portland weekend

before we head to minneapolis, i thought i better get our portland recap on here. i've been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off for the last two weeks between the end of school, traveling to portland for two nights, and now today we are headed to minneapolis for 17 days! all fun stuff, but whew!

we hit the road to go to portland right after school got out on friday. it was a bit chaotic, but we wanted to get on the road before rush hour traffic really hit. ha! it ended up being terrible traffic anyway. it should take about 3.5 hours to get to portland, but it took over 5 hours. we stopped for a quick dinner at mod pizza, but otherwise we were driving the whole time. we stayed at thatcher's cousin jade and her husband ben's house, but to make this setup confusing - they weren't' actually there. instead thatcher's aunt georgianne and his uncle randy were there dogsitting jade and ben's labradoodle murphy while they are in spain. so we got to spend the weekend with all of them. murphy was adorable. he is rarely around kids, so he wasn't too sure what to make of them, but he was sweet and gentle and mostly just stared at them. haha. 

we hung out and chatted with them for a bit, then it was off to bed! 

saturday morning georgianne picked up delicious bagels for breakfast from a place in the neighborhood. then thatcher's other cousin's wife jammie joined all of us for the day. we drove to troutdale (a cute town just outside portland). they had a firefighter fundraiser going on with lots of fun activities. the kids enjoyed it! 

then we went to mcmenamins edgefield for lunch. it's a really cool place on the grounds of an old poor farm from 1911. they have a hotel, restaurant, and concerts there as well. we ate out on the patio and it was a beautiful spot and the food was great! 

next we drove further out of the city to a place called draper girls farm. it had stunning views of mount hood, goats, a tree swing, and a store. it was such a cool place. unfortunately ashford was melting down most of the time we were there (4 year old power struggles), so that wasn't ideal, but we all survived. 

after that, everyone except our immediate family needed to head home to let the dogs out, but thatcher and the kids and i made one more stop. we went to the town of hood river, which is about an hour outside portland. it's on the columbia river and is a huge wind surfing spot. there was a beach, a nice path, and a play ground that the kids enjoyed. 

when we got back to jade's house, we ordered thai take out for dinner and hung out with georgianne and randy the rest of the night. 

sunday morning we walked to a donut shop in the neighborhood called "coco donuts".

 

then the kids played at a nearby playground. we went back to the house and said our goodbyes to georgianne and randy. they took this nice pic of all of us out front: 

then we were off to see our minnesota friends who just moved to portland. 

ian, joanna, and kyla have been dreaming of moving to the pacific northwest for as long as we have been here (and maybe even longer). they recently landed jobs in portland and just made the move this month. our families get along great (their daughter is the same age as azalea) and we are so excited to have them so close to us now! we got to see the house they rented and had lunch at a place in their neighborhood (so much good food this weekend!!). 

then we got ice cream at a place called "50 licks". it was delish! 

finally it was time for us to hit the road back to seattle. the drive back "only" took about 4.5 hours. ;) the kids did really well in the car, thanks to their tablets. we save them for car/plane rides, so they stay a novelty. and i don't mean that judgey way, trust me my kids watch plenty of tv at home. 

alright - stay tuned for minneapolis updates. i have no idea if i'll a post half way through our visit or wait until the end. that could get long!