all day to convince Spencer to get in a kayak and let me row him around.  He finally did though and liked it for about 15 minutes. :)  He says I'm a bad driver because it took me a few extra strokes to get him exactly where he wanted to go.  I thought I did pretty awesome for not having rowed in probably 8 years!

Spencer had fun playing in the kayak for a while as long as it was tied to the dock.

Throwing rocks in the river never gets old.

Some of my cousins were brave enough to float in the freezing water.

Spencer wanted nothing to do with floating, but liked wading around.

A group of us walked to the above water fall.

Most of my family had to leave on Saturday, but those of us who stayed spent a relaxing day at LuAnne's.  My cousins Jessica stayed with her four kiddos and Spencer had a lot of fun playing with them.  This is Jessica's 5-year-old Adam.  We went to Hagerman's tiny fossil museum and went to the Baptist Church's free ice cream social.  

The kids spent the entire afternoon playing with water toys in the backyard while the older kids and adults visited, ate and played a two-hour game of Shanghai.  Good times!

We went swimming one more time Saturday night before leaving for home first thing Sunday morning.  I hadn't planned on attending Church that day because LuAnne's ward started too late for us and it never entered my mind to stop somewhere on the way home.  After Uncle Larren's guilt trip about only going to Church when it's convenient, I decided I should be a good example to Spencer.  We wound up stopping at the chapel next to the Boise temple and attending Sacrament meeting in our street clothes.  Spencer was super mad at me for making him pause his movie for Church and we got a lot of strange looks, but I'm glad we did it.  Hopefully, Spencer learned something because I know I did.  I will bring church clothes next time!

Someone took a picture of the whole group, but I don't know who has it.  :(  It was a long drive, but so worth it to see family, some of whom I hadn't seen in four years.  I have a lot of great memories of reunions at my Grandpa's ranch and Thanksgiving's in Page with these people.  Families are SO important and I love mine!