Grandpa Visits and the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum

My dad decided to come help celebrate my birthday - aka get some serious grandpa/grandson time in. :)  We were all excited for him to come!  We were out playing and as soon as Ross saw him at the playground and I asked him if that was grandpa - he immediately ran to him and has not let him out of his sight since.  They are literally two peas in a pod.  We had some lunch together and then both boys went down for naps.  Grandpas need their rest too sometimes.  Grandpa took a better nap than Ross did though - little stinker.  

It's been really fun having my dad around.  Ross has to make sure he knows where "Papa" is all the time, and if he's not right there, Ross is constantly asking me where he went.  My dad has also been wining and dining us...we went to Out Aza Blue which is a little market/bakery/cafe off of the highway towards Tillamook that we've heard about.  We had burgers which were to DIE for on their made-from-scratch ciabatta bread.  My side salad was legit too - none of this iceberg lettuce junk you usually get.  I think I actually got something nutritious from it!  We will definitely be going back there.  My dad also treated us for my birthday dinner date with Steve to Cheesecake Factory AND babysat Ross for us too...Dad - would you mind moving in? ;)  

Yesterday we hit up the Children's Museum which Ross once again enjoyed even though it was completely overrun with kids and then today we went to explore the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville.  So I've decided our library is amazing because you can check out passes to go to both the Children's Museum as well as the Aviation Museum.  That's A LOT of money we saved.  Hooray for libraries and their cool resources!  

So I forgot my camera...and my phone takes TERRIBLE pictures - but we've got some diggers here once again - Ross's favorite place.

We LOVED the Aviation Museum.  The Spruce Goose was the big attraction...it is GINORMOUS, and a total waste of the 25 million dollars spent on building it with only having taken one sort of test flight that lasted about a minute traveling a mile 70 feet up in the air.  Still - it was super cool to look at.  All the planes were fascinating.  There was so much to see.  I was amazed at some of the stories they had tagged to the different planes, from enemy planes guiding an extremely damaged one of ours to safe territory to a pilot nicknamed "Cannibal Ken" who couldn't shoot down a fighter plane due to all their guns freezing up in the high altitude so he used his propeller to shred the rudder instead.  

We loved the planes that were EVERYWHERE including outside.

There's no way I could get the Spruce Goose all in the picture.

Fam Pic!

Two peas in a pod. :)

Ross pretty much refused to ever look a the camera.  There were so many other cool things to look at.

Yellow planes are pretty cool. ;)

Ross loved it all.  He ran from plane to plane yelling "Plane! Plane! Plane!" like we were missing the fact that they were all there.  He did really well and pretty much stayed out of the stroller until the very end when we forced him in since he was getting pretty cranky after missing his nap.  That and he's got a bit of a cold.  Strollers are becoming less of an option with him...oh dear.  We all came back pooped, but of course Ross was in no mood for a nap anyway - so gramps took one for him and Steve slaved away at studying again (after I convinced him he should go with us to the museum giving him less time to study).  

Their kid zone was super fun...yes - we as adults found it WAY fun.  These little plane riders were an instant fav of Ross's.

Checking out down below - and yes I know he needs a haircut.

His own plane!

Steve trying to steer a helicopter.

A better view of it all.

Getting stuck between guns...not a good place to be.

Ross was a little too scared to ride this cute little ride - he was happy to check out all the lights though.

"Yep - just me and gramps."

Oh what a cute couple we are!  Even with my chin cut off.  LOVE Steve's brown eyes. :)

Some tanks out back.

And Ross is "All Done" in his own words. :)

Tomorrow is my birthday...29.  Seriously.  How am I allowed to get this old?  My heart tells me I'm 17 (unless I actually see a 17 year old...then I know it's not possible because I SO didn't act like that when I was 17...at least I tell myself that).  I feel like once 30 (which is almost like a swear word to me) hits I can't have any more excuses to be immature.  It's like I have to become a real genuine adult then.  Yes, I'm going to be the mother of 2 children.  Yes, we live in our own place and pay bills like grown-ups do.  But Steve and I still play Super Mario Brothers sometimes...or binge on it at times...we stay up too late watching TV series on Netflix - like Psych - which is our new favorite.  We no longer have agency when double stuffed oreos are placed in front of us...the entire package will be gone within the hour.  I wish for sleeping in all the time...sometimes I stay in pajamas WAY too long, and yes - I like the boxed Macaroni and Cheese still even though I should eat the carrots and sugar snap peas I specifically bought to be healthier.  I wear a retainer to bed - tell me that's not a 17 year old!  I still have a baby blanket I adore, and I definitely still love the young adult genre best out of all my book choices.  I should not be allowed to turn 29.  I mean - it's the age people lie that they are when they're well over 29.  I shouldn't be at this point right now!  Okay - I've pled my case.  If you wouldn't mind being a witness in this case I would be quite grateful.  And if 29 comes anyway - PLEASE stop 30 from EVER presenting itself!  Steve laughs at me with my 29 worries...I think it's a man thing though - it seems age isn't as big of a deal.  Which is good since he is 2 1/2 years YOUNGER than me.  Double reason for him not to understand - he's just a baby - still enjoying his mid twenties...oh the days.  Anyway.  There's my spiel - I've let it out. I've got until 1 o'clock tomorrow afternoon to figure something out.  After that - there's no hope.  So we'll see what tomorrow brings.