A Fig in Sweden Portland

from surf to summit

A little over an hour to the coast. And the same to the mountains. 

We discovered on Thursday just how truly awesome it is to live smack dab in the middle of both. We woke up with the idea of getting away for the day, and decided to see what the coast was like on a not-so-cold-and-rainy winter day.

Wonderful, it turns out. We had chowder for lunch and ran around on the sand. I could have hung out there for hours. But while we were there, friends invited us to spend that night and the next with them on Mt. Hood. Heck yeah! So we got back in the car in time to beat rush hour, packed up our things and drove to Government Camp. Surf to summit in the same day.

I'm not sure how many places in the country or world you can do that (New Zealand comes to mind). And it's one of the reasons we feel so lucky to live here. 

With things uncertain about Lewis' job situation, we're all hoping we get to stay.

pumpkins? check.

Do you ever feel like there are these seasonal traditions that have to be checked off the list? I look forward to them until I realize that our weekends are full of trying to fit them all in. We have the apple tasting festival up the street, pumpkin boat races in the 'burbs and then there's this Hood River harvest festival I've wanted to attend since we moved here. All in October. 

And, of course, there's the pumpkin patch.

After what felt like 6 months of endless sunshine, the rainy season has started. Which makes finding time for all this fun fall stuff even more challenging. We saw a break in the dark clouds on Saturday afternoon and made a run for Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island for hayriding, getting lost in a corn maze and picking out our pumpkins. Although it felt a little like we were just checking some must-do activities off the list when we started, by the end I had let go of all the musts and just enjoyed the doing part. 

I really must do that more often.

vaux, pronounced like hawks

On a Tuesday night in September, we stepped out with what seemed like every other person in Portland to do a little bird watching. And by little I mean roughly 9,000 Vaux's Swifts. These migrating birds take a month-long break in Portland to roost in the Chapman Elementary School chimney en route to Central America and Venezuela. 

Every night in September, the birds gather just before dusk and then swarm and swoop for a while before they funnel into the chimney. 

It was one of those "nature is amazing" moments. But I think I was equally in awe of how many people came out to watch the birds. It was packed! I told Lewis that I think Portlanders just like to be out and have an excuse to throw down a picnic blanket for dinner. At least until the rainy season comes.

Mathis was probably more into the birds than any of us (we went with Sophie's classmate Henry and his family). Sophie was preoccupied with mastering her cardboard box sliding techniques, until a hawk or falcon decided it was dinner time. She was very aware of what happened and was not happy about it. We had to convince her that her Tweety bird (the little birds that come into our yard) was sleeping at home and was not a hawk snack to make the tears stop. Oh our sweet little girl.

berry welcome

Summer in Portland has a funny way of bringing visiting friends and family to Portland. Our friend Sara was just here, kicking off a constant wave of visitors to our little bungalow in July and August. And we are so psyched! 

But, just a word of warning to our upcoming guests: we put you to work out in the berry fields!

P.S. I am officially now like 80 years old, because I have taken up canning. Seriously, someone stop me before I start pickling things, too. #portlandia

marching to the beat of our little drummers

Our summer vacation plans have revolved around today. Around this parade. We were thinking of going away until I realized the date. I told Lewis that going away would mean missing the parade, and he had the same reaction I did: Sophie would be so bummed. 

So, duh. We stayed.

This time — the 100th time the Grand Floral Parade has taken place — Sophie had more fun running laps on a chalk-drawn track as we waited for the parade to start than the actual watching-the-parade part. It was Mathis who loved every loud marching band, rodeo horse and drill team (does ANYTHING ever faze this kid?!).

Last year, we thought the parade was the best thing ever because Sophie thought it was the best thing ever. 

Man, we're whipped.

tickled pink

In between Saturday's trip to the farmer's market and Sunday's trip to a different farmer's market ... hanging the tree swing for Sophie ... pretending to eat Sophie's mud soup ... watching Mathis reach past the edge of the picnic blanket to grab handfuls of grass ... before sipping a glass of wine on the front stoop tonight, Lewis asked, "Can you imagine if the weather was like this all the time?"

preschool cred

She's really starting to look like a Portland chick.

*Update 9:30 a.m. Sunday: Our resident master tattoo-er (aka Daddy) was summoned to apply two more superhero tattoos before heading off to church.

keep on rockin, sophie

Sweet, Sweet Sophie,

I loved seeing how happy you were when each of your 11 little friends showed up today at your 4th birthday party. I loved seeing how gracious you were when they each handed you their gift. And I really loved seeing how excited you were to give your friends their "goody bag" presents when it was over — even handing them the prizes you had picked out for yourself.

