Portland Thanksgiving '11

This Thanksgiving, we decided to travel to Portland to visit Doug, Vanessa, and to meet baby Carolina for the first time. Normally, we have flown with our flier miles. This time, due to lack of miles, kids being too old to go on laps, and Thanksgiving prices, we had to drive. We geared up with toys, iPod games, movies on the iPad, and a headrest mount for the iPad. Money well spent. These items have saved our sanity.



We doubted we would make it after Ryan declared, prior to even getting on the freeway, "How much longer?" Jack also said, "I need Aunt Ness" at about the same time. Once again, Pixar and the iPad came to the rescue and the kids settled in.


Phil did the majority of the driving while I tended to the kids and navigated as necessary. I also got a lot of crocheting done for Christmas as seen here....


And here.


We stopped in Eugene on our way up and had lunch with friends, which also gave the boys time to run, which was MUCH needed.


Then it was Portland or bust!


After arriving, we went straight to Doug and Vanessa's and met Carolina. She's a cutie and a sweetheart.


She's so cute in this picture and the girl has a wardrobe to die for.

Doug and Vanessa took us to a really great restaurant called Slappy Cakes (which is where that photo was taken) where you get to make you own pancakes on a griddle at the table. It was super fun, delicious, and the kids were entertained with the process while they waited for their food. Happy kids=happy parents=restaurant that warrants another visit.


The biggest thing for us Californians to get used to was the rain and the lack of outside time. Jack did not have a winter coat that fit so that was the first order of business when we got here. He also needed a hat because of the rain and no hood on the new coat. We found this fabulous shark hat. We also discovered a wonderful indoor play place called Playdate PDX. It is like Bakersfield's The Wild times 10. The boys loved it (Well, Jack was sort of miserable since he was dealing with an ear infection. Poor guy). We also ate at Hopworks Brewery, which has a kids play corner. That is a beautiful thing for kids in a restaurant. I don't know why more places don't do that. They also have terrific food.


Lastly, I'm planning on making the above quilt in a similar color pallette so I stopped by Cool Cottons and had a great time picking fabric. It was a very quaint and cute store with some wonderful fabrics. I could've spent a lot of money there. If you're in the area, it merits a visit.

Today is our last day before the drive home. I feel like we just got here, but I'm also missing home, our friends and family and the much drier climate. I hope our return trip goes as smoothly as our drive up. Wish us luck!