Category Archives: Holidays

Christmas in Portland – 100 Santas, Chewbacca and the Church of Elvis

I love downtown Portland at Christmas time. It has a wonderfully festive feel, even on a rainy winter day so of course we had to make a special weekend trip if only to see the big Christmas tree. It was going to be tough to beat the 2012 best pre-christmas family day ever, but we were up for the challenge.

We originally planned to catch the train into the city but decided at the last minute that taking the car would be a better option in the (only slightly pouring) rain. Still, the boys got dressed for a potentially chilly walk around town.

First stop: Pioneer Place mall. We had hoped to catch the fake snow show but missed it by about 25 minutes, so we had to make do with a taking a few self-portraits with the help of some massive Christmas tree ornaments.

We then stepped outside where we were handed some free Ghiardelli Christmas chocolate samples and then looked up to see about of 50 Santa’s helpers walking down the street.

Some were a little more authentic than others…

..while some checked their cell phones while traveling behind robot santa-type creatures on a mobile fireplace. None of this is made up.

The kids gleefully accepted unexpected presents from the “Santas” – a couple of matchbox cars, a ball toy and some candy canes.

Then, as happens every day in our fair city, we walked a few more meters up the street and were greeted by Chewbacca and a few storm troopers.

It’s amazing how sworn enemies can set aside their differences at this time of the year.

 

Then it was on to the Christmas tree – an annual Ishida viewing tradition (although not the tree lighting. We did that once and it’s was insanely crowded).

And what’s a Christmas Tree without a little Nutcracker entertainment from some enthusiastic kids who are not afraid to dance in the freezing rain?

Next, we took a detour to Peet’s for some chrismassy beverages.

Thomas decided to crumble his Candy Cane into his hot chocolate with Samuel declared to be THE BEST IDEA EVER!

We then took a shortcut through an arcade/timewarp to visit Finnegan’s toystore. Thomas sneakily chose a gift for Samuel (Santa will have to take the very same gift out of his toy bag).

And then it was time to walk back to the car as the rainfall started to get heavier and heavier.

Even the umbrella man statue was finding it tough to stay dry.

And that was almost it – another fabulous pre-christmas Portland adventure…

…topped only by a last-minute decision to go out for sushi with friends where we, again, bumped into the Santas. Only by this time there were more of them and they had 6 hours of drinking under their belt. Thankfully the kids didn’t ask too many questions so I was able to avoid thinking about the potential loss of innocence.

Finally, we made a quick stop at the 24 hour Church of Elvis coin operated art gallery before heading home to watch Mr Magoo’s Christmas Carol.

Not exactly a traditional end to a Christmas day in the city, but that’s why I love Portland. In the words of Forrest Gump – “It’s like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get.”

 

Christmas Tree Hunting in Portland

Our first advent activity was to choose a Christmas Tree. In a new tradition for us, we decided to u-cut this year at Reichen Christmas Tree Farm – a small farm about 25 minutes away. The owners were sweet, the experience was quick and easy and all trees, regardless of size and species, were $35. We went for a 6 foot tall Noble Fir and watched as it was ceremoniously cut down with a chainsaw.

But the best part by far was having the chance to wander around in a little Christmas tree forest to choose the perfect one.

We thought this was the one… false alarm.

Success!

A fun family activity and we were very lucky with the weather. Later that afternoon the clouds and the rain rolled in while we decorated the tree. Of course I don’t have any photos of that part of our day – I was too busy trying to save the most delicate ornaments from the clutches of my children. Still, they were a lot more helpful this year than they have been in the past. Thomas even set up a pretend Hot Cocoa stand while we worked on getting the tree in position.

I’m pretty sure the family tree hunt is going to be a new annual tradition and, with views like this, a 25 minute drive out of the city is well worth the effort.

 

Turns out I DO have a crafty bone in my body

I’m sure it’s just one crafty bone and it’s not a major bone, like a femur, but it must be in there somewhere because I made this…

What’s that, you ask? Why it’s just a very pretty (and also practical) home-made advent calendar inspired by a few projects that I pinned a while ago.

For the last few years, we’ve purchased the lego advent calendar which a. costs money and b. doesn’t change much from year to year. I also find it difficult to make the connection between Darth Maul and Christmas, even if he is wearing a Santa hat. (and, by the way, that’s one very scary Santa coming down the chimney).

