eighth birthday for levi

Last week Levi turned eight. Levi! Eight! It was eight years ago that the doctor handed me this spunky, expressive, happy little one. Now fast forward eight very fast years and here we are.

He had a happy day with breakfast in bed, a few new presents, candy bar poster from siblings, chicken nuggets for lunch, orange chicken for dinner, and ended the day swimming with our friends.

Happiest birthday Levi!!!

the very northwest part of Oregon

Where the Columbia River meets the ocean there is a place they call the graveyard of the pacific. There have been several ships that have crashed and sunk in this area.

When we came to the tower to get a view of the ocean, we didn't know what to expect or what else there would be at the South Jetty. But the boys and daddy saw those huge boulders and they had to check it out. After several minutes they came to the top and said I had to come over and see how amazing it was!

It became one of our favorite places this trip, so naturally, there are a ton of pictures :)

 :: this picture!! ::

When they got to the other side, they found tons of little crabs, thousands of muscles, starfish (my favorite), anemone, sand dollars, and other shells. Just the exploring alone was reason enough to come to Oregon. 

 :: probably my favorite picture ::

The next morning we headed back to see if high tide had come in. Right where we were playing and exploring the day before, the ocean was now right there. Right where our precious kids were playing.

multnomah falls

Our first full day in Oregon we headed to Multnomah falls along the Columbia River. It was a beautiful waterfall with a really cool bridge and tons of gorgeous pines. Then a loooong hike to the top (at least according to the boys).

 ^^ those pictures crack me up ^^

There was a cute lady who was on her way down from the top and she insisted on taking our picture...she was really struggling using the big camera and couldn't quite get everyone in the pictures.

Even though it was hard for the boys (any other day I think it would have been easier for them, just not this day) we made it to the top. They loved playing in the creek and climbing all over the rocks. My major fear of heights kept us very far away from the top of the falls. (I found out this day that I really do have a serious phobia)

On our way back down, the boys saw this spot and got so excited because it looked like the rock trolls from Frozen. We were certain we could faintly here...."he's a bit of a fixer upper..." :)

Multnomah Falls was a beautiful place.