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The boys and I took full advantage of our MLK holiday, first by sleeping in and taking our time getting dressed, and then with a no stress trip downtown. While our ultimate destination was Powells (by popular demand), I decided to take the boys on a little side visit to Cargo. They were hesitant at first but as soon as we walked in it was like angels started singing – or perhaps Buddhist chants would have been more appropriate as you’ll see below.

Thomas took it upon himself to try on every hat in the store, as well as a few masks, and then request a photo.

I think this one is Samuel although, honestly, it’s sometimes difficult to tell them apart even without masks on.

Then they both proceeded to pray to every single Buddha in the store. Yet somehow I missed getting a good shot of them both in action – blame low light and fast-moving kids.

Although there’s something I love about this photo of Thomas.

Cargo is not all about hats and Buddhas. It’s like one massive treasure box. Every corner you turn brings new surprises – furniture, toys, mirrors, Kimonos, lanterns, fake birds in cages…

The kids had fun but lacked the stamina to stay as long as I would have liked – especially not after I mentioned the word cookie.

So much fun, and we didn’t have to spend a cent… well, apart from the cookie.

Today’s Photo of Two Boys Getting Along

Back to work today after a relaxing long weekend that included swimming lessons, a day at the outlet mall where I didn’t buy anything at all for myself (we took some of Kei’s international colleagues) and a nice, relaxing MLK day with my boys.

I captured this photo while we were out for dinner on Sunday night at a very nice Portland restaurant. It was the type of place where we prepped the boys beforehand about there being no yelling, running around or otherwise drawing attention to themselves. And they both behaved beautifully, even after one of our phones ran out of battery and they were forced to share.

I asked them afterward what they thought about the restaurant. Samuel said the view of the city was the best part. Thomas liked that the servers dressed in suits and ties. When you live in Portland, that’s something you don’t see every day.

The Blahs

It seems I’ve hit that time of the year that I refer to as “the blahs.” I think the darkness sucks up every little bit of motivation that I might otherwise have to leave the house and… do something.

So, this weekend, I spent a lot of time indoors doing laundry, cooking and otherwise just wasting time. It was not at all productive and now I feel guilty and like I wasted a couple of days when I could have CHANGED THE WORLD. Not really, but leaving the house for more than grocery shopping may have helped my state of mind a little. I am grateful that I still had a teeny little burst of motivation when it was time to take down the Christmas tree last week otherwise I’m pretty sure it would have stayed up until May.

Not that the weekend was a complete loss. The boys started swimming lessons on Saturday. Thomas took to it again like a duck to… well, you know. Samuel surprised me by actually staying in the pool, the entire time. We last attempted swimming lessons with him about 18 months ago and gave up after a few lessons because it felt like a waste of time and money for him to sit on the edge of the pool and watch the other kids swim. This time he seems a lot more motivated and, although he didn’t participate fully in the games, he did stand in the general vicinity of the other kids and may have even listened to the teacher a few times. Baby steps.

The boys also spent a surprising amount of time outside on Sunday afternoon despite the freezing temperatures. I’ll never take a frozen puddle for granted again. That, and digging a hole in a pile of dirt, kept them occupied for hours.

This week, my goal is to get rid of the blahs. I have a ton of work to do at my day job so I’m not sure if that will help… but I am determined to take out my camera at some stage and capture a little more of our lives right now and I may even do some (gasp!) exercise. It’s about time I started using that gym membership. The more I exercise the more motivated I will be to exercise, I just need to get started.

To close, I’ll share a photo I took on another frozen weekend. Samuel found a piece of ice in the backyard and declared it the “BEST DAY EVER!” I wish I had this kid’s enthusiasm… and fashion sense. Bathrobe and gumboots = awesome!

Today’s Photo of A Serious Boy

If often happens that I fall in love with a photo but don’t necessarily have words to go along with it. And too many photos have been ignored because I felt pressure to add commentary.

So, this year, one of my goals is to upload photos to this blog more regularly- some with words and some without.

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!

Wordless Wednesday: Rainy Days

Faeries, Magic and Parent-Teacher Conferences

When I asked for a little rain over the weekend, I didn’t really mean torrential downpour and gale force winds. It also would have been nice to have the sun appear for just a few hours so that I could avoid canceling a family photo shoot. But, when I asked for rain, you gave me rain. Touché, Portland. You win this round.

I’m having trouble stringing words together today so I’ll share the rest of this post in easy-to-read bullets. You’re welcome.

The boys are attending a day camp this week – a mostly outdoor day camp – which means a LOT of time in the rain and the wind. Thomas had to eat his lunch while standing up because it was too wet to sit.
Thomas has to get a bus from the camp drop off to the “wilderness” area. The ride is bumpy and curvy (and long) so, of course, he threw up on the bus. He managed to miss his clothes and said he only got a little on another kid’s shoes so I was, understandably, pretty proud. Confirmed this morning that he was part of a large group who had trouble keeping their breakfast down on the ride and, suddenly, I feel really bad for the counsellors.
I promise he’s having a good time.

Samuel is enrolled in a “magic” camp. He seemed to enjoy himself apart from one small incident when he was teased. It doesn’t take much to ruin that kid’s day.
When I asked him about creating spells and making magic he responded that it was fun but it wasn’t really magic because none of the spells actually worked. When I asked him about the wand he made, he replied that he really like making a wand but “really it’s just a stick that I decorated. It’s not really a wand.”
I would have said that Samuel is extremely literal and grounded in reality, except he made me promise to feed his toy dog that he left in the car. Apparently tiny stuffed dogs eat mice.
Today’s camp is all about faeries and elves, part of which will involve a faerie search in a nearby park. I predict that my child will call them out on their futile search early in the game.

We had parent-teacher conferences for both boys last night. Both of them are doing extremely well and are on track with all the standard testing. But I think I was most proud when Samuel’s teacher said he was “kind” (my favorite word) and a “joy to have in the class” and Thomas’ teacher told us that he likes to help the other kids with their work when they’re having trouble.
Love these kids.