This trip has been a long time in the works, but because we were flying Space A we didn't have to fully commit until we left. I knew I wanted to go home in the fall (because we don't really get fall here) but I was also sad to leave Okinawa when the weather finally got beautiful in our last year here. However, we really wanted family to get to meet Boden and hang out with Rowan at this fun age of him starting to talk and play a ton. Grant had a ton of leave so taking 28 days was no big deal, and I wasn't planning on working, so leave wasn't going to be an issue for me. However, since I decided to stay part time, I had to get it approved, which they were super accommodating and let me do!
So, we planned for 4 weeks off and prayed that Space A would work out so we wouldn't have to buy a last minute expensive flight home!
We decided to take the Patriot Express to get there. It is a for sure shot to Seattle (with 2 layovers in mainland Japan-which were brutal since we were stuck on the runway for 3 hours at one of them), but the kids did great. The long stretch from Tokyo to Seattle was through the night so they both slept a lot (and I laid there uncomfortable wishing I was sleeping...but it still was ok :)
Boden's first international flight!
I spent much of our flight wishing that I also had a pillow pet :)
We arrived in Seattle around noon on Saturday and got a rental car and drove down to Portland to spend the weekend with Grant's brother's family (Scott, Trisha, Maddox and Camdyn). We had not seen then since we moved to Oki so it was great to get together and also to visit Portland!
We drove 3 hours through beautiful country where we got to see lots of pretty fall leaves and arrived to their house mid afternoon. We wasted no time and headed out to a super cute area of Portland for some dinner at Little Big Burger and dessert at the famous Salt and Straw.
Delicious! It was the perfect reintroduction to American food :)
The line was long, but the ice cream was worth it! And Rowan and Maddox had an awesome time dancing on top of a metal cover that made some good noise. It was pretty cute to see cousins together.
We actually got pretty decent sleep that night considering the time difference! Sunday was our only rainy day which worked out pretty well. We went to church with them (Rowan was SO excited to go to nursery).
Never trust toddlers with a baby :)
And Monday was our last day there so we made the most of it with a Portland tour! We started the day in the arboretum with some beautiful autumn views!
My little Portland tree hugger...he was a little nervous about it ;)
And then some more delicious food. Mexican at Por que no? It was SO good!
And then we went for a walk on the riverfront and through some of downtown. We really liked Portland. It felt like a little big city which was super nice. Rowan was passed out in the stroller for most of it which I was a little sad about because he missed some good goose chasing with Maddox. But, he was in desperate need of a nap, so it was good!
And we were still pretty full from lunch, so opted to skip dinner and eat dessert. We of course had to try Voodoo (when in Portland). It was a lot of fun and the maple bar was awesome!
We hope to visit again, we had a great time (because of the people we were with and the place that we were!) Next time we'll make sure we're there a day other than Monday so we can hit up some awesome food trucks. I'm coming for you thai shrimp PB&J...next time :)
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