Yay for Lisa and Brad! Lisa, my cousin, finally payed us a visit which gave me a chance to finally see her adorable little boy Caden! I always love when visitors come because it gives me the chance to do all the touristy things we never do on our own. Here is the run down of our 3 day extravaganza:


Thursday: A Day at the Coast

Cannon Beach: We ate sandwiches on the sand, flew a kite, walked to the water and Brad even brought his metal detector. It was fun to sit and chat and listen to the waves.

Icefire Glassworks: A great glassblower in Cannon Beach. An amazing thing to watch and so warm!

Bruce's Candy shop: A cute little old fashioned candy shop where they pull their own taffy. Little did I know that Brad has a serious sweet tooth, Lisa had to keep getting back in line to buy things (although she put her foot down when he wanted the giant gummy hamburger)

Seaside: In general I am not a fan of seaside, but if you go to the north part, where the river empties out, there are TONS of sand dollars. We managed to find 3 unbroken ones and a few nice shells too.



Moes: Famous for their clam chowder, Lisa and I humored Brad the fish lover, while we enjoyed our chicken. It also had a beautiful view of the coast.

Friday: Wilsonville Appreciation Day

Willmaette River: Only a 10 minute walk from our apartment, and a favorite spot to take family and friends when they come in town. We saw a few boats and a pretty good wakeboarder too.

Blueberry Farm: Okay it wasn't in Wilsonville, but the 30 minute drive to Salem was well worth it when we came home with 6 pounds of blueberries for only 95 cents a pound. Can't beat that!

Dinner Downtown: We went with Lisa's Cousin Cami (who coincidentally lived down the street from me- small world) to a restaurant downtown called McMenamins Rams Head. The food was great and I would have love to enjoy the ambiance if I didn't have such a rambunctious child.

Pittock Mansion: On our way home we stopped by this historic mansion up in Washington Park, to look at the beautiful view of the city. Can't beat it.

Saturday: Backwoods Hick Day

I used this name for Saturday because we spent it in Canby, which I think is like you are in a completely different world, even though it's only a couple of miles away. Instantly you leave comfy suburban life and enter farms, fruit stands, and wide open spaces.

Fir Point Farms: A place I've been meaning to go to for a long time, and we finally did. We spent some time shopping at their mini "country store" that had great fresh produce, ice cream, sauces, spices and such. They also had a petting zoo for the kiddies with 7 baby goats! They were adorable.

Swan Island Dahlia's: One of my favorite stops of the trip. A huge farm the grows thousands and thousands of Dahlia's. Some were as big as your head, and others as small as a silver dollar. They had the most creative names too including "Bed Head" "Too Sexy" and "Bahama Mama." I think Dahlia's are so Beautiful and this is a must see. Here's a link to their website: www.dahlias.com.

Burgerville: Although we had a couple of incidents with a balloon (lets just say the atmosphere added one more balloon that day), we had fun eating at my favorite place.

Canby Ferry; By chance (I was lost) I stumbled across this ferry that takes your car across the river. It was fun to get out see the rive pass under as we floated across.


Memorial Park Fountains: Although it was a little cold for getting wet, Jackson had a blast! Caden probably would have preferred something more like bathwater.


We were sad to see Lisa, Brad and Caden go but really enjoyed our time with them! I hope I didn't bore you with my novel entitled "Why You should Visit Us" But seriously, you should come visit us.

More pictures to come...