Painting

Ryan has gotten into painting lately, and today while he was painting he asked me to take his picture. I have been writing thank you cards, so he's painting pictures to send along with them.

Mommy's Little Helper

This little vaccuum is probably one of the best gifts Gramie ever gave us! Ryan has been a little obsessed with vaccuums for over two years now, and about two years ago Gramie bought him this real working vaccuum. It was a little hard for him to push then (though he tried!), but now he can push it easily. He often helps me by vaccuuming, and he loves it! Today he vaccuumed the kitchen, the dining room, the entry and part of the living room. I had so many other tasks today that I probably wouldn't have got to the vaccuuming myself, so it's so nice to have such a great helper!

Mr. Observant

It is no exaggeration to say that Ryan notices everything! From the time he was a couple weeks old, everyone would say to us, "He's so alert!" Being first-time parents, we had no idea what they were talking about. Isn't every baby just like this? After a while, we began to understand what they meant. He is just so interested in the world around him, and nothing escapes his notice.

Ever since we got our new van, Ryan would point out every Kia he saw. The funny thing is that he didn't recognize them so much their bodyshape as he did by what kind of taillights they had. He got a small toy van in his stocking for Christmas, and he said to Daddy, "This has taillights just like the Millers' van." Daddy asked me what kind of van the Millers have, and I told him it was a Dodge Caravan. Guess what kind of van his toy was? Yep, it's a replica of a Caravan!

Christmas Day

Because we're in the middle of packing and moving, we decided to wait and do our main Christmas celebration after we move to our new house in a couple weeks. Our gift to the children is a little big and bulky, so we wanted to wait till we move to put it together, and Gramie will be here in a few weeks too and we can celebrate with some other family.

We did give the kids their stockings, and Ryan got some fun things in his. He was particularly happy with his Buzz Lightyear "cell phone." We also let him open his gifts from Granpa and Grama Garner, and he got a huge Tonka dumptruck, among other books and things.

Little Helper

We moved Nonna's belongings from a storage facility into her new apartment on Friday, and Ryan was such a fabulous helper! Anything that he could wrap his arms around or push or drag, he willingly moved for us. Even after we hooked up the television, he still prefered to help us move things than to watch PBS Kids. He even started crying at one point late in the day because we didn't have anything small enough for him to help move (he was pretty tired by that time). It was an exhausting day, but he really made us proud with his helpful spirit.

Adoption Legislation

Would you really like to promote adoption and support adoptive families? Here's your chance! This year some adoption legislation was introduced that would make it financially easier to adopt. If you have adopted, are thinking of adopting, or are an adoption advocate, please write your representatives to urge them to vote for these bills! It's really easy. Just click on this link, locate your congressmen and senators (it's all automated and very easy), and then write your own letter or copy and paste the sample letter provided. The link also has a description of the legislation.

The current Adoption Tax Credit provides a tax credit (not a deduction!) to adoptive families of up $10,000 (actually it goes up slightly every year, but it's still less than $11,000) and allows you to carryover any unused portion for an additional five years. Our family has benefitted from the current tax credit, but only a little. As the law reads now, only adoptive families with a yearly tax liability of $1,667 or more will reap all the benefits from the credit. If your income is lower, hence your liability is lower, the carryover expires before you use up all the credit (seems counterintuitive to me), though every little bit helps. This new bill would not change anything for higher income earners, but would extend the same relief (maybe more) to those who need it most.

In our case we adopted two years in a row, so we in fact lose four years of our carryover since the five years run concurrently and not consecutively (we get six years instead of ten). We currently have $17,000+ of adoption tax credit to carryover for the next four tax years. I think our tax liability last year was less than $900, so unless my husband receives a substantial pay increase, there is no way we will even use up Ryan's tax credit and Abby's will remain wholly unused. If this new legislation is passed, we would be allowed to carryforward our tax credit until it is used up!

Also, they are proposing making it a refundable credit for people with lower incomes (I don't know if we would qualify or not), and that is the best possible fiscal news I can think of for people who are adopting! That means that at tax time adopting families would get an actual refund of up to $10,000 ($15,000 if the new bill is passed) of their adoption expenses instead of a credit against tax liability. Really fantastic!

