Our {mini} Getaway

You can hardly call it a getaway since it was barely 24 hrs. But we got out of town and had a wonderful change of scenery.  We escaped to portland for the night. We left around 11:30 am and arrived around 4:30 after a few stops to go potty conveniently located near wonderful shopping ;) the girl has skills. Both girls do exceptionally well in the car seats until they don't.. they both napped for about 3 hours on the way up. The drive is about 5 hours so that just left 2 hours for a quick movie. We were joking about how it would be so nice if they napped about an hour longer and as soon as we said that magically both their eyes popped open. 

Once we arrived in the city we headed right into the city where we did a little shopping and got some dessert. The girls were big time troopers. Although neither of them wanted to ride in the stroller we improvised. My husband is such a good sport. Elle stayed in the solly wrap for about 2 hours. 

After the day of traveling we checked into our hotel room. When we got there they said that they were completely full and they didn't even have the pack n play that we requested. Alex and I were laughing. I king size bed for all four of us please. Luckily they were able to find one and we just had Lucy with us. Lucy has never slept with us. She prefers to sleep alone and boy did she make that clear. She finally put herself on the floor. My mama heart couldn't stand it so I put her back in bed and she once again put herself on the floor. After a sleepless night for Lucy and I the sun finally peeked through the curtains and I was pretty darn happy to see it. We got ready and rushed out the door to get some breakfast. We found our way to voodoo donuts and we were so happy we did so. They were so yummy!!

After we ate our donuts we decided to take a walk and we stumbled here..

Ellie decided on our way back that the stroller was for the birds.. which then Lucy figured out as well. So We all walked and pushed an empty stroller :) 

We found our way to starbucks, I had originally wanted to go to stumptown but this was so much easier than loading back up to drive across town. We went to Powell's books store and just window shopped a bit before loading up into the car to get them some naps. 

We started driving to Multnomah Falls and then remembered we'd never been to the rose gardens. I have heard they are just beautiful and was 100% right. We didn't get many photos as the kids were on their last leg.

We took a walk from the rose gardens to try to get the girls to nap in the stroller and stumbled upon the Holocaust memorial. I had no clue Portland had one. That was really cool to look at and take a moment to remember.

aaaand that's when you know you are ready to load up.. both were crawling the whole way up the stairs :)

After we left they both fell fast asleep in the car. We thought about driving out to Multnomah falls but wouldn't have too much fun since one of us would have to stay in the car so my sweet husband let me do some shopping while he stayed in the car with the girls. LOVE that man.

Once the girls woke up we headed off to the zoo.. I know we are nuts.

the monkeys were a pretty big hit, so were the elephants and the giraffe (which we never found) we had a lot of fun walking around the zoo. But we also worked up a big appetite. So we loaded up again and went to a cute little burger spot and we had plans to meet up with Alex's sister and family. Turns out there is more than one location of the restaurant and we were at different spots. We were so bummed that we missed them, but we are looking forward to the next time we go up and see them.

So those who know we know Diet coke is my crack. I hadn't had one ALLLLL day and we did a lot. I could have used one like back when the girls didn't want to sit in their stroller ;) but I got one at dinner and boy was it every bit rewarding. MY mouth was almost salivating when he was pouring it (such a loser).

Once we left the restaurant we were on the road for good. We were ready to be home in our own beds. The girls did a remarkable job. I am so proud of them. They had their moments just like Alex and I did ;) But for the most part they handled the adventure very well.

Love my little family and getting to do fun random spontaneous trips like this. Just to get some fresh air out of the daily routines and before my husband got super busy at work.

ps. I am trying to get better at not blowing up posts with photos but stuff like this is memories I don't ever want to forget.