Just like you're always being kind to Mathis. 

We're so proud of you, peanut.

_____

4th birthday party held at Sound Roots School of Modern Music in Portland, Oregon; performed by the very awesome Mo Phillips. I think he must be related to Jack Black. 

 

clark griswold would be proud (as a peacock)

So it turns out that we live three blocks away from one of Portland's biggest Christmastime traditions: the Christmas lights on Peacock Lane. Since 1929, every house on this street has been decorated with lights.

For two nights, the street is closed off for pedestrians only, and one of Sophie's classmates (Henry, aka "my boy") asked if we wanted to go. We asked another one to come along (adorable Miles), so the whole crew met at our house and walked up there. 

Sophie held Henry's hand the entire time, walking down one sidewalk and then up the other. The sidewalks and street were PACKED with people. There was hot cocoa for sale, people carolling, and bagpipers playing Christmas tunes. 

It was a really lovely night. We got to know some cool people a little bit better, and Sophie was very excited to host her two pals for a little late-night playdating afterwards in the basement. 

Portland, just when I start feeling a wee bit lonely during the holidays, you totally deliver the goods.

 

wettest day of the year = puddle jumping!

It's so nice to be able to say "go ahead" when she looks back at me with that grin on her face. 

 

halloween '11

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.

happy birthday, grandma

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.

'twas the fortnight before halloween

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!

pics of our pumpkins

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.

lazy fair

This is where Sunday ends and Monday begins. One of those long holiday weekends where I would have been perfectly content staying at home doing yard work or home decorating. One of those weekends where having a kid forces you to get out, because gosh darnit, the state fair is in town.

So, as you can see, we drove an hour south to Salem to get our cowtown on. $57 dollars later we had bellies full of fair food and a spiderman balloon toy. And we saw LOADS of cows, sheep, ducks, bunnies, chickens, pigs, goats, horses and llamas. Not worth it, and so worth it at the same time. I'm sure in Sophie's mind, we totally got our money's worth.

And, I would agree, because I realized this weekend that being closer as a family is getting out and doing stuff as a family.

Which leads me to yesterday, when Lewis spent most of the morning trimming tree branches and installing storm windows. It was too late for any big labor day event. So, instead we drove into Willamette Valley wine country to have lunch in the small cutesy town of McMinnville. My meal was mediocre and most of the shops were closed. But the company and the new surroundings made up for that.

Bottom line: It's so good to get away, even if away is just a tricycle ride around the block.

a berry day!

There's no place like Sweden in the summer. And even though we are only a couple of weeks into summer here, I can tell that the same is very true for Portland. No rain in days, and so much fun stuff going on around the city.

We had no real plans for the weekend but managed to pack it with spontaneous awesomeness. Which might be the best way to spend a weekend. (No H.E.A.D. -- High Expectations Anxiety Disorder -- as my friend Amy so appropriately named it). Just full-on Sunday night satisfaction of a weekend well spent.

On Saturday, we headed over to the Mississippi Avenue Street Fair. It's where all the cool kids live, and we were blown away by all the creative folks selling their wares — like these screenprinted baby clothes and this letterpress art. Sophie was more impressed with the bouncy castle, while Lewis was psyched to become a Zipcar member (hello mini-van rental on a moment's notice!). It was a win-win-win event for the whole family.

Then, today, after a bout of bizarre pregnancy hormones tried to sabotage things, we drove 20 minutes or so over the bridge to Sauvie Island to do some berry picking. And, wow, did we ever. We passed a few small farms until we found the motherlode at Columbia Farms. Blueberries, then raspberries, then strawberries. We were so tuckered out, we skipped the blackberries this time. Oh, yes, there WILL be a next time.

Sophie did great picking only the bluest blueberries. And then proceeded to eat them before they made it into our bucket. She had always turned her nose to blueberries until today. So we let her sneak all the blueberries she wanted. When they saw her strawberry-stained lips upon checkout, I told them to round up our total. :)

Thank you berry much for a sensational summer so far, Portland.

small adventures lead to more adventures

I remember the first time we learned how to buy a parking ticket in Växjö. It opened up a whole new world of weekend outings to our closest biggest city.

The equivalent of that just happened here in Portland.

