With Max off-track for September and the realization that none of my grandparents had seen the boys since Benjamin was about 8 months old, we headed to the left coast for a visit this month. We started at my Grandma Mary Lou and Grandpa Al's place in Vancouver, WA.
While there, we visited the
Oregon Museum of Nature and Science, a wonderful museum where everything is hands-on. I remember loving it as a kid, and my kids loved it as well.
Using robots to play "Connect Four."
The boys spent a lot of time playing container crane operator.
OMSI is now located on the Willamette River (it was next to the Portland Zoo when I was a kid), and the
USS Blueback
is docked there, so we took a tour of that as well. I don't know who loved it more, Andrew
or the boys. We were the only ones on our tour, so we got loads of personalized attention and lots of opportunities to check everything out.
Operating the dive and surface controls.
The LOUD dive siren.
Checking out the periscope.
The "trapedo" room (as the boys call it).
Also in Portland, we checked out
The Voodoo Doughnut Shop. 
Max enjoying his Miami Vice Berry.
Benjamin enjoying The Loop.
Me enjoying The No Name, a delightful mix of chocolate, Rice Krispies and peanut butter.
Then we headed down to Salem, where we were treated to my Aunt Kristey's delicious cooking and hospitality and the company of my Uncle Rob, my cousins Angela and Amanda, my cousin's boyfriend Dave, and my brother Jody and his wife Whitney. (I'm not sure why I didn't bust out the camera at their house...sorry about that!) It was an awesome evening and morning with lots of laughs!
That evening we headed back up to Vancouver for a dinner with all of the Vancouver Duvalls.
It was fun to meet my cousin's daughter Kalea for the first time.
Then we headed to the east side of the state to Spokane, where we visited my Grandpa Jack
and Grandma Clara.
(Side-note, we also recreated the "Can I come up now?" conversations through the vent, but this time I was in the generation in the living room while my kids were in the basement - good times.)
Grandma will tell you she's "an old lady," but she can still cook like she's cooking for a harvest crew and her scrambled eggs remain the best in the world! Max will tell you all about them - yum, yum and extra yum!
So after all our visiting, we headed home to recover from our 10,000-calorie a day diet (Andrew and I registered for our first 5k, Fans on the Field) and resume the usual soccer, Scouts, church, playgroup, preschool (for Ben; Max goes back to school next Monday), etc. Thank you to everyone who fed us and housed us on our trip - it is much appreciated and we loved seeing you all!
His favorite part is that the soccer ball spins.
The finish line! Oh sweet, blessed finish line.
The long-sleeved t-shirt was a last minute grab because it was really chilly that morning. It's kind of huge and was sort of cape-like by the end. Definitely need to get some long-sleeve t's that aren't gigantic! I'm pretty sure the drag from the shirt was the only thing keeping me from finishing in under 20 minutes. ;)
He did it!
He totally showed that finish line who's boss. 
Both of us ran the whole thing and finished within our goal times. I wanted to finish in 30 minutes or less and Andrew wanted to finish in 40 minutes or less. We both had a lot of fun and look forward to more 5k's in the future. We've even had some talk about the Bolder Boulder, a 10k, yikes! I used to think the only good reason to run was if I was being chased, but here we are, both running regularly now. Thank you Couch to 5k!
