We had to resort to drastic measures several times in the car with Gunnar...cold cans of soda and M&M's!
We spent one day at the Oregon coast, which we quickly found to be not nearly enough time! We attempted to go to the Sea Lion Caves but were quickly turned away as they were doing maintenance on their elevator. Adam was quite upset because this was what he had been looking forward to. He came to the coast many times growing up and never knew there was an elevator to take you down to the caves! It was a real bummer, but not enough to ruin our day!
We went to eat at Mo's in Newport, which was amazing. I had never been, but it's one of the places Adam and his family always went growing up. We had some pretty yummy clam chowder and Adam even dared to have some baked oysters. Then we proceeded to the OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center where we got to see an octopus have a crab for his lunch. Gunnar and Adam were both quite interested in all of the exhibits, but we only had so much time to spend there. We had to hurry through in order to be able to spend some time at the beach before heading to dinner with Adam's family.
Gunnar loved the freedom of the beach. He has never had so much room to wander! It was so cute to watch him chasing the water and running up and down the beach. He was having such a blast which was only made better when he noticed two dogs from a mile away. He was so excited, he immediately forgot all about the glory of the ocean and ran toward the dogs!
After the coast we went to stay with Adam's great-uncle and his wife. They have a beautiful home with horses and cows. Gunnar thought that was great...but really enjoyed the company of their dog! He kept patting him and chasing him around. Poor dog, I don't think he was used to little kids at all! The best part was when Gunnar went to the dogs water dish and lifted it up on himself, spilling water everywhere! Then the very next night he was playing over by the water again and lost his footing, plopping himself right into it!
Next we spent a few days with Adam's great grandma. She just loved having Gunnar around, it was their first meeting. Boy, he sure was the life of the retirement home! We had lunch with her a few times and even stayed to play Bingo once.
Then we spent a few more nights with my favorite Aunt Heidi...and my new baby cousin, Max. He is just adorable:) We had so much fun hanging out with everyone. Gunnar loved playing with all of Ryann's dolls, although I just can't say the same for her!!
Unfortunately, we had to head back home:( We managed to make a few stops in Boise first though. Steph's twins turned 6, so we got to be there for their birthday party. Before the party, Adam, Gunnar and I went swimming with the girls at their YMCA. Gunnar got to ride in style for sure in Steph's mini-van:)
The girls had their party at a place similar to Blast Off. Luckily this time Gunnar was not so afraid. They even had a special area set aside for the younger kids, which he seemed to enjoy.
After leaving Steph's we spent the night at Adam' uncles house. He and his girlfriend enjoy seeing Gunnar, and we always have a good time there.
Now off to Adam's grandma's house where Gunnar gets spoiled like crazy!! Grandpa is a baby snatcher! He immediately filled Gunnar with ice cream and chocolate donuts and gave him his first potato chips. No wonder why Gunnar loves it there!
We hit up the Boise zoo before heading to my aunt Cheryl's house for the night, our last night before heading home. We sure had an amazing vacation and can't wait to do it again!!
