Fun in a tube

Last Sunday we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weekend weather and head up to Mount Hood. We found out that one of the ski resorts has a tubing hill for kids (and adults...) so we thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce Ian to the world of snow sports.

Because we live on the west side of town, the drive up to the mountains is about an hour and 20 minutes for us. (We have the advantage when it comes to going to the coast.) Skibowl is right at the town of Government Camp, which is a cute little village area just below Timberline Lodge. We arrived just before 11 a.m. and found that the place was practically empty. I guess that everyone decided they'd rather stay in town for the nice weather than spend it on the slopes. And yesterday I heard that there are some avalanche issues right now with the sudden warm weather, so perhaps that was a deterrent (?).

We parked the car, got our tickets and headed for the "Tube Park" which consists of about five groomed paths down a not-too-scary-looking hill. However, once we watched a few people come down, it was clear that this wasn't a total snoozer. They were getting some good speed on that thing! So after our careful tube selection, we headed for the rope tow up the hill. For Ian, this was half the fun. At the top, we were a little nervous about pushing him down on his own at first so we decided that it would be better if one of us went down with him by holding on to his tube. Of course I nominated Jeff for this job. And before I knew it - off they went swooshing down the hill. We really weren't sure what to expect out of Ian...whether he'd think it was the greatest thing ever or if he would immediately be on the phone to child protective services once at the bottom of the hill. Luckily, it was the former. He laughed and giggled the entire way down and before the tube had even come to a complete stop, he was asking Jeff, "Can we do it again??" So, we repeated this process (complete with the request to "do it again") about 10 times while switching off who went down with him. After a while we asked him if he still wanted to go down with us or go by himself. "By myself!" he said. So that's what he did for the rest of our time there.

We had only purchased a two-hour pass, which was plenty of time for tubing fun...not to mention sore bottoms and snow exposure in mild temperatures. (We made sure to put on plenty of sunscreen that morning.) So, we were headed out toward home by 1 p.m. - leaving us enough time to still squeeze in a nap. It was a brief, but fun little activity. Not surprisingly, Ian seems to really like being in the snow and seemed especially intrigued by the skiers. And okay, by the snowboarders as well. He kept saying, "Look at that! Look at them, Mommy/Daddy! I'll do that when I'm bigger?" We are hoping that next year, when he's four, he'll be able to take his first ski lesson. We figure we'll help him to learn how to ski and then he'll probably teach himself how to snowboard. Because I can promise that you'll never see me on a snowboard in my lifetime.

Until I write again.

Okay, so Mother Nature has her good days too

I've done my share of complaining about Mother Nature's bad attitude in recent weeks. Which means it's only fair that I give credit where credit is due when she decides to show her softer side. And that she has over the past four or five days now - showering us with clear blue skies and lots of bright sunshine (albeit still a bit windy and chilly in Portland, but hey, it is January).

So, Friday evening Jeff and I enjoyed a dinner out solo at what has become one of our "date night" staples in town - Wildwood restaurant - while Ian participated in "Parent's Night Out" activities at his preschool. (They host this event once a month on Friday evenings from 6:00pm to 10:00pm where they let the kids play in the gym, then feed them dinner, engage in more activities and then settle down in jammies for a movie until pick-up time. It's definitely a nice little extra!) During dinner we decided that we should take advantage of the sunshine and semi-long weekend (Jeff planned to work on Monday, but from home) to partake in a mini excursion somewhere. By Saturday morning we were even more enthusiastic when we heard the forecast was for mid-40s here in the valley - but oddly enough, in the mid-60s and sunshine on the coast and up at Mount Hood. Weather jackpot! Clearly we couldn't go wrong with either location, but after a few quick calls revealed there were still a few hotel rooms available with great deals in Cannon Beach - a quaint beach town almost due west from Portland with lots of little shops, restaurants and art galleries - we packed up our stuff and headed to the coast.

One lunch stop and a little over an hour later we checked into our one-bedroom suite, which we find is kind of a must-have these days for travel between Ian's 7:30/8:00pm bedtime and our desire to not have to sleep in the same room with him whenever possible (we love him to death, but he's kind of loud). This place wasn't the Ritz or anything, but for a little over a $100 - it was pretty nice. In addition to the separate bedroom, it also had a king bed in the main area, a fully-stocked kitchenette, a living area with a fireplace and a balcony with an unexpected bonus partial view of the ocean across the street. And, as suggested, it was literally steps from the beach. I thought about asking what they charge in the summer, but I decided I didn't want to know.

Before we knew it, we were out on the beach kicking the ball around and playing in the sand. And as promised, the weather was incredible. Jackets not required. Which is crazy because in the relatively short amount of time I've been back on the west coast, I've learned my lesson to wear layers and always bring a coat to the coast - because even if it's sunny and warm inland, it's almost always at least 10 to 15 degrees colder on the coast, often with plenty of wind and fog. Yet, that's one of the reasons why I love the Oregon - and in general - the Pacific coast much more than the mid-Atlantic coast. Unlike the mostly flat beaches of the east coast where people largely flock only in the heat and humidity of the summer months to bake in the sand, it's the weather patterns and beautiful landscapes that make it so unique and awe inspiring. It's a place that can be appreciated any time of year - whether it's watching a big rainstorm come in from the Pacific in November, whale migration in December (an activity we have not done yet but is definitely in our future) or laying on the beach in August. At least that's my opinion.

