Oregon Family Vacation...Day 5

I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing explosions of hydrangeas everywhere in Oregon...and the colors are just amazing!  Why can't we get that in Utah?...well, I know why but I wish it were otherwise.

These beauties were at the gas station we stopped at before we left the Portland area...seriously!...the gas station?!?!

Our first stop for the day was the Vista House along the Columbia River Gorge.

We took turns getting out and sightseeing...partly because we didn't think it would be a very stroller friendly place for Ben and partly because a police officer stopped us on the way in and told us that our car would be broken into while we were away so to make sure we took all of our valuables and belongings with us.  Ha!

Kind of a neat, old building.

Next on the trail was Multnomah Falls.

This is seriously one of my favorite places ever!

I remember loving it as a young girl years ago while vacationing with my family.  

Notice Ben is signing "water" in the picture.  When he saw the waterfall he immediately started showing us the sign.

It looks like Ben is trying to figure out how to escape while Dad is being distracted by the waterfall :)

He really would much rather get out and walk like everyone else but he would end up running everywhere and falling down and getting into trouble so we confine him to his too-small stroller and he deals with it.

Continuing down the gorge we saw Horsetail Falls right off the road and stopped for some pics.  

As we drove away from this spot Andy said to the kids: "Waterfalls are good for your mother's soul" :)  He is absolutely right!  I just love them!

We then visited the Bonneville Locks, Dams, Fish Ladders and Hatchery.

These cuties are called lampreys.

Andy says they have disgustingly magnetic personalities :)

More hydrangeas!

Our last stop for the day was going to be Mt. Hood.

The kids weren't excited about extending our drive another 2 hours but we decided to just go for it and Andy said he would turn around if it got to be too windy(long i)...that's an issue in our family since a good portion of us get car sick.  Within seconds of taking the turnoff, Ben had a seizure...his first one of the day.  We wondered if that was a sign that we shouldn't go.  We pressed on however and when Mt Hood came into view I noticed that the summit was shrouded in clouds.  Andy thought maybe that was a second sign :)  So when we came upon a good shot within the next few minutes, Andy pulled over, I got some pictures and we turned around.  Probably a good thing too since Ben continued to have seizures and we eventually ended up giving him his Diastat.  It was nice for him to be able to rest at the hotel rather than in his carseat.

Still pretty even though we couldn't see the whole thing :)

Tomorrow we head home.  Many hours of driving and most likely uneventful but I will do a wrap up post anyway.

sorry...one more picture.
The first night of the trip we tried to get Ben to sleep with the other boys but it ended up not really working so he slept with us every night.  However, he kept "talking" about sleeping with Josh and Matt.
This last day of the trip he had been given the diastat and he slept for a couple of hours in the evening.  He woke up in time to eat dinner and then climbed into bed with Josh and Matt and promptly fell asleep :)
It was so sweet to see.