Porters in Portland

Portland. It was fast, fun, exhausting. 

On Thursday we drove....all day. The kids were so excited to be out of the car, starting about an hour into the trip. Jordan and I agreed that there is some natural part of children that presses them to ask when we're going to be there-it is built in them. Eloise was great for about 5 hours, then she was done and let us know the rest of the time. 

Dinner the first night was fantastic. Lebanese food from Nicolas. We swam and then went to bed. 

Friday we woke up and thankfully the kids slept in until 8 our time-so nice. We had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to Portland State to see Brian. The boys LOVED him. They played with his drills and flashlights and he let us take two hours of his morning. We ate pizza for lunch and I got to see another friend, Monica. 

Then we went to OMSI.  We spent a long time in one room that was probably the least "young kid" room of the whole museum. Then we found fossils, a sorting game (garbage, compost, recycling, etc) and animals-including stick bugs and frogs. Freddie had asked if we were going to see fish and frogs. I, wrongly, told him no because I didn't how they'd be there. He was glad. The stick bugs were enormous. When they moved their tails, I really thought it was a scorpion. 

We finally discovered the "toddler" room. Smeg, and fun. Water tables, air tubes that shot plastic balls around. It was fun. It was finally time to see the submarine. Jordan took the boys (Eloise wasn't allowed in). I thought it was a 20 min tour-having not seen/heard anything about the time length. It lasted 40+ minutes-I kept singing "3 hour tour" in my head. Eloise and I were done with the day. Jordan said Cedrik loved the whole tour.  About 10 minutes into it, Jordan said he looked at Freddie and Freddie asked what time it was. Jordan said he looked a little worried. He told him he didn't know. Then he looked back down and Freddie's mouth was quivering. He wanted to know when he could see me again. Oh my Fred Head.

When they got to the car, Jordan asked them if they liked it-Freddie said no because he "didn't like the dumb people." While we waited outside for the tour to start, Cedrik stated, "I'm so wound up." OMSI was so stimulating for him but I'm glad he recognized it. Next step, learning what to do when he is "wound up." Dinner was Italian at Pastini-my grilled garlic bread was the biggest hit. 

On Saturday the kids slept in again and we went swimming first thing. We skipped it the night before because Jordan and I were so tired-and so were the kids, especially because they missed their naps. After breakfast we headed into town and rode the Max to Saturday market. We found one kid booth and the boys bought wooden cars (Freddie found a van actually) and they spent their money on that and caramels. 

We made it to the mall downtown, used the bathroom and headed to northwest 23rd. The streetcar was the most fun according to the boys because it went so fast. We found lunch, thanks to Cedrik mainly, at a little Mexican restaurant. There happened to be ants crawling on the wall-kind of gross, but maybe it made it more authentic? It was the best cheapest Mexican food ever. Then it was ice cream at Salt and Straw. So amazing. We were all in love with it. Vanilla, chocolate gooey brownie, coconut with salted caramel bars, salted caramel cupcake. Yum. 

We went back to the hotel so Eloise could nap and that was a great idea. We found a park close to the hotel and had fun there too. On the spinning circle thing, Freddie decided not to listen to everyone's directions and stand inside the bar that helps keep them from falling off. He held onto the bar with his legs facing the edge and as it got going faster and faster he couldn't hold on. He flew off and although he was shaken up, he wasn't hurt-thankfully. 

After the park, it was dinner time. The kids weren't very hungry and Jordan and I ate a ton. Garden burgers, salad and fries. The boys had Roy Rogers for the first time-they were a hit. 

Back to the hotel for pajamas and bed time. Cedrik found the Lego movie on TV and they watched that for a few minutes before bed. 

We woke up at our usual time today (Boise time). That meant we missed the hotel breakfast (devastating for Cedrik, probably because he wanted bacon). It did mean we were able to slip out of town quickly and we made it home fairly fast. Eloise reversed herself on the drive home, crying/whining for 5 hours-the other two were basically during her nap. *sigh*

When we got home they were out back playing in a box for a couple of hours while we unloaded and I made pancakes for dinner. 

Cedrik did tell me that he prefers my dinners over "eating out every single meal. " I am appreciated. And so is Jordan. He held Eloise the whole trip and although he told her he'd had enough of her, all she had to do was smile and give him a kiss and she was back to being his favorite. 

The start. 

Finally reaching Portland. 

Dinner, night 1

Playing at PSU

Their new best friend- Brian

OMSI