One last note, this legislation is being proposed by Congressman Harold Ford Jr. of Tennessee. We lived in Memphis for six years, and he came into office while we were there (I didn't vote for him). I was frequently sending him emails to encourage him to vote pro-life only to be disappointed. I am so pleased to see he's doing something positive and pro-life! (For those of you who know my famous "Jesse Jackson Story," he was the congressman up on stage with Jesse who was running for his father's congress seat!)

Happy Tears

Though he doesn't yet understand all the implications, Ryan knows he was adopted. We've talked about it ever since he was born, and I made him a small album about his birth story including pictures of his birthfamily. He will ask periodically, "Mom, did you know I was adopted?" which always makes me smile.

This afternoon we were watching an episode of Little House on the Prairie. It was about a birthmother who had no choice but to leave her little girl at an orphanage. She was sad and very upset when she remembered back to that incident. Ryan wanted to know why she was sad, so I paused the show and tried to explain it to him by relating it to his own birthmother. I told him again about how his birthmother loved him very much and was so sad she couldn't raise him, but that because of that, Mommy and Daddy were very happy because we got to adopt him and raise him for our very own.

After another question about him growing in her tummy, Ryan pointed at me with a big smile and said, "I'm glad I'm with you!" Oh, that touched both Mommy and Daddy's heart so much! We even "cried happy tears," to quote one of our favorite adoption books!

Fun, Fun, Fun!

After our hike with Daddy's class, we took the kids to the Tillamook Creamery for some cheese and ice cream. I don't think Ryan could much closer to heaven on earth than eating ice cream and cheese while seeing how they make and package it all! He loved his chocolate ice cream, and he loved the cheese samples (just one more piece of white cheese, please!), but I think his favorite part was watching that huge factory at work making and packaging cheese. He asked a lot of questions and he even figured out a few things on his own.

Field Trip

Daddy had a field trip with his Life Sciences class on Friday, so we all went with him to the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology for a hike. While Daddy learned about the trees and wildlife, Ryan, Abby and I walked the trails, threw rocks in the estuary, and played on the boat dock. Ryan made a game out of destroying every mole (or gopher?) hill that he could find, and Abby quickly joined in.

Ryan is much more mechanically minded than wilderness minded, so when a truck with a boat trailer backed up to the dock and put a boat into the estuary, Ryan was thrilled! He asked a million questions about the whole process, and was very excited to tell Daddy all about it later. It was gorgeous weather, and despite the length of the hike (three hours), we all had a great time.

Stage Debut

Ryan had his first presentation last Wednesday. My Bible study, CBS, has a fabulous children's program, and Ryan LOVES to go every week! He can always tell me what he learned, which is rarely true for Sunday school. The adults take turns at helping out in the kids' classes, and ever since I helped out in Abby's class in October, Ryan has been dying for me to come to his class. Since we are moving, this will probably be our last week to attend, so I asked to be put in his class on Wednesday. I am so impressed with the teachers! They do a fantastic job. It's very clear that this is a ministry for them that they love.

Since this was the last week before Christmas break, all the children did a presentation for the parents (Daddies and other family members were invited as well). This was Ryan's first time up in front of a group of people, and though he didn't seem nervous, he really didn't "perform" very much. I think he was too distracted trying to find Daddy in the crowd. He did sing a little and do a few hand motions, but most of the time he just stood there. Even though neither of our darlings seem to be stage material, Mommy and Daddy still enjoyed watching them be part of this program.

After the program, Daddy came back to visit Ryan's class. They had a "Happy Birthday, Jesus" party, with cookies and a present for each child. Ryan was really happy to have his Daddy with him in class!

Smarty Pants

Every once in a while when Daddy is working on a Saturday, I take the kids to a coffee shop or donut shop for a muffin or donut for breakfast. Last Saturday we went to our local donut shop called Donut Day, and of course the kids loved it. While we were eating breakfast today, Ryan said he wanted to eat donuts every day. I told him it wasn't good for us to eat donuts every day, that it's just for a treat once in a while, blah, blah, blah. After I finished my little speech Ryan looked at me and said, "But the sign at the donut store says, "Every Day is a Donut Day!'" Of course I cracked up, but aside from being amused, I was amazed that he not only had read the sign, but he remembered it and knew what it meant. I guess I need to let the owner know that his advertising is working!

Tender Heart

In the day-to-day experience of life sometimes it's hard to see results from the training and discipline we give our children, but tonight I got a glimpse of a seed planted that is taking root in Ryan (maybe a little too much). Both Ryan and Abby spent several hours at a church event today while the parents were given a morning to do shopping or spend time together or whatever.

