More Visits

Aunt Bethany and Uncle Jon visited us this weekend. We had tons of fun. And I mean TONS! We crammed a lot in to their 3ish day visit. Here are the highlights:

Dinner Thursday night at Logan's Backyard BBQ. Looks like some guy's backyard right? Good times. After dinner we had some ice cream. I demanded my usual tax.



Day 2 was a tour of the Columbia Gorge and Mt. Hood. The scenery was wonderful! I took it in from the back seat of the Ford Mustang convertible Bethy and Jon rented for their trip. Check with them for pics of me driving the car.

We showed them Multnomah Falls where we grabbed lunch. We also checked out Bonneville Dam including the fish ladder. There was an underwater viewing window where you could see Salmon swimming upstream to spawn. Above ground we cheered them on as they made their yearly trek and enjoyed the local greenery. (Mom's wearing a hat because she was a little wind-blown after the drive along the gorge)





Then we turned toward Mt. Hood. We drove to Timberline Lodge, an old ski lodge built by the WPA. There was still snow up there! Here we are on the ski lift and inside the lodge relaxing around a fireplace. Again, excellent scenery.







Last but not least was a day in Portland. We hit some favorite spots: The Rose Garden (with some roses in bloom!), Saturday Market for browsing and lunch, and the Zoo. We even had Chipotle for dinner and spent some time at the pool in the evening. It doesn't get much better than that!!

What's for Dinner?

Sometimes I decide I don't feel like eating. I'll have a few bites then turn up my nose at whatever comes my way. It usually lasts a day or two and seems to really freak my parents out (Mom especially - she goes right for the baby books for moral support and advise). But then I come around and dive in with a new level gastronomic gusto.

I went on such a strike last week and have since acquired a taste for several new items: peaches (previously too tart for me), oatmeal (self-explanatory), mashed peas (whole ones are fun to feed myself, but mashed ones were yucky), and angel hair pasta (although it takes some work to get it all in my mouth).

Also, if Mom or Dad are feeding me too slowly I like to grab their hand to speed the process along. This is especially true with some of my favorite foods: raisins, avocado, and bread.

Another Great Thing About the NW

Although moving to Portland meant moving away from a lot of Mom's family, we are closer to some folks, namely Cousin Joe and Meagan. The first chance we got, we headed up to see them and their new house. What a relaxing weekend we had! Saturday morning we enjoyed a sunny picnic in the backyard. Here I am in front of the rather large rhododendron in their back yard.



We also took some walks around local parks. Look at those beautiful views of the city!



Here we are at a famous local donut shop. Though I cannot personally testify to the quality of these particular treats, judging from the smile on Mom's face, the distance we walked for them, and the fact that we made a return trip, they must be pretty good. I liked the place because they had some toys and books for little folks like me.




Other highlights included more great strolls, delicious food, and fantastic company. Thanks again to our wonderful hosts!

Photo Booth

How did this picture slip through the cracks?

Howdy from the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center (No Kidding)!

Out here they call it "The Coast"

Back East when you went to see the ocean, you'd say "I'm going down to the Shore". But don't let an Oregonian catch you saying such a thing. They just won't know what you're talking about. Here you go to "The Coast". And that's what we did Thursday. It took us an hour and a half or so to get out to the Pacific Ocean...most of which I slept. When we got there, we were all hungry. We had a picnic lunch on the beach.



The scenery was wonderful.



Although it was a little windy.



On the way home we stopped at a cheese factory. No kidding - those people behind Mom and I are making cheese!

Local Outing

One thing special thing Mom and I do together is story time at the local library. They have a great children's library that takes up an entire floor! My favorite part of story time is when the librarian breaks out the bubble machine. I just love bubbles!

Anyway, this week Dad came along with us and we had a picnic in the park afterwards. Recently, I haven't been too big into eating, however, I love playing with food containers. For example, sandwich containers make great hats. Here I am doing my best Charlie Chaplain impression.



And I've added another playground apparatus to my repertoire: the sliding board. Dad and I were racing this fella. I was enthralled with the big kids!

Swing Kid

As promised....

Congrats Dad; Happy Mother's Day Mom

Good News - Dad got a sweet job offer Thursday. Even better, his start date is May 29 so Mom and I get to have him to ourselves for a little while longer.



To celebrate, we had a nice dinner and enjoyed some ice cream for dessert. I was insistent that I get a taste of Mom's - hey, we're celebrating right?



We also spent some time downtown Friday. This park next to the Art Museum is a few blocks from Dad's new office. By the way, I'm super duper good at getting that cute pink sun-hat off my head. It's a miracle there are photos with me wearing it!



And Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's, Grandma's, Great-Grandma's, and Great-Great-Grandma's in my life! I am so lucky to have many wonderful women to love me! It was a lovely day in Oregon, we enjoyed a picnic on our back porch and time in the park. I really like swinging, as you can see. (Video coming soon.)

**Special bonus picture for all those who read the whole post: Blurry, yet indisputable photographic evidence of my two top teeth!**

Happy Nine-Month Birthday

One of the nice things about being as young as I am (besides my carefree lifestyle and general pampering) is that I get to celebrate birthdays monthly. There was a time when Mom and Dad celebrated every week I was alive. Yes, every Monday was a milestone in those days.

Today, however, was a big month event. I'm 9 months old today, and Mom took me to the Portland Children's Museum to celebrate. I had lots of fun learning (ie - playing).



Here are some pictures from the week leading up to my big day...

Some kind folks in Philadelphia gave Dad a pass to many of the big Portland attractions. Saturday we used it to visit the World Forestry Center (trees are a big deal out here). Here I am concentrating very hard at driving a big tree harvester with Dad.



And here I am smoke jumping with Mom. We hit the target which is more than I can say for Dad - he ended up hanging in a tree somewhere.



We also went to the Classical Chinese Garden in Chinatown. It was quite beautiful, although I was totally uninterested in visiting the tea house. I preferred sitting by the pond with Mom.



To get around Portland, we took Tri-Met, i.e. public transportation. Dad was great at entertaining me while we waited for the bus...



A few Saturdays ago we went to something called Saturday Market. It's a big Farmer's Market in downtown Portland. There were lots of kids there for me to play with and lots of yummy food to sample. I had a great time. We came home with some potted herbs. I love to pick some with Mom to use in her cooking. I especially like cilantro because it goes in my (still) favorite food, guacomole.

Congratulations!

This past weekend we took a day trip up to Tacoma, Washington, for a very special event. Dad's college roommate Erik got married to a wonderful woman, Marin, and we had a lovely afternoon celebrating. We got to Tacoma a little early and found a nice park to walk around on the Sound. Here I am with Mom enjoying the view.



After a quick change we headed over to the ceremony. I just love weddings...sometimes a little too much! I like to cheer for the bride and groom and generally make my presence known. In the end, I spent most of the ceremony with some of Erik's nephews in an off-site chapel. They let me share their toys which was super nice. On the down side, I missed the big kiss!! Oh well, maybe next time.

The reception was lots of fun too. My pals from the wedding were there. Here I am dancing with one of them. He had some sweet moves but I think he was a little too much for Mom.



There was a pretty view of Mt. Ranier from the balcony. Here I am with Dad and Mom in front of that well known Washington landmark.




It was fun to meet some of Mom and Dad's old college friends. Here's the man of the hour.