Ross's Birthday Party and Tillamook...for the 4th time!

Well here is the next installment of the grandparents visiting us!  The whole reason they came to visit was to celebrate Ross's birthday, be with Ross, play with Ross - oh - and visit with their own daughter and son-in-law occasionally. ;)  When grammy and gramps came they had an entire suitcase that was filled with only presents for Ross...can you tell he's the only current grandchild?  Yes...yes you can.  When I saw what they had brought, I realized the three presents we gave Ross really weren't even necessary!  Anyway- he was showered with gifts and has loved them all.
The night before his party was when we were all trying to recuperate from our extravagant meal and adventures at the zoo.  I realized I need to do a little prep work before our little party the next day.  I saw this on a blog that an elder's wife from my mission had done and loved it.  Ross has loved The Hungry Caterpillar book whenever we would read it to him so I thought it would be fun and fairly simple.  
Of course I decide to make cake pops for the first time ever the night before Ross' birthday party.  While my family was hanging out detoxing I felt things were going fairly well in the kitchen...until I tried to dye the melted chocolate - it immediately turned on me when I put the drops in and couldn't understand why!  I went researching a little and found you should use GEL dye instead of the drops...obviously I would wait until AFTER I ruined the batch to look this up.  My mom became the cheerleader for the endeavor and came with me to the store at 10 at night to get some more melting chocolate.  We grabbed 2 bags of the chocolate just in case and headed home to try again.  I put the gel in this time and it STILL started hardening!  I was ready to call it a night, but my mom - the true blue supporter - said we should keep trying. So - back to the internet again to find out why.  Had I read the whole instructions on cake pops before?  Well of course not!!  So if I would have read a little further down the instructions reminding you to add the gel AND to add a scoop of shortening to keep it from thickening up.  Good thing we had another bag of chocolate.  My parents headed home and I tried one last time...and it finally worked!!!  The color wasn't what I wanted exactly, but I was not complaining if it was going to finally work.  I popped them in the fridge and we went off to bed.
The next day we got ready for Ross's little party.  Grammy and Grampa took Ross for a walk and some swinging while we got the rest of the decorations and things ready.  We had invited a couple other babies to come, but one was sick and the other couldn't come.  We had our fun neighbor friends come though.  Ross played with the balloons and then was really excited about his presents. His Great Grandma Staheli gave him a fun animal barn that spins and makes animal noises.  His Uncle Dallas and aunt Janae gave him some fun stacking bowls that can also be connected together to turn into balls, and a rolling turtle.  Auntie Rachel gave him a cute new outfit for summer, and Gramy and Grampa gave him some stacking towers, a book, cars, and a fun race track.  He was in heaven!

The Spread

Readying the Caterpillar! 

 

Our Cake Pop Caterpillar!

So the head had some issues - I guess it was just too brainy because the stick broke through causing the cake to slide down.  As you can see I attempted to remedy it using a bread tie and decorative icing...he survived in the end!

We had fruit, cake, and ice cream.  This is what the caterpillar ate Monday - 1 apple, Tuesday - 2 pears, Wednesday 3 plums, Thursday 4 Strawberries, and Friday - 5 oranges.

Can't wait for the party to start!

Steve's excited too!

The guests arrive.  Our neighbors Jed, Jenning, and Mandy came to have some fun with us.

A few of the many presents Ross got!

When it was time for the birthday cake - Ross had no problem touching it, and then once he got a taste of it - he was trying to shove as much cake in his mouth as he could fit!  It was as if he knew I was going to take it away from him sooner than he wanted so he had to enjoy it all now.  It was super fun. 

Sampling the texture

A little nibble before...

Complete destruction!

He also quite liked the cake pops

So sad it was gone

Knocking over some great new towers he got.

Playing with a nice turtle.

Visiting with the guests...

So Ross LOVES this CARS little racetrack Gramy and Grampa gave him.

Afterwards we cleaned up and Ross went down for a much needed nap. My parents were nice enough to let us go on a date.  So Steve and I went to the temple and dinner.  Our session was the smallest turnout I've ever seen!  5 people total.  It was still just as wonderful and peaceful as always though.  The Portland temple is just the most beautiful place!  The celestial room is breathtaking.  It always feels so good to go to the temple and feel close to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  Steve especially seemed to have a little trouble unwinding after all the stress of exams and studying he's been doing, and the temple was a much needed prescription.  Whenever we go I feel like I always leave with a better outlook on our lives and decisions - whether or not we even came to one yet.  I know that is a place of God.  I know He wants us to be there as often as we can manage.  It reminds us of the importance and sacredness of families.  I'm so grateful to be able to go there.  It's wonderful!
Afterwards we got some dinner and came home to catch Grampa, Grammy, and Ross all redhanded.  Ross was supposed to be in bed by 8...and when we walked in the door at 8:45 - what were they all doing?  Oh yes - playing with all the birthday toys still.  I guess we can't blame gramy and grampa for wanting to spend time with a cute little grandson though can we?
The next day we went to church and I got a substitute for primary so I could go to Relief Society with my mom.  It was really nice!  I've missed Relief Society with always being in Primary.  After church we headed to Tillamook to do some whale watching and go to the Cheese Factory - yes - for the 4th time.  The cheese is still delicious though I must say.  We enjoyed some cheese and ice cream at the Factory and then headed to Cape Meares - which is also a lookout point for whales.  We didn't spot any whales, but the weather was pretty rainy so it wasn't very easy to see through the binoculars anyway.  We came back home and skyped with the uncles and aunts that didn't get to come for Ross's party.  My Grandma Staheli had had a bad fall out of her bed the night before my parents came and got terrible bruising all down the side of her face.  She's getting better though and is now finally getting a second rail to keep her in her bed at night!  We all pretty much went to bed after that.  Skyping takes it out of you! ;)

Watching the cheese workers

And of course some sampling!