Apparently Ryan had been playing with some Hot Wheels during that time and had put one of them in his pocket and forgotten about it (he often puts his own cars in his pockets). Hours later after dinner Ryan got a panicked look on his face and said earnestly, "We have to go back to church NOW!" We asked him why and he produced the car saying it had been in his pocket all this time. We told him it was okay and we would take it back when we go to church tomorrow, but he insisted we had to do it NOW! We assured him it was not a big deal and we knew it was an accident. Still, he burst into tears!

Poor little guy. We did finally console him and convince him it wasn't stealing. I was a little alarmed to see how upset he was, but I was inwardly rejoicing that he immediately came to us with his problem and also glad that he knows stealing is wrong. Now if we can only teach him to relax a little in this journey called life!

Singing Christmas Tree

Daddy won tickets to go see The Singing Christmas Tree, and so we had a family outing last night. We couldn't take pictures at the event, but I took some pictures of the kids all dressed up for the show. Ryan looked very handsome! We had to leave about 10 minutes before the end of the show because the kids were getting pretty restless, but it was nice to have a free night of entertainment for the whole family. Daddy even found $10 on the way back to the car!

Way to Go, Ryan!

We have suspected for a while now that Ryan has completely stopped sucking his thumb. It's hard to know for sure because he only does it at night or naptime, but we have only seen it in his mouth once since we started encouraging him to stop. We stopped putting Band-Aids on after a couple of days because he said he didn't need them anymore, and this morning as Ryan and I were snuggling on the couch, I looked at his thumb. He used to have a huge callous on it, and I noticed that it's almost completely gone! It looks like Ryan will be picking out a new, green bicycle for his birthday. We thought it would take months for him to break this habit, but it hasn't even been three weeks yet. We're so proud of him!

Family Fun Time

We were going to do a few errands and things on Friday, but because of an injury Abby got and the pouring rain, we ended up just having a fun play day. We went out to breakfast at our favorite local pancake house. Then Ryan thought it would be fun to go see a movie, so we went to see Chicken Little (personally, I didn't like it). The kids enjoyed the movie, even though it was a little scary for them. Then we headed to our neighborhood bowling alley, Park Lanes, and Ryan played his first game of bumper bowling.

He tried rolling the ball himself and using the ramp. It was difficult to get the ball rolling on his own, so the ramp seemed to help a lot. He did pretty well for his first time, and we all had a really fun time. The pathetic thing is this is Mommy and Daddy's score even with the bumpers up!

Pumpkin Pie

Ryan LOVES pumpkin pie. So, of course, I made it for Thanksgiving dinner. Since he's not much of an eater, he suffered through the turkey, gravy, dressing, and mashed potatoes just so he could have a piece of pumpkin pie later! I caught him taking a lick of his whipped cream before I made him use his fork.

Surgery Date

We got a date for Ryan's surgery today. It will be January 18th. We could have had it done three weeks from now, but we thought it would be better to wait another month after we've moved and so we can have a full year's use out of our insurance deductible. Now that it's scheduled, I feel a little nervous. I have been praying about how much to tell Ryan about it and when because he is so fearful of things. They have a tour of the hospital available, but I'm afraid that might make him more afraid. Hopefully he'll be brave when the time comes (hopefully Mommy will too!).

Second Opinion

We saw a children's ophthalmologist today for a second opinion on Ryan's eye condition. There weren't any revelations really. She agreed that surgery is reasonable (and if it were her child, she would do it), but she said it is also reasonable to not do surgery. However, if we ever think we'll want surgery for him, we should do it now. The surgery is most successful the earlier it is done. If we opt for surgery, it will restore peripheral vision but not really improve his vision to the point where he will not need glasses (at least for several years). He sees almost 20/20 with his glasses now. The patching has been working great, and he sees equally well out of both eyes now.

If we don't have surgery, his strabismus will stay the same and will not improve with time. So basically, he will have limited peripheral vision, and his eyes will still cross, significantly when he's looking at something up close. If we wait and let him decide when he's older, we run the risk of the surgery not being successful. So to do reconstructive surgery now or to leave well enough alone is the question.

I know I certainly wouldn't want to live my whole life with my eyes crossing back and forth incessantly, and my hubby agrees. We've decided we are going ahead with the surgery. We believe it's in his best interests, and I pray we've made the best decision for Ryan.

