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Last year, Halloween seemed magical to me. It must have been because it was the first holiday we celebrated after moving back to the States, and it was the first time Sophie went trick-or-treating. This year: not so magical. But I still had fun getting the little guy into his costume.
P.S. Notice the compost bin on the table? Starting this week, Portland is collecting our food waste (along with recyclables) on a weekly basis and cutting our garbage collection back to once every two weeks.
It's always sad saying goodbye to summer. But the crisp fresh air, low amber light, crackle of leaves underfoot and steaming bowls of soup are helping lessen the blow.
This is also the season for finding chestnuts, which my sister and I collected on our almost-daily walks with our grandma growing up. I wish she could have been there today when Sophie discovered them for the first time. And, oh my gosh, guess what I just realized? She would have been 101 today. That's interesting that I had the last-minute idea to go a different way home, and we stumbled on a chestnut tree. On her birthday.
Nothing like waking up on a Sunday morning to see that your neighbor was completely TPed the night before. My first thought was, "Oh right, that's what they do in the States around Halloween." My second thought was, "Thank God it wasn't our house."
The other thing people do around Halloween, besides going to pumpkin patches, is spookify the outside of their homes. Sophie stayed home from school with a little cold this week, which gave me the chance to do a little bat garland craft with her. Then, on Sunday, Sophie and I met up with one of her little school friends, Miles, at an apple festival at the Portland Nursery. Since it was only just down the road, I left Mathis home with daddy. It's the longest I've been away from him. Two full hours! Then I was summoned back for his next feeding. But Sophie and I had fun stuffing our faces with 38 different kinds of apples (Cortland was my fave), eating apple streudel, listening to bluegrass and painting pumpkins.
Although I am bummed to say goodbye to summer, I have to say that fall is pretty spectacular here. And I haven't even shown you what the trees in the park look like!
A year ago, I cried when we said goodbye to Sophie's montessori school in Sweden. I cried when she hugged her bestie classmate Mathis (yes, where we got the name) goodbye. And I cried after visiting preschool after preschool in Portland that just didn't seem to measure up to what we had abroad.
Now I cry because I am so thankful for finding the little school she's been attending since January.
I picked it despite its small size and location on a busy road because I sensed that she would be loved there. Thank you, gut, because she truly is. I can also see that she is truly growing. It's humbling actually. Because I know they are doing a much better job than I ever could to prepare her for kindergarten. (Swedish friends: academic pressure starts early here.) The best indicators that I found a gem: Sophie is always happy to go; she's all smiles when I pick her up; and she hugs her teacher and classmates goodbye when she leaves.
And I get another masterpiece to put on the fridge. M is for mustache. And mirth.
Oh sure, pumpkin patches are great fun (yay for ponies, bratwurst and a kitschy beer bus). But let's face it, we parents are there for one reason: super-cute photos of our kiddos (and husbands).
P.S. Greatest American inventions for new moms: Udder Covers and Hooter Hiders.
While we were skedaddling out of town for the weekend, our one year anniversary of our Portland arrival came and went. Anniversaries always seem to make you stop and reflect. All I have to do is look at Sophie and realize that a lot happened in a year. Here she was soon after we arrived:
And here she is now:
Then: She ran out of her first dance class screaming and would not leave my side for the remaining classes.
Now: She runs over to the teacher at the start of every class.
Then: She would not explore a new playground unless I climbed around on it with her.
Now: Last week, I was chatting with other mommies and daddies while she explored on her own.
Then: I became a stay-at-home mom for one.
Now: I am a stay-at-home mom for two.
Then: I did not know what I would do with myself without my job.
Now: I still struggle with it, but in many ways I'm also finding my groove.
Then: I was blown away with all the marvelous choices here in America (mainly food).
Now: I have a renewed appreciation for how beautiful this country is (and how yummy the food is.)
A year into this new adventure, I don't feel much different. I still catch myself telling people, "We just moved to Portland." And I still say "nej" instead of no. (Although I did bring a towel to the playground last week to wipe down the slide — a sign that this place really is starting to rub off on me.)
Maybe this will be the year for becoming true Portlanders. Which basically means we'll have a chicken coop in our backyard, haul the whole family around everywhere on bikes and get tattoos.
Thanks for coming along for the ride, dear blog readers ...
In case you were ever wondering, it takes a family with 2 kids and a dog roughly 4.5 hours to get ready for an overnight roadtrip.
I know because at 6 a.m. on Saturday, Lewis came down the stairs and said, "Let's go to Bend! How long would it take you to get ready?"
And then we were off! I packed the suitcase, and gathered all our gear plus the just-in-case things like children's thermometers and tylenol, while Lewis booked a minivan (2 kids, dog, stuff) and the hotel room. I don't remember what Sophie and Mathis were doing because I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
At 10:30 a.m. our little adventure began ... two hours later than I had hoped ... but nobody really cared, because we were all sorts of cushed up in our Dodge Grand Caravan crew minivan! It was totally pimped out with a DVD player and everything, and I think the drive may have been the highlight of the whole trip for Sophie. (Mathis didn't seem to be that impressed. It was still 3 hours in that dang carseat.)
Our destination: Bend, Oregon, which is on the sunny side of the Cascades and about three hours away. We have been hearing people rave about Bend since we moved here. And while we were a little worried about taking Mathis since he just got his 2-month shots and had five diseases running through his body, we also saw the 10-days-of-rain forecast and thought it's now or never. Or at least until next summer.
We weren't that blown away by Bend. Perhaps because we were spoiled with cute mountain towns in Colorado. But on Sunday we drove up to Sisters. And, seriously, as soon as we passed the Welcome to Sisters sign, it was like we had come home. For anyone who's familiar with the Gunnison, Colorado, area, it reminded us of a Gunnison/Crested Butte/Lake City mix. In other words, the best place on Earth. Like Gunnison, Sisters is a jumping off point for all things outdoor fun (skiing, snow tubing, fishing, golf, hiking, biking, kayaking, horseback riding) and luxury resort Black Butte Ranch is 8 miles away. (Proof that it rocks: Rainn Wilson is a part-time resident.) We didn't get to spend much time there, but I think we'll be making up for that with many future roadtrips.
Especially if it means renting a minivan. (Hello, dark side.)