Oaks Park

Oaks Park is an amusement park/roller skating rink that has been around for over 100 years. (I seriously just read about it on the Wikipedia page because I think it's fascinating.) Anyway, it's a big Portland attraction that we've been to many times as kids and several times as adults. We were excited to receive a letter in the mail from Charlie's eye doctor saying they were holding a big event there and all kids would get a free ride and skating pass and free lunch. Charlie was so excited, Max and I were probably even more excited. Charlie remembers very well the time he fell asleep on the Ferris Wheel at Oaks park. (a year and a half ago). The event started in the old and beautiful Dance Pavilion, where there were many games, prizes, face painting, and a puppet show. And my favorite part was free vision screenings. I haven't been able to have Miles checked since I haven't seen any apparent issues with his eyes which means insurance wont cover it. But they screened his eyes and he has excellent vision, which thrilled me to no end! Anyway, I ended up taking a whole lot of pictures because I have a new lens that I wanted to try out...so there you go!

And then they announced the start of a puppet show, the boys got front row seats and were completely enthralled the whole time. 

After the puppet show, the boys ate a hot dog lunch then got a balloon sword just as the clown was closing up shop. They ran around the room briefly with the their swords.

We then went out to try out some rides, The weather was CRAZY this day, At one moment it was sunny, then rainy, then sunny, then thunder and hail, then sunny again. It made for short lines and some rides we were even able to walk right on.

We enjoyed a couple rounds of the tilt-a-whirl which became a quick favorite of both boys.

We then headed over to the Ferris Wheel. Charlie was my Ferris Wheel date while Miles went with Max.  Isn't he precious?

 Scoping out the next couple rides we would go on.

We got off first so we waited for Max and Miles to make their way down. 

And then we enjoyed the 104 year old Carousel. Charlie was pretty excited about his brown pig. And I was hating his glasses glare!

Charlie was fascinated with the mechanism that made the animal go up and down.

And off to some kiddie rides.

And then there was this roller coaster. It is the worst. I did not go on it this time. It is so jerky...Max and Charlie (mostly just Charlie) had fun though.

We found out that Miles couldn't ride this one on his own and Max had to go with him, Max was not super excited about sitting in the puddle of rain water.

And then there is this one, much scarier than it looks. Right from the beginning Charlie realized he didn't like it. He stayed calm though, he just kept saying "I don't like this one," and "I'm ready for it to be done."

We then decided to dry out a little bit by going inside for some roller skating.  Charlie has been skating a couple times and this was Miles' first time.

I ended up putting my camera in a locker and just taking some phone pictures.

Miles showing off his tricks, he did pretty well, those skates are quite a bit easier than Charlie's heavy ones. 

Someday I will hear that huge pipe organ 

After awhile Charlie's feet hurt and he was tired.

Miles just cruisin' along.

We ended up doing a round of Hokey Pokey then skated off the floor to get our shoes back on.

We decided we had some time for more rides and Max went and got some cotton candy. We realize that one of the perks of being a parent is reliving your childhood joys through your kids and you don't even have to beg anyone to buy you cotton candy...you can just do it yourself. It's the best.

I made Charlie go on the Spider ride with me. It took forever to load and then it started raining while we were sitting in the car waiting for everyone else to be loaded, and once it started, Charlie was not a fan again.

After that, we did one more carousel ride then called it a day!

Rose Gardens

For our annual rose gardern evening, we decided to go memorial weekend, usually we wait until the first week of June but everthing seemed to be blooming so much earlier in Oregon this year that we decided to go early. We weren't dissapointed, except for how incredibly busy it was. We went with Richard, Marissa, Lacey and William again. Right as we arrived Lacey told us she was on a quest to find the laciest rose. She thinks of some of the best activities. Shortley thereafter, she and Charlie were full on running through the crowds and the rows and rows of rose bushes. And we may have lost them a couple times which was a little stressful, but we all survived!

 

 
And then they were just being so darn adorable. I can't even explain how great it is that these kids have such a wonderful friendship.

They stopped running for a moment to explore the out-of-control water fountain. 

 

Miles is a pretty big Lacey fan also. He was happy to have some playtime with her as well.

This picture makes me laugh so much, I guess it just shows how trained, I've incidentally made my boys. I was trying to get all the kids together for a photo and my boys cooperated so well! Lacey and William were just not interested. Now, if I can just get them to cooperate in most other aspects of life...we'd be good!

We quickly went to find the boys' birthday roses but it didn't take long before they were off to the next thing so I never checked out mine or Max's rose. At least the boys' had blooms this year.

And now for the comparison sequence....I love it every year!

May 2004
 

Fall 2011

Spring 2013

Photo cred to Anna

2014

 2015

And for 2016! I like to think we get better looking each year! haha! And notice how my boys are covered in water!

And Richard and Marissa and family. 

Lacey was just about done!

Miles could have played in this fountain forever. Water went down his sleeve and dripped down the bottom of his shirt and shorts....but he just kept playing. 

...and he kept going back for more, I guess I should be thankful he didn't fall in, but I'm sure that wouldn't have phased him. 

It was already after 8 and Richard and Marissa decided to leave, we contemplated staying later to run in the large amphitheater but decided against it since Miles was soaked and it really wasn't all that warm.  So we headed back to the car, stripped the baby boy and drove home. I love family outings like this!