These pictures don't show it very clearly, but they show somewhat how his eyes cross with and without glasses. I had a difficult time getting him to look at the camera and hold still so I could get a good picture. His left eye probably crosses a little more frequently than the right, but they both do cross.

Often without his glasses, his eyes will cross
even more than this picture shows.


This is a little bit blurry, but it does
show how his right eye crosses too.


This shows how his eyes look when he crosses them at
distance with his glasses on. This is probably about
how they will look after surgery without glasses.

Thumb Sucking Ban

I have been talking to Ryan about stopping his thumb sucking for a couple of months now, but having the dentist talk to him this week really helped him think more about it, I believe. For the last couple years we've managed to train him so he only sucks it at naptime and bedtime, but now it's time for that to go too. I suggested that we put a Band-aid on it to help him remember, and at first he really didn't like that idea. But yesterday at naptime he asked me to put a Band-aid on, and he even fell asleep without sucking his thumb! Then last night we put it on again, and he managed to go to sleep again without it.

We're really proud of him for trying so hard, especially since this has been a comfort/security habit for him since he was two or three months old! I must confess we did bribe him too. We have been thinking about getting him a bicycle for his birthday anyway, and so we informed him that if he has kicked the habit by then that he will get a new bike! He is so excited, and he definitely wants a "green one with training wheels." (I hope we can find one in green)

Playing Tow Truck

As a treat for being so brave and cooperative at the dentist today, I took the kids to McDonald's for lunch and so they could play in the play structure. There was a little boy there about two years old (yes, he is a boy) named Anthony who was a little afraid to go through some of the tunnels. Ryan took him by the hand and helped him through the tunnels, and Anthony followed along happily. When I thanked Ryan for being so friendly and helpful, he said, "Sure. We were playing tow truck!" I'm not sure Anthony knew that's what they were doing, but they both had a blast.

First Dental Appointment

Ryan had his first dental exam, x-rays, and cleaning today. I was really nervous about how he would react during the visit, but he really impressed me with how brave he was! We let Abby go first so he could see what would happen, and though I could tell he was apprehensive, he was very cooperative with the hygienist and the dentist.


Best of all, he had no cavities! We do have to work on breaking his nighttime thumb-sucking habit, but other than that, he got a very good report from the dentist. Because this visit went so well, I don't think he'll be scared the next time we go. Thank you, Lord!

Delivering Shoeboxes

We missed church Sunday because we were all sick, and it was the last day to bring our shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan's Purse. So today we brought them to the woman's house who is coordinating the program at our church. Ryan picked out some really neat Hot Wheels and a cuddly teddy bear for the little boy who will receive the box. He has been asking about about "the kids who don't have a lot of stuff" almost every day, and I hope and pray he is understanding and learning to be generous with the blessings God has given us.

Building Castles

We were all sick this weekend, with the exception of Ryan. Daddy felt good enough today to spend some time playing with the kids. He and Ryan built some pretty neat castles, and I was able to take this picture before Abby knocked the whole thing down. I think we may need to get some more blocks though because we always want to build one bigger than the blocks we have!

There's More Than One Way to Rake Leaves

Much to my hubby's dismay, Ryan is terrified of our leaf blower. So in order to involve the kids in the outdoor project, Ed had to do it the old fashioned way. (This is no small task since our neighbor's yard has an 80-foot huge oak tree right next to our house.) Since the rain finally let up today, the kids had lots of fun playing outside, and Ryan even found a new and fun way to rake leaves.

Sharing a Seat

We had a nice family day yesterday. We went out to breakfast and then ran some errands. Afterwards we went to see our new house and then we took the kids to OMSI. We watched a planetarium show, and the kids had a blast. Ryan wanted Abby to sit with him in his seat during the planetarium show, and they were so cute sitting together with Ryan’s arm around Abby.

Sibling Love

When I picked Ryan up from his CBS class today, his teacher told me, "He really loves his sister!" She didn't elaborate, and I didn't think to ask any more about what she meant. Then when we went to pick up Abby, her teacher told me how much Ryan loves his sister. She said that when they joined the classes together for music time, Ryan was just begging to see his sister. When they finally found her in the large group, they ran to each other and gave each other a huge hug, and she said Ryan had the biggest smile on his face. Then they stood next to each other very closely during the whole music time just as happy as can be!