This year I wanted to make the advent calendar more about experiences than toys so, after looking at some very poorly constructed, yet costly, empty calendars at Target, I decided to make my own.

My list of supplies:

  • Wooden clothes pegs (or clothes pins for the Americans – I still can’t get used to calling them that)
  • Decorative tape
  • Mini envelopes
  • Glitter chipboard number stickers
  • Glitter cardstock – trimmed to fit inside the envelopes

Directions – warning, a monkey could do it.

  • Stick tape on front and back of clothes pegs. I mixed up the patterns and colors for interest. The tape was a little too wide so I trimmed it on the sides to fit.
  • Stick numbers 1 to 24 on envelopes
  • Make a calendar of activities for the month (this was the trickiest bit)
  • Write activities for each day on the white side of a piece of card and put it in the envelope
  • Peg envelopes to a piece of string.

See? I told you it was tricky.

As I mentioned, laying out the calendar was the hardest part. I tried to time activities so  that they aligned with our schedule – quick activities on weeknights, bigger family activities on weekends.

I also included a few days where the boys have to search for a small gift. We recently purchased a treasure hunt game called Ukloo which has a bunch of clue cards that you can place around the house (eg. look under your Dad’s pillow, look in the sink). The kids LOVE it so I used the clues to lead them to their first present (an ant farm).

Other activities in the calendar include:

  • Buy and decorate the Christmas Tree (this was day 1)
  • Go to Zoolights
  • Drink Hot Cocoa while listening to Christmas Music
  • Walk around the neighborhood to look at the lights
  • Watch a Christmas movie with popcorn
  • Choose a toy from the store to donate to the toy drive
  • Read two Christmas books
  • Roast marshmallows in the fireplace
  • Make gingerbread men
  • Make paper snowflakes
  • Put food out for Santa (Christmas eve)
  • See Peter Pan at the children’s theater (I purchased tickets a couple of months ago and decided to include it as an activity rather than add something else)

I also included two Kid’s choice cards. I’m curious to find out what they’ll want to do – it’s a little risky.

So far the kids love it. They haven’t mentioned the lego advent calendar at all and seem to love that we have special family activities to look forward to each day, even if it’s just reading a couple of christmas books. I’ve been traveling this week so, sadly, I missed the gift hunt and drinking hot cocoa but I hear they were both a huge hit.

The best part? The calendar is durable enough that I can pack it up with our decorations and use it again next year. I suppose I’ll have to find something else to make with my newly discovered crafty bone.

P.S. Please don’t judge the ugly fireplace. It’s one of the things on our very, very long list of home improvement projects.

Found Photos Friday

I have been busy creating photo books over the last week to give as gifts to the Grandparents (pretend you didn’t see this, Mum). The most time consuming part of the process is sifting through the thousands of photos I took over the last year and narrowing them down to include in a book that won’t weigh so much that it costs me $1000 to ship to Australia and Japan. It’s quite the project.

The upside is that I often come across forgotten gems – photos that are just begging to be blogged, like these from Portland Sunday Parkways way back in May…

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-IwRMJeDsoLA/ULLmUe9AyrI/AAAAAAAAnUA/Ld5EHp-zqZk/s640/IMG_0049.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8wsVfDwC4mA/ULLmaGuL8-I/AAAAAAAAnUQ/aBNV8galtb0/s640/IMG_0061.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Mb8A6bpL2m8/ULLmG3LsMGI/AAAAAAAAnTY/5em_9by6vEM/s640/IMG_0008.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-eo3P-15ujfo/ULLmJK2zFsI/AAAAAAAAnTg/kyTkI6jxd5A/s640/IMG_0016.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8Ss6DEKUcQs/ULLmP4LMI6I/AAAAAAAAnTw/uvNkXPTlFSc/s640/IMG_0029.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-YOrbDgmnAfs/ULLmcmM3d8I/AAAAAAAAnUY/77PkhqlK-Dg/s640/IMG_0062.jpg

This weekend marks the beginning of the official countdown to Christmas – complete with a home made advent calendar. Oh yes, I got crafty. It’s shocking! I might even take photos to share my creation.

The first item on the calendar is a trip to the Christmas Tree farm and, of course, some decorating to a soundtrack of every single Christmas song I own. Can’t wait!

