Park Day

I joined Pheonix, Zia, and Jac for P's Unschooling group park day in Sellwood Park yesterday afternoon. What a beautiful, beautiful park! The trees are so magnificently tall there, and even though it was another hot one yesterday, it felt perfect in the shade of these trees! 

New York's parks developed a love for parks and an appreciation for good parks - not the typical midwest parks we had grown up with. I always thought I'd never find something quite like the parks around NYC, and while these aren't exactly the same (they need to have some more live music and events... at least from what we've compared to NYC parks so far in our short time here), the parks in Portland are quite amazing and a very suitable replacement for the parks we fell in love with in NYC. One thing these parks had that cannot quite compare to most NYC parks is the trees. They are soooo tall here!!

Right near the dreamy playground shaded by the giant trees is a swimming pool (that is unfortunately NOT shaded by giant trees). We spent some time in the afternoon at the pool so P could swim. No swimming for me - even if I had my swimming gear, I'd have probably stayed out - too crowded with kids, too sunny, too hot, NOT too interested in being RED and BURNT! I did wade in a couple times though, and it made me really excited for taking our future little one to the pool!

New Orleans Music in the Yard

Remember the other night when we were out listening and dancing to the basement band? Well, they were at it again last night, but this time, they came above ground! Seth had to work last night (boo-- he went in at 7 p.m. after a normal day's work and wasn't home until 5 a.m. this morning), so I was sitting out on our porch (!!!!) reading about natural remedies for heartburn during pregnancy. I could hear a few instruments warming up, and as I headed down there, I realized they were up in the yard playing. 

Turns out they were warming up for a show they had later last night. (Something about a march to the show & a New Orleans style crawfish party where they'd be performing... If only Seth were around and I weren't pregnant, we might have joined them!) 

I hope we get to hear them playing again this summer! I love live music, and I love that I can hear it from the porch or take a short walk down the street and watch it from the comfort of my neighborhood! 

Farmer's Market

I've never really been much of a Farmer's Market kind of girl. In New York, the prices were much higher than I could get at the Food Coop we belonged to so it wasn't ever a place I'd go for produce. Since leaving the amazing Park Slope Coop (*tear), I've been exploring my grocery shopping options here in Portland. I've also been learning to accept that fact that my grocery bill seems to be up about $25 a week in order to buy food similar to what I was buying at the Food Coop in Brooklyn. (Seth sweetly reminds me that this is okay because our cost of living has gone down in other areas - for example, going out to eat is MUCH cheaper now than it was before!)

For now, I think I've figured out a plan for our shopping. I go grocery shopping for most of our groceries at New Seasons - a locally owned grocery store that claims to be "the friendliest in town" & seems to be a pretty pleasant place so far! I've been going to a small coop called People's Coop for bulk items (I had such high hopes for this coop thinking maybe it was like the one in Brooklyn, but no, not so much...) For produce, I head to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning in Downtown Portland. I spend about $20 and get almost all the produce we need for the week while supporting local farmers! (I just have to figure out an alternative plan for the weekends when I can't go to the Farmer's Market... and I'm sure I'll have to revise my shopping plan later this winter when produce isn't as bountiful!) 

Today's scores from the Farmer's Market included: scallions, yukon gold and red potatoes, kale, red leaf lettuce, rainier (I think) cherries, a pint of blueberries, a zucchini, a squash, 2 pints of raspberries (for the price of one - that guy sure made my day!!), and green beens. I never really figured out what I was paying for produce in New York - I'd be curious to know how it compares. 

Oooo these delicious looking heirlooms that I have to steer clear of... How tempted I am to buy you for a favorite summer sandwich - baguette, mozzarella, heirlooms and basil (and sometime some kalamata olive spread or hummus)... If only my baby-induced heartburn wasn't so miserable!

Portland: Hiking Waterfalls and Mt. Hood

Our first day in Portland, and I have to say I was quickly a fan. The neighborhood where Seth's brother & family live has a bit of a small town feel to it - houses, yards, porches - yet, they are within a few blocks of some really great blocks with many thrift stores (!!!!), coffee shops, restaurants, bars, their grocery store, etc... Yet, for feeling like a small town, it also feels cool like Brooklyn. Everyone does their own thing, the light poles are covered with stapled signs, and there's graffiti!!

We spent our first day hiking, hiking, and hiking. 

 We woke up early our first morning in Portland (as in normal NY morning time). After getting coffee at a neighborhood coffee shop, we jumped in the car and headed to Multnomah Falls for a morning hike with Ethan.

