Last week Holden and I went on a week long adventure to Oregon to visit our friends Sue, Juerg, and Tim. We took an Amtrak train from St. Louis to Chicago and then all the way to Portland. We left on Sunday morning and got to Portland on Tuesday. We did not get a sleeper car for the trip because it jumps the price from $249 for the two of us to over $1000! Holden and I just slept in our seats and got changed in the bathrooms. We ate lunch in the dining car one time, just to have the experience, but otherwise we just had lots of snacks, cereal bars, and Holden also had individual size spaghettios and dumplings. There was also a snack car so I was able still able to get my coffee. Holden enjoyed looking out the windows for a little bit each day but would get tired of it after a bit. We took some pictures of the train ride and most of the scenic pictures were actually taken by Holden, so check them out. He was thrilled with being able to actually see snow from the train.

On Monday he got bored a bit because there were no kids his age on the train so I decided to pull out the trusty DVD player to pass a little time. He was excited about getting to see " The Incredibles" so we turned it on and...nothing! The thing broke right there on the train not more than 2 minutes after turning it on. At first, I just thought that the battery didn't actually charge when I did it before we left so I figured I would just find an outlet and charge it while he watched. Wouldn't you know that the only public access outlets were in the bathrooms!!! He looked so disappointed about potentially not seeing the movie I promised, so I decided we could just watch part of it in the bathroom and then just get out half way through and use the battery after it had charged (yes, I was really ready to do this). We plug it in and get comfy in the bathroom and turn it on and...nothing again. Now the thing wouldn't even spin! So, I explain to Holden that DVD player thing is broke for good so we climb out of the bathroom and head back to our seats. He looked so dejected and I felt so guilty. I know it sounds awful that I would depend on an electronic device to entertain my child but I really was worried that things were going to get worse because my emergency "pacifier" was broke. I shouldn't have worried; he forgot about it after a bit and was fine the rest of the trip. We were able to get off the train occasionally and at one station he went over and stared longingly at a candy machine and then the guy that refills them came over, opened it up, and told him to pick something. He lit up, but was hesitant because I don't think he believed the guy was serious. He got his mini kisses and was very nice about sharing with some other kids we saw in the station there. We arrived in Portland on Tuesday at 10am* and Juerg was waiting for us at the station to take us back to McMinnville where they live.

*I would like to note that everything I read about Amtrak said it was notorious for being late (even hours late) but we actually arrived in Portland 10 minutes before our scheduled arrival time - yeah Amtrak!

We had a fantastic time visiting and even though Holden and Tim were a bit shy around each other, at first, they soon started having fun together. Tim went to school in the mornings so Holden, Sue, an I just chilled at the house and I got to be lazy. On Wednesday we went to the library and checked out a bunch of books. They have a big library with a really nice children's department. Afterwards, we went to a pizza place that sells pizza by the slice. It was so nice to have pizza by the slice because no one here in Rolla does that.

Thursday the boys went to a pottery place and they got to pick out and paint their own pieces. Holden picked a shark and an octopus to paint. Unfortunately, they weren't fired in time for us to pick them up before we left so Sue is sending them to Holden when they are ready. Sue made an awesome Greek style pizza that night too with spinach and feta cheese.

Friday, Juerg to the day off work and we went to the Portland children's museum. We decided to go there on Friday because it looked like the worst day in terms of weather. There was a "dig pit" for the boys to play in and a water room and they were both lots of fun. There was a play grocery store where Holden filled a cart full of food and I spent a lot of time putting his and some other kids random carts of food back in the right places. There was a clay station where the boys got a make stuff with modeling clay and even got to bring it home with them; Holden made a rhinoceros. We had a nice picnic lunch outside too. We got to have fresh caught Halibut for dinner and Holden really liked it too.

Saturday it was supposed to be in the 60s so we went to the coast to see the beach. The weather forecast was WAY wrong for that day. It was probably the only really windy and rainy day of the trip. I was so cold and windy on the coast - I couldn't believe it. We had to wear extra layers and hats and raincoats just to try to stay warm. However, we were determined to be on the beach and Holden was able to find a couple shells before we decided we had had enough. We ate at a brewery and restaurant that was right on off the coast. Afterwards, we went outside again the wind had died down a little bit and the sun tried to come out so we hung out and played in the sand a bit. Holden loved seeing all the gulls that were out too.