Some intense searching for whales...

Not much to work with though!

Ross wasn't too thrilled to be protected from the rain.  Note his lucky green leprechaun socks I forgot to have him wear for St. Patrick's Day. ;) 

Grampa Stan and Grammy Jo Come to Visit Part - Beginning ;)

Well - it has been quite the week.  I think we all could say that we're officially worn out from all the fun and festivities of Grandpa and Gramy coming to visit!  I'm still amazed at how much we fit in within 5 days...and then when it was time for them to go it felt WAY too soon!  We definitely had a blast though.  I'm thinking our adventures are going to have to be documented in more than one blog post.  

Steve was just barely keeping his head above water with his studying and insanely-massive-borderline-only-a-maniac-would-test-this-much-information-in-so-little-time-it-was-learned exams, but he survived!  It took him a few days to unwind from all the stress, but I think we're reviving him gradually before he has to go back into the fiery furnace.  Ross and I planned and got everything ready for the grandparents to arrive.  And arrive they did!  We celebrated by going for a walk, visiting, and then after dinner - taking a dip in the hotel pool they were staying in.

SOOO excited Grampa's here!

Catching up on some serious reading time with Gramy

Enjoying some swinging!

Ross was laughing his head off at Grampa Stan.  It's funny what a grandkid can get their grandparents to do just for a laugh. ;)

Look!  No hands!

Swimming in the duck.  We had a competition to see who could mount the duck first - my dad won!

The next day we had an easy morning and then headed out for a fancy lunch treated by my parents -woot woot! - and the zoo.  We went to The Portland City Grill and HIGHLY recommend it.  It's on the 30th story of a pretty building with an amazing lookout.  Our food was fabulous.  Steve got the halibut which was to die for and I got some classic fish 'n chips which were quite tasty - but still didn't compare to the proper English fish 'n chips - but came in a close 2nd.  The only issue I had was when I asked for something for Ross to sit in - she said all they had was a booster seat...can you imagine a booster seat for a 1 year old?  Needless to say we juggled eating, feeding Ross, and keeping him entertained while we enjoyed our entrees.  The view there was AMAZING and the atmosphere was elegant.  The little annoyance came when we were leaving and I looked down one of their hallways to see 5 completely usable - yet unused - high chairs that Ross could definitely have sat in which would have made our experience that much more enjoyable for everyone.  I understand they don't really encourage you to bring your kids - but they could at least let you use their high chairs if they have them!  

A sunny day in Portland.

Oh the yummy food that awaits.

Juggling Ross in a booster seat...little did I know the empty highchairs that were 15 feet away were hid from my view and use.

Enjoying the view

Here's the view - the city of bridges.

Anyway - now that I have that little complaint out of the way - we still did have a great time and then headed out to the zoo.  The weather cleared and warmed up for us just in time!  Steve and I were TOTALLY impressed with the zoo.  Maybe it was because it actually felt like you were in some of the animals habitats with all the trees and ways they exhibited the animals as opposed to Hogle Zoo which really don't have any trees to work with in the first place.  Ross had a great time looking at all the animals...or maybe we had a great time trying to get Ross to look at them and not at all the other kids running around or fans that were spinning above.  I think Ross probably loved the fish the best and the bongo drums the very best.  He loves banging his hands on things to make noise and these drums definitely did the trick!  By the time we were kicked out of the zoo because it was closing we were all pretty tired from the day of walking all over.  I worked on some of Ross's birthday party stuff before going to bed which I will put in his birthday post, but we had a terrific time together and were SO excited to be with Grampa and Gramy.  We had a ton of fun!

Looking at....

A Black Bear!

Steve was hoping for some wings so he could clear his head from all the studying. ;)

Ross LOVED the fish

I couldn't believe how close we could get to some of the animals.  The polar bears are HUGE!!!

This is a sun bear - who is obviously enjoying the sun.  I've never seen a bear all sprawled out like this - he had his arm over his face and would scratch his head with those extremely long claws every so often.  We could have sworn it was a person dressed up - but it was definitely a bear!

So as I was taking this picture of the baboon - I was looking through the lens wondering why he was bouncing up and down so much...when I lifted up my head  and realized he was with a lady...the end.

The orangutans were really fun to watch - they would swing around everywhere.  They look like midgets until they stretch out and look like giants! 

Here are our orangutans.

Ross was obsessed with the bongo drums - totally captivated.

Didn't want to leave!

Just another lion cub

Or maybe some lion bait?

Nothing like some good quality time with grandparents and the zoo!