 The view was breath-takingly (made that up??) beautiful! Up, up, up we hiked.

All the way to the top, where we could look down as the water flowed over the edge and plummeted down.

 Flowers bloomed everywhere along the trail.

 After our hike, we headed back and grabbed brunch at a local restaurant. As we finished up, P called to inform us he was waiting for us and we needed to get home to see him!

We spent the rest of the day hiking near/on Mt. Hood. 

The smell of nature was so intense and wonderful! I had been craving it for way too long.

You can see the snow-capped Mt. Hood in the background. 

After hiking up to Mirror Lake, we headed toward the top of Mt. Hood. The snow had melted down quite a bit since they had been up there last month, but there was still some for us to hike on. There was also enough for skiers and snowboarders to continue to enjoy.

Seth and P enjoyed rolling rocks down the hill for quite a while. I guess the boyhood novelty doesn't wear off after all these years ;) 

What a beautiful day in such a beautiful place!

Colorado Sunset

Friday night, Seth and I flew from the East Coast to the West Coast with a quick stop in Denver to see the sun setting behind the distant mountains. I was definitely excited to get to Portland, but I wish I could have stayed in Denver for a few days to meet up with my grandma, aunt and uncle who are there this weekend for their annual trip (which includes a Rockies game!) One hour in Denver was all we had and off to Portland we flew. More of our West Coast adventures in Portland to come!!

2011 Heatwave

As the whole country (& even around the world - according to some traveling friends) heard, NYC was hit by a heatwave a couple weekends ago. It came just in time for the arrival of my brother, Ben, his wife, Desi, and their 5-month-old baby, Tristan. 100+ degree heat was nothing new to them... This summer Kansas has had more days of this kind of weather than you can count with both hands... Yet, it was still a bit much - considering that we had to go out into the heat with the baby in order to do anything!

The day they arrived was one of the smoggiest days I've ever seen in NYC. What a great welcome! Welcome to NYC, but please, don't breathe in the air!

The baby napped in the taxi ride home from the airport. When we met them at the airport, Tristan was playing bashful. He'd look up from his stroller, smile, and then move his head down and sideways. It was the. cutest. thing. ever! 

I guess he was a pretty good traveler! Made friends with fellow flyers (one of whom even took the baby and entertained him for a bit) and flirted with the stewardess.  

 The family's first subway ride! It was a cramped one. Tristan didn't get to see much other than the lower half of all the people on their way to work! He's probably wondering where the heck we are!

Our first day wasn't recorded well, because shortly after this photo, my camera died :( 

We started in Dumbo at the park. Ben even dipped Tristan into the East River. He didn't seem to mind at all! After the park, we walked across the bridge (it was a sweltering walk). Upon crossing, we headed straight for the first a.c.ed place we could find, Starbucks. 

After cooling down for a bit, we headed to Wall Street, Trinity Church, and the World Trade Center (I can't believe how tall the WTC1 building is getting!) I found a quick pizza slice place for lunch, which turned about to be one of the best quick slices of pizza I've ever had! Then it was off to the Museum of Natural History for a cool afternoon. 

Tristan was quite popular there. Every security guard along the way stopped us to oodle at the cute baby in his diaper! 

The next day, we thought we'd be smart and beat the heat. But that did. NOT. Happen! At 9 am, it was beyond hot (this also happened to be the HOTTEST day of the summer - heat index 115 degrees). We took the ferry out to Liberty Island and Ellis Island. 

It was so hot that we decided to stay on the ferry at Liberty Island and head for the a.c. at Ellis Island. 

One of the few times this chill, awesome baby fussed was right when you put him back in his stroller. He'd fuss for two seconds until it got moving, and then he'd be fine. 

When we got to Ellis Island, we headed for the family history room to look up our grandfather's family. We found them - our great grandfather came to America through Ellis Island with his parents and most of his siblings in 1916. Below is a photo of what the room looked like that they would have gone through in 1916 on Ellis Island. 

 After the ferry, we made a quick detour to the fountains to cool off! 

And before heading to the art museum for the afternoon, we had to get the baby some financial good luck by touching the bull at Bowling Green in his good luck spot ;)

We spent the rest of that afternoon at the Met looking at art, including the Egyptian art.

There was plenty more we did - I must get it all posted before we leave on our vacation Friday. (Oh & Desi, I promise to get the photos to you before we leave for our trip - I kind of dropped the ball for it to happen last weekend!)