I'm back home

I'm back home in New Zealand.  I had an easy trip back and am happy to be home.  Thank you to everyone in America for a wonderful time!

My favourite part of our holiday was the zip line at North West trek.  Here are some extra photos.  See you next time!

Our time in Portland

We had a great three days in Portland.  We stayed with Mum's friends Chris and Hope:

Chris and Hope have lots of interesting animals at their house including chickens who lay fresh eggs everyday:

A pet Kunekune pig named Didier:

And two dogs named Hershy and Clivis.  Clivis can run really quick!:

We had a relaxing time playing with Chris and Hope's sons Henry and Nash:

Making new friends including Sophia:

Eating lots of yummy food made by Auntie Hope:

Discovering Portland:

Looking at the local wildlife:

Swimming:

And spending time with our friends Jason and Ann:

We all had a great time on Portland.  Thank you to all our friends!

We're on our way to Portland

Today we are heading to Portland where Mum spent a lot of her adult life.  Portland is in the state of Oregon which is just below the state is Washington. Check out the top left of a puzzle we did this morning:

Here are some interesting facts about Portland:

- Portland is home to 2.1 million people vs. Wellington's 487 thousand

- The creator of The Simpsons, Matt Groening, is from Portland.  A lot of The Simpsons characters are named after Portland streets, e.g. Flanders street

- Portland has the world's smallest park, Mill Ends park, that is only 60cm across

- It is against the law to fill your car up with petrol.  It must be done by someone who works at the petrol station

We are staying with Mum's friends, Hope and Chris, and their two sons Henry and Nash.  Mum has known Hope since she was 10 years old and she has a pet pig named Didier!

A relaxing day in Seattle

Today we had a relaxing day in Seattle.  First up we got ready and then headed over to Kirkland which is a suburb 10 minutes from Grandma and Grandpa's.  We had a ice cream and had a look around the parks; there is a lot of water here!

In the afternoon we went for a swim at an outdoor pool. 

Tomorrow we are off to Portland in Oregon which is the state below Washington.  Speak to you then!

Lucy.

Weeeeee - flying through the forest

Today we went to North-West Trek which is 90 minutes drive from Grandma and Grandpa's.  They have all sorts of animals there and first up was an opossum which is a lot cuter than possums in New Zealand but they still have sharp teeth!

There were also lots of big animals including bison, bighorn sheep, mountain goats and BIG moose and elk.

After we saw all of the animals Mum and I went on a zipline course in the forest which is a bunch of tight ropes, swings, ladders and jumps made by big wires strung between lots of trees.

Our trip on Lake Washington

My Mum grew up on the East side of Seattle near Lake Washington.  Today we met Stacey, one of Mum's friends from school.  Stacey and her lovely family took us out on their boat on Lake Washington where we got to see some jets performing aerobatics.  

After that we went to Stacey's house for a lovely dinner.

Thank you Stacey, Todd and Emily, we all had a lovely day with you.

Kirkland with Darleen

Earlier this week we spent the day with our friend Darleen.  Darleen has visited us twice in New Zealand and she drove all the way up from Portland to spend the day with us.   This photo is taken on Lake Washington in Kirkland. As you can see, there is lots of water around the Seattle area!  We had a great time with Darleen but I was a bit tired when the photo was taken.