Trip to Portland, part 1

Alison and I flew across the country to visit Beth and her family.  We had to leave a 4:30am to catch our 6:30 flight.  Alison didn't mind, she was so excited and even broke out her homework right away.  We had smooth travels and arrived in Portland by 11:00am.  We went to IKEA for lunch...it was my first time to ever be in IKEA and I fell in love.  It is a perfect place to take lots of little kids to eat.

We let the kids play in their kid room, while we shopped around with Ms. Rose.

After shopping, we drove through the scenic mountains and went to Multnomah Falls.

Beth stayed in the car with a sleeping Maggie and Jonathan, while I took Alison and Kathrine up to the top of the falls.   They held hands as they climbed up and talked like they have never been apart.  It was so refreshing to be by the falls.  I made the girls stop and just soak it in.  Okay, they were confused why we were stopping and what it meant to "soak it in", but it was just the refreshment I needed.

After a stop in downtown for some Vodoo Donuts, we headed home to snuggle with the newest addition to the family.

All the girl cousins:

Rose (6wks), Katherine (4yrs), Alison (5yrs), Maggie (3yrs)

I would often say "My little Rosy, Rosy" and Katherine would be offended that I didn't call her Rose.  I assured her it will pass.  After all, there was a time I called her baby Kate.  But, Rosy is a very sweet baby.  Friends teased me before this trip that being around a newborn again would make me not want any more babies.  The Shear babies are complete, but Rose by no means made me want to stop.  I enjoyed every minute with her...even her cries in the car where nothing compared to Colin's wails (by the way, he still cries in the car).

The next day, after Katherine got home from preschool, we got a babysitter and took the "big girls" to a fancy dessert.  Okay, Rose came with us too, but she doesn't count.

We ordered 3 different desserts, thinking we would all munch off of them and then take some home for later.  However, we far underestimated little girls and chocolate.

They devoured the desserts and there was nothing left to take home.

We headed home to be play with Maggie and Jonathan.  Here's a glimpse of the crew (they made up a dance to an Angelina Ballerina song):