It was great to hear that story! Sometimes at home I wonder if they will ever be friends. Abigail adores Ryan, but he's not always very tolerant of her, especially when he's trying to play with something that she might mess up.

I cheated and took this picture this evening. I would have loved to have gotten a picture of them hugging at Bible study (obviously I didn't), but since I've been wanting to get a picture of them hugging anyway, this was a good excuse to get one and post it!

CBS is Fun!

I joined a Community Bible Study (CBS) this fall, and it has a fantastic children's program too. They actually teach Bible stories and verses and songs, as well as play games and do fun crafts and activities. Ryan said to me this morning, "I LOVE Bible Study!"

A couple weeks ago I helped out in Abby's classroom, and now Ryan is dying to have me in his class and asks me every week (it's nice to know he wants me around!). When quizzed after class about his Bible story, he was able to tell us the whole story of Joshua and Caleb! It's neat that he is learning so much there. Because we weren't there last week, Ryan didn't know his new memory verse, and the teacher was dumbfounded when he read it to her! I took this picture today of him playing before class actually began...doing one of his favorite activities, playing with trains.

"See My Trick!"

Ryan wanted me to take a picture of him doing his favorite "trick." I have been trying to teach him how to do a "bridge." He can't quite get his head off the floor yet, but he's getting close.

Haircuts

"Buzz Cut"
Last May I convinced Ryan to let me use the clippers while cutting his hair. He is afraid of them, but he let me use them this time since I convinced him the haircut would go much faster. It was going beautifully until he suddenly jerked his head and the clippers cut a big chunk out of the front of his hair. I tried to cover it up, but there was nothing I could do but buzz his whole head. I cried! He didn't look like my baby anymore; he looked so much older!

"Latest Haircut"

Anyway, that was six months ago, and his hair was finally in need of another cut. He freaked out about the clippers again, so I mostly had to use scissors, but at least he got a decent trim. His haircut is far from perfect, but I really prefer him with more rather than less hair. Oh, and he did let me use the clippers on his neck...yippee!

Second Opinion

We found out our insurance doesn't cover the Casey Eye Institute, so our ophthalmologist gave us another referral. We go see Dr. Shawn Goodman on November 18, and we will get her opinion on what is the best way to proceed with Ryan's treatment.

Point Defiance

Since we were in Tacoma, on Saturday we took the kids to Point Defiance. They have tons of stuff to do there, including a fort, hiking trails, parks, and zoo. Unfortunately, we only had time to see the zoo before we needed to head back home, but Ryan seemed to enjoy the zoo more than he normally does. He particularly liked seeing the porcupines (Oregon Zoo doesn't have those) since he has become fascinated by them from the VeggieTale movie Jonah. It was "ZooBoo" this particular day, and apparently they both saw something infinitely more interesting to look at than Mommy with the camera!

Motel 6

We made a trip up to Tacoma, Washington, this Friday to see Ed's Mammaw since she had sugery on Thursday. We decided it would be best to spend the night there and come home the next day, so we got a motel room for the night. Since Ryan was only 10 days old the last time he slept in a hotel room, he was REALLY excited about it. Both kids were literally bouncing off the walls, but once we calmed them down and put them to sleep for the night, they did very well.

Upcoming Surgery

Ryan had an eye appointment today, and the doctor confirmed what we had suspected for a while: He will need surgery to correct his strabismus fully. However, she wanted us to get a second opinion on how to proceed with the surgery, so we are now going to have an appointment at the Casey Eye Institute in Portland before the surgery is actually scheduled.

Visit with Gramie

Gramie came for a visit last week and stayed about six days. Ed and I went away for two nights while Gramie watched the kids. They had a great time, but were glad to see us come home Sunday. I plain forgot to take any pictures until she was packing her suitcases into the van today, so I snapped a quick picture before we took her to the airport! This is the second visit I've forgotten to take pictures of her with the kids...bummer.

Ft. Clatsop Burned Down

We have lived in Oregon over six years, and finally last month we made it to Ft. Clatsop, which we have been wanting to visit all this time. I'm so glad we made it last month because I just heard that it burned down last night! It's sad that they won't be able to do their bicentennial celebrations the way they had planned them.

