Portland

Oh Luthien, this time I actually have an excuse for not writing sooner. I've been wanting to tell you all about our Portland trip for awhile now, but both of our computers have been dysfunctional. After some serious blessings at the Apple store, we finally have one computer back, and are expecting the laptop back very soon, free of charge (thank you Jeffrey!)


Portland was all I had hoped for and more in many ways. There were only a few things we missed out on considering you are only 1 and can only last for so long doing 'touristy' things and eating out all the time, but that was to be expected. We definitely hope to (and will!) move there in the near future. We're pretty sure you loved it as much as we did. We stayed with Rome's cousin Chelsea/husband Mike in their beautiful home.


Here is a picture that doesn't quite capture my sheer delight (and suprise) upon taking a glimpse at little Oliver when we first arrived. He is 4 months old in this picture, and bigger than you! He has the most amazing baby personality I have ever seen: calm and content ALL the time (very different from you)!


One of your favorite pastimes: climing their two sets of stairs! The other favorite activity which I do not have pictured here was pushing around their walker toy- it's a step above ours because it is a dog and barks when you push it. You kept stopping to sign and say 'dog' every time you would hear the toy bark!



One day we took the "Portland Aerial Tram" up 3,300 feet- at the top is OHSU. If the clouds weren't so thick that day we would have had a great view of all the mountains, but nevertheless the city view was spectacular (and don't worry, the weather issue does not deter us from wanting to move there)!


We also toured the Lewis & Clark college campus. It was a beautiful, old, heavily wooded campus. Dad fell in love. Here are a few pictures of you sitting with Henry while Dad looked around. I love this one because Henry looks very studious- totally appropriate for the setting! By the way, you are signing "dad."



Also love this gem of Henry- he's quite the ham!



And I just had to include this one to show just how much fun you had with the boys (your second cousins I suppose?) You adored both Henry and Oliver and got excited each time you got to see them. By the way, the mismatched outfit was not intended- your first outfit got too hot so I put you in a onesie we bought that day. Yeah, the temperature actually changes in Portland throughout the day/night, something we're not accustomed to here in Phoenix!

On Sunday we went hiking at Multnomah Falls (part of the Columbia River Gorge). I don't have any pictures from the bottom but I will say that Dad's sweatiness and your confused look are appropriate- it was only about a mile and a half hike, but it was VERY steep. You loved the whole experience- especially when dogs passed by. I think you thought it was funny that you were so much taller then them!

Enjoying part of the falls:

You and I relaxing by the rushing river- of course you wanted to jump right in...

So we let you!

After the hike we sat down for a bit and talked with a long-time Southeast Portland resident. You LOVED his little pup. This picture cracks me up because the dog looks as though he's attacking you, yet you're laughing- so typical for you!

One day we met up with a friend of mine from graduate school, Elissa. She also lives on the southeast side of town, and was kind enough to give us a tour. This would be the perfect place for us to live- very charming, lots of locally owned businesses and restaurants, tons of antique and book stores, and young families galore. She took us to this little kid friendly cafe. Kids can run around and play with toys/musical instruments, the whole time while being serenaded by an indie-pop type kid music artist. Only in Portland! She played her own songs but also played some classics that you loved.

After our lunch outing and tour, with Elissa:

This next sequence of pictures is the 'goodbye' with Chelsea, Henry, and Oliver. I love how you and Oliver interacted:

The friendly hug...

...followed by a passionate kiss

And then the classic half embarassed/half proud expressions. "Okay, that was kind of weird and

gross..."

Another classic: Henry's 'chokehold' kiss. He did this multiple times a day, it was so cute.

One last shot of the adoreable threesome:

We left Portland on a Tuesday in the late afternoon, so beforehand we ate some yummy local organic food and then made a stop at the Rose Garden- miles of beautiful flowers.

Again, what a fabulous trip, and much needed retreat!

Things we failed to capture on camera:

1) Powell's Bookstore (largest used/new bookstore in the world!)

2) The BEST farmers' market in the posh nearby town of Lake Oswego (puts my favorite downtown Phoenix market to shame)

3) The delicious meal created by Chelsea and Rome following our trip to the market

4) Right next to the farmer's market: the most amazing French bakery ever. What more could I ask for?!

5) More of Chelsea/Mike's fabulous house (not to mention the baby deer that came right up to their back deck!)

There you have it Luthien, more recent updates to come!