The New Pickup, Noah's Birthday, & Eagle Crest

Melody told me my blog was stale and I needed to do something about it. Been busy and on vacation so haven't gotten to it for a while. So here goes!

On Saturday March 21st we stopped by the Toyota dealership in Vancouver to look at new pickup trucks. We decided if we could get a good deal we might buy a newer Tacoma pickup truck. Goni did not like the old truck because the seats were not confortable and was a base model without many features.

We looked at Access Cab models which have extra room behind the front seat for small people and gear. Goni picked out a blue Tacoma and we took it for a ride but we couldn't come up with the deal we wanted so we left. Got an e-mail the next morning from the sales manager who sweetened the deal to our liking. So on Sunday afternoon we went down and finalized the deal.

It is not a fancy truck but it does have the things we wanted: comfortable seats, intermittent wipers (a must for Washington rain), cruise control, a CD player and 25 mpg on the highway. There are extra features which are nice (like the backup camera on the rear view mirror) that came as a package on this model.

We celebrated Noah's birthday on March 27th at the Guadlajara Mexican Restaurant here in Woodland. We met Charity & Chris and Vancouver grandparents Roger & Kathy Layton for dinner. Goni made chocolate birthday cupcakes (Noah's favorite flavor). We had a good time and Noah was sung to by the staff from the restaurant. It is hard to believe he is now 8 years old.

Noah with his custom made 8th birthday cupcake.

With a moustach Noah could pass as Pancho Villa.

The next day we headed over to Eagle Crest in Redmond, Oregon for our annual spring break vacation. We have been going there for 10+ years for spring break. This year it was a little windy and cold but no rain. We did have some snow the first night but it was just at skiff and was gone by noon. We did the usual things: shopping in Bend, walks, swimming, sitting in the hot tub and climbing Monkey Face at Smith Rock State Park.

Here we can see one of the many activities at Eagle Crest. Coloring books were popular this year.

Rock climbing is big at Smith Rock. Here is one of the many climbers we saw.

Tim, Shelly & Cole at the top of Monkey Face looking out at the Redmond valley.

We always go with Tim & Shelly James and their kids and stay in one of the Worldmark condos. Everyone had a good time and hated to come home on Saturday just as the weather was just starting to warm. On Sunday at home was a great weather day with plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the mid 70s. We hung around the house and did some chores. The lawn got mowed, the cars were washed & washed, shower head repaired and errands run.