Fort Vancouver

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Running errands with kids really stinks. Now that we're "out in the country" (i.e. not 5 minutes from every store in Beaverton), we tack on a 30 minute drive each way, and errands stink even more. And because we don't want to frequently make that drive, it means we now have marathon errand days, mapping out stores that are close together and combining as many errands as possible. Yes, perfect storm of screaming and chaotic kids in stores.

So Ben and I got this crazy idea for our errand day this weekend: shop some, do something fun, shop some more. And it worked! We went furniture shopping, made a return at Lowes (where the kids got to ride on the tractors), had a picnic lunch and explored Fort Vancouver, then headed back to a bit more shopping at the end. Josh may have cried himself to sleep on the way home, but he didn't scream in the store. Victory!

Fort Vancouver was an amazing place to explore. I liked it much better than the End of the Oregon Trail Museum. The entire complex was huge and we only explored one aspect (the Fort). There is also an air museum (that's free), tons of walking trails, and an amazing play structure/park at the light at the entrance. We definitely want to return--with a stroller and more time!

The fort entrance

That long stick is the well, and the white building is the bakery. They had really cool wood fire ovens to see.

The boys checking out the outhouse



This was the coolest part of our visit: they had actual blacksmiths working! The boys got to watch them stoke the fire and work the metal. As you can imagine, we've been doing a lot of blacksmith work now at home with sticks, and have even make a blacksmith shop out of legos.



The fort had a lot of different furs to feel ranging from foxes to beavers to wolves to bears. It was very hands on and there was a volunteer in almost every building to answer questions. It really was wonderful!

The fur trading post. I love this picture because in it, Seth is explaining to Josh about the wooden wagon wheel. The big boys are so patient with him!

All the boys in the look out tower. The tower was really cool, but kind of petrifying with a toddler who's obsessed with stairs. I made Ben keep a firm grip on Josh.

I just had to take a picture of Josh's massive fit in the car on the way home. He was soooo tired and we were so thankful that we didn't try to pack in one more store, or else this break down wouldn't have been as funny!