Gresham

Caitlin sporting her "Big Sister" shirt from grandpa and grandma.

Napping on daddy.

I know I've been lacking a bit on my blogging, but I do have an excuse for the last week. We all went to Gresham, OR (near Portland) with Dennis on a business trip. The trip up takes a normal person 7 1/2 hours to drive. But since we are not normal (traveling with two kids), we chose to split the trip into two days. We left on Saturday afternoon and stayed the night in Grants Pass. Sunday we drove the rest of the way, stopping twice with a total travel time of 6 1/2 hours. This wouldn't have been that bad since the kids were traveling VERY well, but Dennis was coming down with a cold....and it was getting worse every hour. We finally arrived at our hotel and I went out to stock our fridge and get dinner....soup for Dennis and a sandwich for me. Monday was my birthday and we (except Caitlin) were all under the weather. Dennis was the worst and didn't go into work until just before noon. I decided not to venture out since I wasn't feeling good and Colton was pretty stuffy. No matter how I was feeling, I was determined to get something good for dinner. I chose Red Robin which I love and haven't had for a very long time....and it was so worth it! The best thing about it was that I found a Cold Stone Creamery on my way and I picked up some ice cream cupcakes!!! On Tuesday, Colton and I were feeling a bit better so we checked out a shopping center. In Old Navy, I put Colton in the backpack and planned on putting Caitlin in a shopping cart....which I couldn't find. When I did find the ONE person who had just started shopping with one, I asked her where she got it and she told me she just waited for a lady to finish checking out. And that was all she said. So here I am obviously in need of a shopping cart way more than her and she doesn't even offer it to me!!!!! Normally this wouldn't bug me at all, but I really needed to get a few things from there and Caitlin was trying to get into everything, so this was one of the few times I desperately needed a cart! Completely annoyed, I quickly picked up what I came for and left the store. Then I promptly headed to the car to put Caitlin in the stroller. Now I know better. The rest of the outing went very well and I enjoyed browsing all the shops I never see.

That night for dinner we decided to be brave and go to Red Lobster for dinner. It was fabulous! Not just the food, but they got us in and out in less than 30 minutes!!!! Who thought that getting in and out of a restaurant as fast as possible would be so awesome? I guess that's what happens when you have two kids in tow! :)

Wednesday we checked out Target and had dinner at Joy Teriyaki The food there was SOOOO good. I had chicken teriyaki and tempura veggies. Dennis had sweet and sour chicken and kimchi. I really wish we had this place in our town! Oh so yummy!!!

Thursday was Dennis last work day and we left around 4pm. We stopped and had dinner at IHOP. I don't know if I was super hungry or the food was just that good. We devoured practically everything and Caitlin couldn't get enough bacon. Since it was getting so late, we stayed again in Grants Pass. We finally got home around 11am on Friday. Dennis had to go back into work for the rest of the day, and I stayed home with the kids in a fog of sleepyness. Somehow, we both manages to stay up long enough to watch Date Night after the kids went to sleep.....a very funny movie by the way.

Now, sleepy and suffering from hot flashes, I blog. I also am longing to finish the latest book I started.... "Living Dead in Dallas," book 2 of the Sookie Stackhouse novels. My parents gave me some money for my birthday so I ordered an 8 book set of those novels and "The Red Queen" by Philipa Gregory. They will arrive on Wednesday. I am also eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new birthday necklace Dennis got me. I have one with Caitlin's birthday and so he got me another for Colton's. I'll try and remember to take a pic when it arrives.

Alright, I'm about to fall asleep at the keyboard. Best wishes for a happy Monday!