Portland, OR

On Thursday I picked up the kids from school and drove straight to the airport.  It was a surprise trip to Portland to meet up with Brian.  They were so excited. They probably asked twenty times each if we were still driving to the airport during the drive to the airport.  

Portland is a lovely city.  It is a cross between San Francisco and Boulder CO.  At least for me it does.  All the flowers were in bloom and everything was so green.  Friday morning we ate breakfast at Slappy Cakes, a restaurant where you make your own pancakes on a skillet in front of you.  Brian had banana and bacon toppings and the kids had chocolate chips.  I had a vegetable eggs Benedict that included kale, sweet potato, broccoli and cauliflower.  And of course Hollandaise sauce.  It was delicious.

Friday morning we drove about 30 minutes east of Portland to see Multnomah Falls.   It is the tallest waterfall in Oregon and it was impressive. That afternoon went to the Japanese Garden in Washington Park and it too was beautiful.  We picked up dinner at a food truck lot and the meals were excellent. Brian had fish tacos, I had chicken Masala and the kids had a mac and cheese with broccoli and sausage.  We need some food truck lots here in Houston. They are brilliant.  

Sunday we walked across the St. Johns Bridge.  It was quite a hike, but well worth it. It is an absolutely gorgeous steel suspension bridge that spans the Willamette River.  We spent the rest of the day outside at parks and piers.  The weather was mid 60s with full sun. Perfect.

The only drawback to the trip was that the flight was a bit long for Logan and Catherine.  I was certain they would nap on the way out there but that clearly did not happen.  Since we were heading west we just followed the sun for 4 1/2 hours.  It felt like Catherine had to use the bathroom every ten minutes which was hard because I had Logan and 3 carry on bags.  They definitely like to travel and I am proud of us for making the trip. 

Galveston Diva 1/2 Marathon

Last month I ran the Galveston Diva ½ marathon with a group of moms from St. Rose and it was a lot of fun.  We drove down on Saturday and hit the beach and hotel pool.  Logan and Catherine still remain impressed with the shores of Galveston.  They think it is the best beach on earth!

The weather was ideal with temperatures in the high 60’s/low 70’s and bright sunshine.  We were quite lucky to dodge some rainstorms.  The course paralleled the beach for 9 of the 13 miles and the glare was very strong.  This race taught me that I definitely prefer shade over a breeze if I could only choose one.  I finished at 2:28 minutes so I was happy with that.  The race included tutus, tiaras, mimosas and the race medal which was handed out by local (shirtless) firemen. 

Brian and the kids cheered me on at mile 11 and it was awesome to see their smiling faces.  I did not get that many pics as I was pretty beat at the end.

Logan is FIVE

It is hard to believe that Logan is five. Where does the time go? We celebrated by having some friends from school over to play on the swing set.


He had a star wars cake that was navy blue with silver stars and two light sabers on top. A red and a green.  It looked awesome but I did not get a picture.  In hindsight I would not have the base of the cake a dark blue.  The kids teeth turned blue and blue icing is harder to clean than white.
We also had some blue throw up!! Normally I don't buy juice boxes as that is all my kids will eat if they are in the house. Birthdays are an exception.  We had juice drinks in a cooler and Catherine clearly drank way too many. She ended up projectile vomiting bright blue liquid all over me and her for what seemed like minutes.  I don't have a picture of this either.  

Every year we ask Logan the same set of questions.

What is your favorite color?

Red

What is your favorite food?

Broccoli, cake, and French fries

What is your favorite toy?

Fire Truck, Magnets, and Legos

Who is your best friend?

Andres, Austin, Atlee, and Wesley

What is your favorite thing to do?

Swim and go to the beach & go to the fire station

What is your favorite game to play?

Star Wars

What do you want to do when you grow up?

Be a fireman

What are you most thankful for?

I am thankful for my presents.

What is the best thing that happened to you this year?  I went on a plane to San Francisco.

What do you like about being 5?

I like being bigger and climbing on my swing set.

THE swing set

This year we bought and built the kids a swing set. It was my idea to actually build one because it was much cheaper and Costco was having a special.  Like most projects, it took a lot longer to build than we had anticipated.  It took a solid two hours just to get the pieces out of the two boxes it came in.  Together the boxes weighed over 500lbs.

The building process took about 3 weekends in total.  We had a few set backs such as the kids running off with various parts and building too high under our porch leading to a minor tear down and re-build.  All in all it was a sucess but I am not so sure that next time we wouldn't hire someone to build!

Brian's 40th Birthday!!!

Brian and I met working together at Entergy Corporation in New Orleans.  He turned 30 that year, 2005, and I remember thinking that was crazy old.  Turning 30.  Brian's philosophy is that age is just a number, and frankly, at 36, I am starting to subscribe to this. For his birthday we cooked fried pork chops, grilled Brussel sprouts, and a fresh salad.  It was quite tasty.  Desert a New York cheesecake and it was so good.  I slaved over it!

As for presents, we attended jazz fest Thursday and had a grand time.  Mimi was able to watch both kids for the day. Thank you Debbie!

Zephyrs game

Happy to be back in texas