Portland

We’ve just returned from a delightful trip to Portland, OR to visit Jill, Eric, Ellie, Madeline, and Maddie.  We left on Saturday morning, after an eventful scramble to get to the airport before the flight left, since my 3:30 am alarm either did not go off or did not do the job of rousing me from my slumber.  I woke up in a start at 4:15 am, the time we had intended to be leaving the house, and broke the news to Seth and Evie that we were very late and needed to hustle.  We made quick work of the last-minute things like letting the dogs out, packing chargers that couldn’t have been packed the night before, etc., and hightailed it to the airport.  We decided to just pay to park in the short term lot even though it would end up costing us over $100, because we were concerned that if we took any more time to look for a parking space in the short term or economy lots, we’d miss boarding.  Turns out that was a good call.  My parents were there later that day to rent a car, and they could not find a single parking spot open.  We dashed through security, thanks to our TSA pre-check status, and got to the gate with about 10 minutes before the boarding started.  I was pretty impressed with us.

Phew!  Made it!

We had a long connection in Dallas and then on to Portland.  As we were coming in, Evie opened the window to reveal a spectacular view of Mt. Hood.  

We landed, got our rental car, and headed to Vancouver, WA where Eric and Jill were expecting us and had prepared an absolutely delicious barbecue.  Madeline and Maddie come over for the festivities as well and we spent some time catching up and playing with Ellie who is so sweet.  Unfortunately, I was having a major allergy attack and having to blow my nose, clear my throat, and such, to the point that the night before I was somewhat concerned I might be sick.  I lasted as long as I could, especially considering we’d been up so early, but I finally had to lay down for a nap in the evening.  When I got up, Ellie was being put to bed and Evie and Madeline were playing pinball.  It was very sweet to me how Evie gravitated toward Madeline and sought out her company.  At one point, she asked Madeline and Maddie to watch her perform some songs, which made me think back to when I used to ask my family to watch me perform.  

Aunties and nieces and bubbles

Ellie and me

Evie in the hammock

Vroom!

Evie and Lola, Jill and Eric's dog

Sunday, we had an easy start to the day and then made our way to an outdoor food truck/brewery stop.  This place had a variety of rocks that Ellie was interested in collecting, and Evie and Madeline turned the rock collecting into some sort of bartering system where they would offer each other various collections of rocks in some kind of strange trade deals I couldn’t understand. Afterwards, we went to an escape room while Ellie took a nap.  We escaped, of course, and had a great time doing it, and then had dinner.  Evie fell asleep on the way home.

Ready for breakfast!

Chalk time

Cousin walk around the neighborhood

Making a deal over rocks

Mummas with babies in their laps at ramen dinner

May she never be too old to be carried to bed by her Daddy

Monday, I was able to sneak in some time with Ellie in the morning, and Evie got some auntie time with Jill as well.  Jill did her make up and then Evie returned the favor.  Evie, Jill and I played volleyball in the backyard and otherwise entertained ourselves in the morning.  In the late afternoon, we all met up with  Madeline and Maddie at an amazing arcade (I am not a big arcade fan so if I liked it, it had to be good).  Evie and I played some old school games, she rocked some skeeball, and then played Jurassic Park with Madeline – they won the whole game, something we could never afford to let Evie do at our local arcade (you pay one admission price and play all you can play here, as opposed to having to feed quarters to the machine every time you die at a regular arcade).  Then we headed to Madeline and Maddie’s for dinner, and Evie spent the night there while Seth, Jill, and I went to a tiki bar (Eric took Ellie home).  

Morning with Ellie

Make up time

Hanging around the house

Pausing volleyball to identify bird calls on Jill's app

Old school game

Skeeball

Cousins at the arcade

Jurassic Park

Tiki bar time

Tuesday morning, Eric and Jill had to work and Elli was at daycare, so Seth and I drove into Portland for breakfast and a stop by the rose garden.  In 2003, when we were a brand new couple, we had occasion to be in the rose garden after we’d flown to Portland to meet my parents and let Seth visit his grandparents in Roseburg.  My mom snapped a picture of us in the rose garden on 07/07/03, four years to the day before we got married.  So we had to go back and get a pick of us 20 years later!

Then we drove to Madeline and Maddie’s house where Evie was deeply involved in an art project.  She’d had an amazing time spending the night with them.  Then we went to a board game restaurant where we hung out pretty much all afternoon until we decided to get ice cream and play at the park.  Well, the younger folks played.  Seth and I pretty much laid on the grass and toyed with the idea of napping, until we met up with Jill, Eric and Ellie for dinner.  We had to say goodbye to Madeline and Maddie that night and Evie was very sad to be leaving.  I think she really enjoyed being with her aunts and feeling special around them.  

Deep into artwork with Maddie

When we got back to the house, Evie put on a puppet show for us, which was really amusing.

In the morning, Jill was off to work before Evie woke up, but Seth and I said our farewells to her.  Then we packed up while Evie showered, said goodbye to Eric, and headed to breakfast and the airport.  It was a short trip, but good, as always, to see everyone.  I think Madeline had a profound influence on Evie this trip, because Evie has decided to be a flexitarian for now, meaning that when possible, she won’t eat meat, but she’ll make exceptions when it’s more convenient or she’s just really in the mood.  For example, she’s already decided she will be eating whatever Granna cooks, because what Granna cooks is always good.