P.S. In case you were wondering, I use Blurb for my photo books and highly recommend them if you need a book in a hurry. I ordered my books on Sunday and they arrived in the mail on Thursday.

Christmas Begins NOW!

I like to get an early start on the lead up to Christmas – which means that I start the day after Thanksgiving. Oh, there’s a little preparation in early November, due mostly to my crazy decision a few years ago to make most of my own Christmas presents (and by “make” I mean send them off to be printed), but the majority of my Christmas Cheer begins  as we finish the Thanksgiving leftovers.

And what better way to kick off the season than with a quick trip to the North Pole on the Polar Express. This time Kei was able to join us (he was sick last year) so it was a true family adventure – one that came complete with an almost-running-out-of-gas-induced-ulcer on our way through The Gorge. (Thank you tiny little general store that charged us 50c per gallon above prices at gas stations 10 miles away).

This year’s trip was a little different in that we took the “matinee” train at 11:30am. Our other trips took place after dark which is about 4pm in the NW at this time of the year. An 11:30 train ride had a couple of benefits – better lighting for photos and the ability to actually see outside the train window. The downside is that a little of the magic disappears when you can clearly see how fake the “North Pole” really is.

We arrived in Hood River about 45 minutes before we due to board the train which gave us an opportunity to walk on some (unused) train tracks…

…and grab a quick family photo using the self timer on my camera.

And then more photos on (unused) train tracks…

Confession: I saw Samuel looking up at the Polar Express poster in the same way that the kid in the poster is looking up at the train, but I wasn’t quick enough to catch it so I made him do it again for the photo opp.

With tickets in hand, it was finally time to board.

Finally, after a 45 minute ride, we reached the North Pole – Santa’s factory at the North Pole to be exact. Santa looks like he’s lost a few pounds since last year.

Soon enough, Santa jumped on board and the kids proceeded to tell him about the very special presents that they want for Christmas. Honestly, he’s going to have to be a little creative because those very special presents went out of stock EVERYWHERE last week and, so far, his elf is resisting the desire to pay a 40% mark up on eBay. Santa may be writing a letter of apology.

For now, they’re satisfied with the bell they received on the train.

It was still daylight when we got off the train so we walked around town, making sure we visited our favorite Toy Store before heading home. One 90 minute white-knuckle drive in torrential downpour later, and we were safely back in Portland and officially in the holiday spirit.

Merry weeks-leading-up-to-Christmas!

 

The Inaugural Thanksgiving Soccer Match

This year we continued a couple of Ishida Thanksgiving traditions – sharing the day with our good friends and ensuring it was as relaxed as possible by having someone else cook the majority of our dinner. I did break a little with tradition by making my own brussel sprouts with mustard (delicious) and Kei contributed to the vegetarian faire with some home-made stuffing (also delicious).

The rest of the day went according to plan with a lot of eating, drinking and being merry.

Oh, and the beginning of a new tradition – a Dads against Kids soccer match in the front yard (tradition to continue next year with weather permitting).

We were blessed with a warmer-than-expected day, although our friend Rhett is known for wearing shorts year round. I could have taken this same photo of Rhett if he were playing soccer in a blizzard.

Samuel spent most of the game as goal (errr fence) keeper.

And became extremely excited anytime his team scored a goal.

The best part was that each child only cried once – and at different times – thereby ensuring an even distribution of tears amongst the team and adding a little drama. What’s a soccer match without a little drama?

At the end of the day, the kids proved to be a formidable team…

… and were eventually declared the victors. Better luck next year, Dads.

Happy Thanksgiving

I’m Australian, which means that Thanksgiving is an adopted holiday (I had to sacrifice Melbourne Cup Day and the Queen’s Birthday in return). To be completely honest, I don’t really know the story of the pilgrims or why we celebrate – although I should probably do a little research before I apply for my US citizenship. Thanksgiving to me means hanging out with friends and making the day as relaxing as possible with a full take-out turkey dinner (BYO Tofurkey for our vegetarian guests), a little mulled wine for the adults and lots of talking, playing (for the kids) and sitting around. In other words, as little stress and as much relaxation as possible. And for that, I’ll be incredibly thankful.

Other things I’m thankful for:

  • Two happy and healthy children.
  • A husband who I can’t imagine living without.
  • Family spread across the world who we don’t see often enough, but who will always be an enormous part of our lives.
  • Good jobs, a house, a comfortable life.
  • Good health. So, so grateful for that.

