Did Someone Say Voodoo... or was it Sourdough?

Whew!  I'm tired!  And I'm not the only one.  When I said goodnight to everyone at 8:40 tonight, Bryan was already laying in bed, and Cappi was commenting that she needed to go to bed because she was tired enough she was getting grouchy.  And at one point, Wylder said she would need a nap before we did anything else.  The Mob is tired.

Yesterday we started off the morning dropping Bender off at "school" to hang out with his favorite teachers and friends while we were off doing our thing.  First we went out for breakfast at Voodoo Doughnut.

It was an interesting experience.  Chaini grabbed the Oreo doughnut and went to town.  It took Talon a bit to find one that she enjoyed, but ended up happy with the Fruit Loop doughnut.  Wylder seemed content with a chocolate doughnut with coconut on it. 

After our healthy breakfast, we headed off to OMSI to do some scientific stuff.  We were hoping to go to the zoo, but were again rained out.  It worked out okay, though, since OMSI was on the agenda anyway. 

After walking through a few exhibits, we ended up in "the lab" where we had to wear safety goggles.  Safety First, People!!

I thought the picture was a little fuzzy because of my own smeared goggles, but apparently the picture really was out of focus a little bit.  :)

The girls sat down and started doing some of the experiments they have laid out for kids to do, and I look over to see Bryan standing behind them holding his breath and acting like he was swimming.  Poor kids...they had no idea.

We then went to another room where there was some electric shock involved.  First, a static electricity demo by Talon and her hair...

Then a little shock therapy using the middle person as a conduit.  Wylder's expression kills me. 

In this one, Wylder can't seem to bring herself to watch as Cappi is saying, "Ow!...Ow!...Ow!" as the shocks come. 

Bryan and the girls built a water system using a little southern ingenuity... 

Afterwards, we headed off to watch a movie about the Arctic.  I thought it would be a fun one to see since I remember Cappi liking polar bears and knowing the girls like animals.  Well, it was good and had a good message, but I think when we left, we were all slightly stressed and near crying over the plight of the mother bears.  The diminishing arctic ice is sad and awful, for certain.  And we all were terrified that we were going to witness the death of a polar bear cub.  I am pretty sure that at one point Cappi, Chaini and Talon all had their hands over the eyes preparing for the horrific doom of a cub.  Thank goodness it didn't happen.  There would have been tears flowing without a doubt. 
Immediately following the movie, Cappi, Chaini and Wylder toured the blueback submarine that is at OMSI.  Bryan, Talon and I toured it a couple of years ago, so we opted not to do it again. 

We wrapped up the visit with a walk through of the natural disaster display at OMSI.  There was a map that had "tornado alley" outlined in red with Oklahoma being right in the middle of it.  I've decided that if Mt. Hood ever blows, even though I'm a ways off from it, I still might be too close. 

We ended the day with a stop off at Joe's Crab Shack.  Lots of seafood.  Lots of fried seafood, that is.  And much to my disappointment, terrible service.  They're gonna get a letter from me, for sure!!

Today we got up and had sausage biscuits for breakfast (and I learned that WD loves, loves, loves biscuits!) then headed straight for the The Oregon Zoo.  We were there from about 10:00 until about 4:15.  What a long day!! 

I told the girls when we got there that if they saw someone taking a picture and they photobombed it (examples of what photobombs are can be seen here) I'd give them $2 for each one they did.  Chaini earned $18 and Talon and Wylder each ended up with $4.  Chaini takes her money seriously. 

There was one exhibit where the girls could crawl into a dome and see the animals up close and personal.  Chaini went in and started taking pictures!

We ended the zoo visit with a little train ride.  It took us to Washington Park where we got off of the train and walked around and checked out the Rose Gardens.  It smells divine and is very pretty.

We met an older gentleman while we were there, Jacob Avshalomov, a composer and conductor, who was very interesting.  I just Googled him and found this:  Wikipedia Info on Jacob Avshalomov.  And he wrote a book called "Avshalomov's Winding Way" that he told us about that I also found online.  Interesting... 

So, after everyone pleaded being so very tired, we hopped back on the train and headed back to the zoo. 

We went to dinner tonight at The Old Spaghetti Factory where they bring out fresh, hot bread to the table to start things off.  Wylder was the first to dig in who declared it to not be very good because it tasted a little bit sour.  Yep, you guessed it - it was sourdough bread.  The whole night was one of a lot of laughing, mostly my own.  The Mob is truly a source of unforgettable and constant entertainment. 

Alright... off to bed again.  Otherwise, I won't be able to keep up tomorrow.  We're either headed to Oaks Park or to Mount St. Helen's visitor center.  We'll see what the verdict is in the morning!!  Here's hoping for another sunny day!