Friday was a gorgeous day here, and I had little in the way of freelance work or errands that needed running. Lewis also had a lighter-than-normal day. Date lunch! I thought about biking in again, but I'm starting to get pretty big, and the uphill ride home is tough with my one-speed cruiser. Instead I decided to try the light rail. When we were living on the other side of town in the apartment, I remember that Lewis mentioned once that you can park at the Lloyd Center mall and ride Max free into downtown.  I had toddler sneaks to buy at Nordstrom anyway, so I decided to give it a try. It was so easy and convenient I can't believe it took me this long to do it. More importantly, I learned that the green line skirts up toward the Pearl District and ends at Portland State University (this tidbit of info will become relevant in a few minutes). The red and blue lines stay closer to the waterfront, and the red line goes to the airport. All three stop near our house (not in the free zone, but still) — near being a 10- to 15-minute walk.

Fast-forward to yesterday morning when we were making our plans for the day. The aforementioned shoes needed to be returned to Nordstrom, and I told Lewis that I saw a farmers market spot there. But a quick Internet search revealed it is only open on Tuesdays. Darn. Then Lewis said that there is a big farmers market on Saturdays at Portland State University that everyone at work talks about. Ding, ding, ding ... the green line goes right to PSU! And riding the train will be a huge part of the fun for Sophie.

When the light rail ended at the PSU stop, we followed the crowds until we saw a slew of white tents. As we walked closer, we discovered that we live a short Max ride away from the best farmers market we have ever been to! It had all the fresh fruit and vegetable stands one would expect. What we didn't expect was how huge it was and how you could spend hours there listening to music and eating great food (crepes!). At one point Lewis turned to me as said, "Are we lucky or what?"

It was one of those awesome moments where we discovered something pretty special about the city we now live in. We also discovered what we will be doing every Saturday from now until October.

la niña, you stinka

Stay-at-home mom-dom + rainy spring days = a grouchy me and Sophie.

So far, spring is living up to the La Niña predictions: colder and wetter than normal. Here's how I've been trying to shake my meteorological funk and sheer cabin-fever craziness recently...

- A trip to the zoo on a marginally decent day

- Shopping at Target and Naartjie

- Buying strawberry plants at the garden store

Plus ...

Making peanut butter cookies with a 3-year-old in full princess garb.

A backyard picnic when it wasn't sunny but also wasn't rainy.

And then I hopped on my orange cruiser and biked into downtown to meet my husband for lunch on the first warm sunny day in a week.

Friday felt like a mini-vacation as I put my 5-month-pregnant butt on a bike seat for the first time since September. The 3-mile ride took me 15 to 20 minutes, and I think I had permagrin the whole way. Lewis and I grabbed Pad See Ew noodles with tofu from a food cart, and then we ate on the steps of Pioneer Square. Neither of us wanted his lunch hour to end.

It occurred to me that these little adventures are numbered for me. At least for a while. With Sophie in school three days a week, I can get the me-time I need and have a date with my husband when freelance work is slow. Come August, I can't exactly strap the infant car seat onto my bike.

On Friday I decided I am going to take full advantage of any and all nice sunny days between now and August 8. I sure hope there are a lot of them.

 

where the happy dogs and parents are

Someone at work told Lewis about a nearby trail area that had two very big things going for it: no leashes required for dogs (many Portland trails require leashes to protect forest ecosystems) and no elevation, which means Sophie could just run free without us worrying she would fall off a cliff (think Multnomah Falls).

So it probably shouldn't have been much of a surprise that we saw LOADS of dogs — and a few little people — at the Sandy River Delta trail area on Saturday. Sophie got a few unwanted smooches from some big pooches, so I think she was happy for the first-class ride back to the car.

I predict lots of playing and picnicking here this summer.

OCD moms and dads welcome!

If you cringe at the thought of crayon (or, eek, marker) scribbles on your child's bedroom wall — or have ever thought to yourself, "I'm not that OCD. We can totally do finger painting in our white-carpeted temporary apartment as long as I put down a big drop cloth," only to have your child start clapping with paint on her hands, sending security-deposit-eating red blobs of paint everywhere — then Portland is your place.

My friend Kate and her daughter Lucy invited us to tag along on Tuesday to an art factory for kids in the hippest part of town: CHAP, located in a warehouse-like space in the Pearl district. She told me about CHAP (Children's Healing Art Project) a couple of months ago, so I knew to show up in head-to-toe grubbies. At CHAP, you can paint anything in the building, including the building. Loads of local businesses donate stuff that the kids can paint, such as Nike sneaks. For five bucks an hour, you don't have to think about how the hell you're going to get that crap off the wall or out of the carpet. Just hose 'em down, change 'em and throw them in the car to go home.