On Sunday we went for a little walk/hike in a nice little park that you had to take a ferry to get to. Holden is really into birds and bugs again so he had a good time looking at everything around. We had another picnic lunch and then found an area with lots of small trees (hazelnut) that made great climbing trees for the boys. Holden loved being able to actually climb a tree by himself! It was a seemingly long walk back to the ferry because Holden is not used to walking for such long periods and he was very tired and begged to be carried (which I gave in to). Tim was as exhausted as Holden because he is used to taking long hikes with his parents. They usually go hiking somewhere every weekend. We're not talking easy stuff like we did on Sunday either. Holden fell asleep on the car ride back and I was able to carry him in so he could sleep a bit longer. He did not want to wake up later and actually started crying about wanting to be with his Daddy: it broke my heart seeing him so sad...

That night we had to pack everything up to be ready to leave for the airport at 4:30 on Monday morning. It was a breeze getting there and getting through security and everything went well on both flights. We only had a 1.5 hour layover in Minneapolis and that plane actually landed in Indy 15 minutes earlier than scheduled. Holden was so excited to see Shawn; he was definitely happy to be home again. I was relieved to finally get in the car because I felt I could finally relax knowing everything had gone well: from the train ride to getting off the plane in Indy. However, things decided to go wrong on the car ride home. Holden slept for a bit but when he woke up he said his tummy hurt and he started crying a bit. We were conveniently just pulling in to eat at a restaurant so I figured he'd be fine since we had stopped moving and he would be able to eat. No, no, no...he started feeling bad so Shawn took him back outside for some fresh air and he threw up before we even had a chance to order. He threw up in the bathroom while we waited for our food and Shawn took him outside to throw up again during the meal. Holden and Shawn stayed outside and I finished up eating real quick and then we just left. We figured he would have to be fine because he threw up everything he had had to eat that day including the one dumpling that we had convinced him to eat at the restaurant. He managed to throw up two more times that night though (one was just water and the Dramamine I attempted to give him). He managed to pass out again and stayed asleep until we hit Rolla so he didn't throw up again. Needless to say, we stayed home on Tuesday and he mostly just laid on the couch all day. He only ate a half of a corn muffin all day until dinner time and then was finally able to eat something.

Overall though, it was a great trip and we had a wonderful relaxing vacation. Oh yeah, Oregon is beautiful!

There are lots of pictures of our whole vacation in the photo album Trip to Oregon

Barb Howard wrote:

Hello,
Just to let you know a little about what is going on with Jessie . She is in the 6th grade at Madison South School and doing very well. She is also a cheerleader Jessie just made level 6 in Gymnastics she has a compitition in Sandusky on March 8th Her and Brians dream for her. She misses her dad and around the holidays even more.

Thank you all for keeping Brian in your hearts I cant begin to tell you how much that means to us.

Virgil I would show Jessie the neat thing you all did for him but I think you will understand why I cant I bet Brian is laughing his butt off

Take care all of you
Barbara Howard Brian's Mom

Ray C. Bleiler, my grandfather, passed away on February 9th at 12:12am. He will be deeply missed. No funeral service will be held but a memorial mass is tentatively scheduled for April. Our thoughts and prayers are with Barbara and the family....

On Friday we adopted a 10-week old puppy from the Garrett Animal Shelter in Fulton, MO. Jen found her on petfinder.com and I really was set on getting her.

The shelter advertised her as an Australian Shepard mix named Suzie. She seems to be more like a rottweiler mix. We decided to change her name to Sadie. She's very calm for a puppy, which is hopefully a behavior that will continue. Everyone but the cat is adapting well to the change...

I just wanted to announce the recent birth of "Liberty", Jerry and Rebecca's beautiful daughter. She was born on February 5th, 2008, and weighed in at 7lbs 1oz and 19 inches long. Everyone is doing well and Dena is now a proud big sister.