We had a wonderful time visiting with Steve’s family and friends on our vacation. The weather was almost beautiful the whole time we were there. I say almost because it was usually in the 90s with high humidity which at times made it feel like it was over 100. But it was sunny and a really nice change to the cool wet weather we had been having at home. We attended Steve’s grandmother’s memorial that Friday which was a very nice service. It was short because we were outside and the heat was nearly unbearable. But we had a nice indoor lunch after that and were able to catch up with both friends and family. Here’s a picture from the lunch of Steve, Josie, and Steve’s parents, Bob and Sandy:
We were also able to visit Steve’s family’s campsite on the way home. It was a nice area with a little creek running through it. I imagine we’d be there a lot if we were in the area. A nice way to get away but not as far to drive as trying to get to my family’s campsite north of Seattle. They have a lot of space so there would be plenty of room for kids to play and adults to sit and talk. It really is a lovely area.
Josie surprised us and actually adjusted fairly well to the time change. She had some difficulty getting to sleep in the portable crib at the hotel for the first few days. We had to hold her until she fell asleep and very carefully put her in her crib. If she woke up then she cried and we had to start all over. By the last night, though, we were able to lay her down while still awake. Of course, she started crying but Steve and I ran into the bathroom where we sat for 10 minutes before peeking at her. She was loudly sucking her thumb but had laid down so we sat in the bathroom another 10 minutes to make sure she was asleep before we dared to come back out. She didn’t nap much, which probably helped with her sleeping in her crib at night, but also made her a bit grumpy at times. Overall, though, she was in a really good mood most of the time and thoroughly enjoyed all the attention that was lavished on her.
We were able to catch up with Steve’s sister and her family as well as longtime friends of the family. Everyone is doing very well back there. We had dinner with some of Steve’s friends on Saturday and a barbecue with family and friends on Sunday. Josie really enjoyed the little kiddie pool that was set up in the yard.
We also did some shopping and with all we bought and all the presents Josie’s Grandma and Grandpa bought for her we just barely fit it all in our suitcases to bring back home. We went to a fabulous store called “Beers of the World” to buy something special for Grandpa for Father’s Day. I wish we had a store like that around here! It was wall to wall beers from so many different areas of the world. It was incredible! We also found a Disney Store that was closing so we were able to get some good deals there. The sad news is that when we got home we found that both of the Disney Stores in the Portland area that I worked in have or will be closing. 
Lloyd Center closed a while ago (I was on the grand opening team there) and Vancouver Mall is closing this next week (I helped open it and then worked there for almost 2 years). At least we can still get to Clackamas Town Center or Washington Square where there are still stores. We are hoping that now that Disney has bought the stores back (they were owned by The Children’s Place for the last few years and run into the ground) that the stores will go back to they way they were when I worked there.
But I digress. We had a wonderful time and want to thank everyone who took time to visit with us, especially Grandma and Grandpa! We miss you already and can’t wait to see you again (hopefully soon)!