I’m sure I’ll think of more as I turn on the oven to heat up our turkey dinner…

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a few photos of the last days of autumn in Portland. I am also grateful for autumn leaves (until they fall off and clog up the streets – and then I’m grateful for street sweepers).

Happy Thanksgiving/Thursday.

Post-Halloween, Election Day Hangover

Today is election day in America – a day that we’ve been discussing (or talked to) for about two years now. And since I am not yet a US citizen, I can’t even vote. So my eyes, ears and brain have been bombarded with political campaigning for no reason at all. Instead I’m relying on my husband and friends to vote on my behalf. So, if you haven’t voted, go out and do it today.

End of Public Service Announcement.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming – which, admittedly, hasn’t been so regular lately.

Halloween was on a Wednesday this year, which makes it the most inconvenient day of the week to have your kids hopped up on sugar. Still, we made the most of it, first with a parade through the school. In past years the weather has worked in our favor so the parade took place around the school grounds. This year, however, the skies opened and 400 kids squeezed through the school corridors while parents stood against the walls with cameras in hand ready to catch a glimpse of their child for that all-important Halloween costume photo op.

Popular costumes this year included every type of Superhero imaginable and also Harry Potter (my own included).

And, yes, that’s a Hermione standing next to him. It’s like we planned it.

Kei and I just finished reading the first Harry Potter book to the boys (well, to Thomas. Samuel would sit in the corner and flip through his own reading material). We finished the book at 3:30pm on Saturday and started watching the movie at approximately 3:35, managing to only skip one part because it was too scary.

Samuel dressed as a Jedi in a robe that he received for Christmas last year paired with Thomas’ Karate gear. Unfortunately lights sabers were not allowed at school, but I think he still looked convincing.

Can you feel the chaos?

After the parade, I made my way back and forth between the two classrooms to participate in the festivities. The two classrooms are at opposite ends of the school and on different floors, so I also managed to sneak in a little cardio.

Later that same day, it was time for a costume refresh and a little Trick or Treating. You’ll notice that Harry managed to develop a scar on his forehead for authenticity and that the Jedi is now fully loaded (and very serious).

Kei impressively pulled together a Ninja costume in about 10 minutes by strategically tearing up an old black T-Shirt. Thomas declared him the craftiest Ninja ever.

Despite the fact that I had vowed to not wear a costume this year, I found myself pulling out the striped tights. I couldn’t help myself. (our neighbor took this picture)

We stopped by our neighbor’s house for our annual fill-the-kids-up-on-pizza-before-candy potluck and then, because my witch shoes don’t allow for long walks around the neighborhood, I headed home to hand out candy.

This group of trick or treaters were told they couldn’t have candy until they let me take a photo. Don’t worry, I know their parents.

I love Amelia’s effort to get into the picture here.

By the end of the night, Harry was starting to look a little disheveled and both kids were exhausted – both signs of another successful Halloween.

Did Someone Say it Was Good Friday Today?

May I Vent for a Moment?

Today is Good Friday which means I am at home balancing trying to getting a little work done with looking after a child (daycare is closed).

If I were in Australia, I would be enjoying the beginning of a four day weekend, perhaps heading out on a family camping trip like I did almost every Easter as a child and waiting excitedly for the Easter Bunny to drop by.

This is one of the downsides of leaving my home country and moving to one with painfully few public holidays (although the Stock Exchange is closed…).

Happy Good Friday to all who are celebrating. To make it feel at least a little like a holiday, I’ll share just a few pictures of a very damp Easter Egg hunt hosted by Kei’s employer last week.

Thomas chose not to have his photo taken with “the guy in a bunny suit”, as he loudly declared in front of a bunch of very small children who, until then, probably thought he was the real thing. Good thing he still believes in the tooth fairy though. She visited Thomas for the second time that very evening.

The “hunt” lasted about 30 seconds – along with the window for photos due to attempts to protect my camera in the downpour while trying to get a shot in every now and then.

For Thomas, the most important part of the hunt was calculating the combined number of eggs – complete with mathematical equation. The kid loves math which causes me to wonder if he inherited anything from me at all.

That’s it. I told you I didn’t take many photos.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Good Friday and a wonderful Easter. Have a fluorescent cupcake on me. Cheers!