4th of July in Vancouver - Part 3

Last one. The day before the 4th of July, we had my sister Joanna, her family, and my sister Jaleen over for dinner. It was nice being able to see both sides of our family so much during our visit. They were also able to come with us to Fort Vancouver to watch the fireworks on the 4th of July. It was really crowded and a little disappointing though. Sorry guys :( We got to see them one last time when they invited us all over for dinner before we had to go to the airport. We really had a great time and loved spending time with everyone! Thank you!

The kids eating their dinner the day before the 4th.

 Our 4th of July breakfast.

 Waiting for the "parade" AKA one firetruck and kids riding decorated bikes.

 Making our way to the park for lunch

 Benson just wandered around eating chips.

 Family picture in our red, white, and blue. We love America!

 Casey's mom dipping strawberries

 Our red, white, and blue strawberries.

Casey's uncle and cousin were setting off their own fireworks, so after the big show, we went to their house. It was better than the Fort Vancouver fireworks and Weston loved the sparklers.

 We were welcomed home by this on our door. It was the biggest black widow I had ever seen.

4th of July in Vancouver - Part 2

When you have a fun trip, there are a lot of pictures. The next set is from one day. We went to Voodoo Doughnuts, which had been featured on Food Network. It is the only doughnut place that I have been tempted to go to because the doughnuts looked so unique. It was super eclectic and different and the doughnuts were different, but the only unique doughnut that we really liked was the maple bar with bacon on top. They worked well together. I would recommend it for the experience. After doughnuts, we went to the Portland Zoo. We had a good time walking around and seeing the animals.

Inside Voodoo Doughnuts

 Casey said we had to look weird since it had "Voodoo" in the name :)

 Our selection.

 Benson and Casey getting up front and personal with the seal or sea lion (?) I can never remember.

 Full body shot

 Weston getting "eaten" by the dinosaur

 Benson and I posing while the other boys took a bathroom break

 Grandma pushing the stroller

 Grooming the goats

 Eating raspberries from Grandma's backyard

 Our lunch that day. Casey's mom saw this in Family Fun magazine and thought it would be fun for the boys. They turned out really cute.

4th of July in Vancouver - Part 1

For the 4th of July in 2011, we had some free flights, so we went to see Casey's mom in Vancouver, WA. It is always great to visit her and we did a lot of fun things.

The boys in their matching pajamas on the flight.

 The next day we visited the OMSI. We hadn't been in a few years and it was as fun as ever. Casey loves the puzzle section.

 This exhibit blew air and made the balls float in place. Benson loved it.

 Brady and Weston playing in the sand

 My sister, Joanna, moved to Hillsboro, OR a few months before, so we were able to see her.

 Lunch break. Caution: Weston running through.

 The kids had fun jumping off of the tables too.

Learning about electricity

 A favorite whenever we come

 A good hamburger place, but we really go for the shakes. I love the passionfruit flavor.

 The boys chowing down on tater tots.

 Casey and his mom enjoying their food too.

I'm a Big Boy Now

Right after the family reunion, we decided to potty train Weston. I think we did it at the perfect time because it couldn't have gone better. We just went cold turkey. Casey said it was time, so he put him in underwear and left for work. Nice, I know. Luckily for me, it took him about three days and he only had a few accidents. He didn't even need to wear pull-ups at night. We were so proud of him!

This was his first day of having no accidents

Tanner Family Reunion

We're back! In June 2011 we had Casey's family reunion in Redding, CA. Casey's mom rented a big house and we found things to do around the area. It was a great time as always. I like to document our trips well, so I can't help but post a lot of pictures :) Aside from the activities below, we also went swimming at the lake quite a few times, played Minute to Win it which turned out to be really fun, and had a lot of good food.

Benson checking out the amenities when we got there

  Weston loved to play ping pong with the big boys and wasn't too bad.

 Our first outing was taking a tour of the Shasta Dam

 Family picture

 The boys liked this tunnel because it had a really cool echo

 Riding on Malcolm's 4-Wheeler was a favorite for Weston

 

 Turtle Bay Park and Museum. Benson admiring the fishes.

 Family lunch

 Sundial bridge

 Water and rocks is always a good combo and sure to attract the kiddos

 Feeding the parakeets

 On the hike to a waterfall we found a banana slug

 The waterfall

 Weston sharing his snack with his cousins

 Another ride with Malcolm. Benson was not a fan.