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.

Old friends and New Friends

Today we went to see my mum's good friend Jan (she is kneeling).  We met her children Luke, Rachel and Tyler (not in the picture).  Luke played with Hope and I and made us feel very welcome.  My mum and Jan have known each other since they were 12..that is....a long time!   We had a very good afternoon with them today and shared some of our Kiwi lollies with them (Jaffas and Eskimos) and taught them some of our Kiwi lingo, like rubbish, footpath, plaster (oops) and togs.

Art at the Children's Museum

When we were at the Children's museum we were able to work with clay (I made a gingerbread man), paint, draw, sculpt ( I made a caterpillar) and glue/glitter art. It was so much fun!

Wet fun

This is the fountain at the Seattle Centre.  We had so much fun running around in the water. It shoots water high up into the air and you never know when it will go!

Squirrels

We don't have squirrels in New Zealand but they are all over the place here!  We went to a friend's house today and tried to get a picture of one by putting sun flower seeds on the fence but we weren't able to catch them on film.  They are fast!

Monorail

This is us riding the Monorail in Seattle. It is a very short ride!  It is less than a mile long.   It was also built for the World's fair in 1962.

Fun

We are learning and seeing new things each day but most of all we are having so much fun!

Children's Museum

We went to the Children's Museum in Seattle with our friends.  They had all sorts of fun things to do there.  My favorite thing to do was shop at a make believe store and be the check out person at the register.  We had so much fun!

Space Needle

This is the Seattle Space Needle.  When we went to the Seattle Centre, where it is located, it was a foggy morning so we did not go to the top.  The Space Needle is like the Sky Tower in Auckland.  It provides great views of Seattle (when it is sunny) and there is an observation deck and restaurant at the top.

The Space Needle was built in Seattle for the 1962 World's Fair.

Old friends reunited

Our friends, Jonah and Sam, who used to live in Upper Hutt came to visit us in Redmond. They now live in Vancouver. We had lots of fun catching up with them an eating cupcakes!

Grandma has a mustache?

We have laughed a lot on our trip!  Our grandma had a drink with lots of foam and it looked like she had a mustache every time she took a sip!

Seattle from across the bay

In the background you can see the Seattle skyline and the Space needle!

Feeding the fish

There were all sorts of cool sites at the Aquarium.  We learned about fish, seals and other marine animals and how important it is to protect the environment all these species live in - the ocean!

As tall as a shark?

I am not as tall as a Sixgill shark and thankfully not in the water with one!

Seattle Waterfront

This is a photo of my mum and I and Hope.  It was taken on the Seattle waterfront at the Seattle Aquarium.  We had lots of fun at the Aquarium!

Alki Beach

On the third day we were here we went exploring in Seattle with our friend Jason.  We went to many fun places including Alki Beach.  Alki beach is in West Seattle.   Some of the first settlers to Seattle wintered on Alki Beach when they first arrived.  

We tried to find flat stones so we could skip them along the ocean.  The body of water is the Puget Sound.

The metric system would be so much easier!

This is my sister Hope and I swimming in the lake! Lake Sammamish is 7 miles long which equals 11 kilometers.  In America they still do not use the metric system for many things.  The measure distance in miles, weight in pounds and volume in ounces.  It is very confusing!

At the Lake

I thought this was a good picture of my grandparents.