First Offering

Whenever Ryan earns some money, we always have him put ten percent aside so he can give it to the Lord. Since his Sunday School never takes an offering, he hasn't been able to give it yet. Now that we are hoping to move, we are training the kids to sit in service with us (so they can do that when we look for a new church), and today was Ryan's first day to come to regular service with us instead of Sunday School. He had a ton of questions: What is that big screen for (lyrics, sermon notes), what is that juice and bread (communion), why do you drink and eat it, what are those sticks they're holding (microphones), is he preaching yet, etc.

He was very good and quiet, and we were really proud of how well he did. We gave him his tithe money when they passed the offering plate, and he put it in very willingly (what are they going to do with my money?). I know this sounds corny, but for some reason it really moved me to see him giving his money to the Lord. It was one of those teary-eyed Mommy moments that I dreamed about for years before we had children!

Story Time for Tabitha

I watched a friend's baby all day Wednesday of last week, and the kids and I had a really fun time. Ryan and Abby were totally enamored with her and helped me all day long! While I was helping Abby with something, I noticed Ryan had gotten a book and started reading it to Tabitha (who was actually paying attention!). He would read a page and then hold the picture up for her to see. I was so neat to see him doing this all on his own, and it kept Tabitha entertained for nearly 20 minutes.

Pixie Park

This small stretch of beach along the Columbia River is called Pixie Park. It's in Columbia City, Oregon. We went up there last weekend to look again at the house that we hope to buy, and we visited this little park to let the kids throw some rocks into the river. The kids had a blast and didn't want to leave. Mommy even learned how to skip a rock, whoo-hoo (it only took 30 plus years to learn)!

Too Much Spam

I've been getting too much spam in my comments, so I'm adding a word verification. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Hillsboro Airshow

Granpa and kids in a military armored vehicle

We went to the Hillsboro Airshow today, and the weather was perfect! Last year we cooked in heat over 100 degrees, but this year it was a mild 75 or so. Last year the stars of the event were the Blue Angels, and this year it was the Thunderbirds. The kids got a huge kick out of it last year and had been really excited to go this year.

Unfortunately, either they got their fill watching them practice the last few days (they fly right over our house) or we just had to wait too long for the main event because both of them were kind of ho-hum about it once we got there today. Still it was a fun day, and it was nice to have Granpa with us this year. Ryan was more interested in the military vehicles than he was the airplanes it seems.

Ryan in a portable air traffic control tower that's on the back of a Humvee.

Spinning Granpa

After we looked through our potential new home in Columbia City, we let the kids play at the local park just a couple blocks from the new house. It's an older park and it had some things that I haven't seen at newer parks, such as a neat airplane on springs that rocks back and forth and this fun spinning column. I think it used to be a merry-go-round and now it's just converted to a spinning thing. Ryan had fun spinning Granpa on it, and, believe me, it goes REALLY fast!

No News on Surgery

Ryan had another eye appointment last week. As we suspected, the improvement in his distance crossing was a fluke. However, the doctor is still reluctant to schedule surgery, so we are waiting another six weeks. Then the doctor will dilate his eyes again to get an accurate measurement of his prescription. Then she will either schedule surgery or try him in bifocals. Meanwhile, we are down to patching only one hour per day...whoo-hoo!

A Trip to Ft. Clatsop

Ed took a week of vacation time which we mostly spent workng on the yard and house, but we did take a day and go see Ft. Clatsop near Astoria, Oregon. It's where Lewis & Clark spent the winter of 1805-06. They built a replica of the original fort (which no longer exists) using their journals and drawings and descriptions of the fort. During their stay it rained 106 days and there were only 12 days without rain and only six of those days were sunny. They didn't get much of a good first impression of the Oregon Coast, I'm afraid!

Fortunately for us when we visited it was a gorgeous day, and since school was back in session, we almost had the place all to ourselves! We watched a slide presentation on Lewis and Clark and looked around the museum. There's a short trail, and the kids had fun running on the path and looking at the squirrels.

We started the day off by having breakfast at an old logging camp called Camp 18. They serve enormous pancakes called Flatcars, which the kids devoured. The entire building is made out of huge logs, and Ryan couldn't get over that the main beam was one giant tree. The kids got to climb on old trains and logging equipment, which they loved. Then we visited the fort.

Lastly we spent some time in Astoria. We climbed the 164-step spiral staircase of the Astoria Column which commemorates the historical events of this area. I thought Ryan would freak out when he walked out on the top (he tends to be afraid of being up high), but he did great. The view was breathtaking, but Ryan was most excited that he could see our van in the parking lot!