Still, no one is going to complain about a beautiful, sunny day at the beach in January! And it was apparent that we weren't the only ones who had taken note of the weather forecast because the beach was kind of packed (for winter). By late afternoon we headed back inside when it was clear that Ian was in need of a bit of quiet time...not to mention that we didn't mind having some ourselves! We kicked back in the room, watched the sunset and eventually walked across the street to an unexpectedly nice and yummy meal at a restaurant called the Wayfarer. (Can you say Prime Rib?)

Sunday morning I ventured out to the beach with the camera just before 7:30 am to enjoy the early morning calm and watch the dawn break. So pretty. Someday if we ever win the lotto, a house somewhere along the coast with prime oceanfront views will certainly be tops on the list of extravagant purchases. Of course, I guess first we'd better start actually playing the lotto to help that dream along. Anyway, that was followed by family breakfast at the Pig 'n Pancake (doesn't that just sound like it belongs at the beach?) and then back out to the beach for a mid-morning stroll where the weather was near perfect, I must say. We packed up around 11:30am, stopped at a deli in town for sandwiches and headed up the road through a forested area to Ecola State Park for a picnic and some more ocean viewing from up high. For anyone who might vaguely recognize the name, by the way, Ecola State Park got a lot of publicity a few months ago (Today show, sensational entertainment shows - not that I watch those - etc.) with the parents who released the video of their little girl falling through the fence there while posing for a picture, narrowly missing tumbling down a cliff straight into the ocean. (Her uncle jumped over and caught her.) Ugh. It made my heart stop every one of the million times they played it on TV. They've since improved the safety of the fence at the overlook where it happened, but I have to say we were there last spring before they fixed the fence and it didn't take a brain surgeon to recognize it wasn't safe and to keep little ones far away. But, I digress.

By mid-afternoon Sunday we were back on the road headed towards home, where we oddly enough had to drive back through snow on the ground over the coast range. Sunday night a very tired Ian went to bed early and we watched the inauguration concert on HBO, which gave me an opportunity to start practicing my waterworks for Tuesday. Of course I have to say that it's in part due to the fact that, despite a great weekend here, all this focus on Washington and watching the concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial started making me feel a bit DC-sick. Though, I've decided that in case of any future historic inaugurations where they plan to host millions of people, they should really switch it to the springtime when DC is in all its glory versus now where it's looking quite cold and gray, I must say. Maybe I'll write my congressman with that suggestion.

Oh, and one last thing...speaking of this MLK holiday weekend and the inauguration: Last week Jeff had the great idea that because Ian is a bit too young yet to help volunteer - instead, today we would go to the store, buy some food and take it with him to donate at the Oregon Food Bank in honor of this national day of service. So, earlier this morning the three of us headed out to Fred Meyer, bought a bunch of food and took it to the Food Bank warehouse out in Hillsboro (about 10 miles out from here) only to discover that the site was closed! That was kind of disappointing. They have other drop spots around town but we had hoped to take it to the main location as part of the experience. So, I think we are going to go back again - but still a bit of a bummer for today, nonetheless.

Until I write again.

The white stuff and Santa make an appearance

There are two things that I thought we were saying goodbye to when we left the DC area: The first was good restaurants and the second was seeing snow fall at our house. (Actually, I think there are more than two but these are the two that come to mind right now.)

Well, I was most certainly wrong about the restaurant thing given that there are many great eateries here that more than rival the best restaurants in DC. And as we go through our third winter now, it also appears that I was mistaken about that whole no snow thing as well. In general, it does tend to get colder here in the wintertime than I thought it would. I mean, it's definitely not typically that biting cold like you get back east but we still have our share of quite chilly days. More often than not, the most extreme weather issue we deal with is ice. But at least once over the past three winters we've also seen a bit of snow. Last winter we barely had any, but what did come was on Christmas day which was kind of cool.

So around last Thursday the weather people started making a fuss that we had a big storm approaching shore that would bring a lot of wind and rain (shocking, I know!) on Friday and Saturday. Then by Sunday (as in, today) temperatures would plummet to highs in the 20s in Portland and the rain would turn to possibly significant snowfall. Of course for the ski resorts who have been tapping their watches since before Thanksgiving waiting on Mother Nature to do her thing, this storm was music to their ears. But for those of us down on the "valley floor" as it's called - well, we were skeptical about the wet stuff actually turning into white stuff.

In general, the whole Friday and Saturday thing was kind of a bust. I mean, yeah sure, there was definitely some wind and rain - but nothing earth shattering, especially for December in Portland. Saturday evening we went to Jeff's holiday party at an art gallery in the Pearl District downtown and had a very nice evening. By the time we exited around 11 p.m. to make our way home, there was definitely a good bite in the air. And by around 8 a.m. this morning some white stuff started coming out of the sky somewhat fiercely and as of this writing has yet to stop. Our high was about 32 degrees this morning and it's been going in the wrong direction ever since. It's been very windy too, which makes for nice blowing snow dramatics as well as fun wind chill factors. And the awesome (and unusual) thing is that these 20ish degree temps are expected to stick around most of the week giving us the coldest weather here in about 10 years (at least according to the weather people and everyone knows that weather people are always right). Brrr! And to think that when we moved here I thought the coldest it would get was maybe in the 40s. Apparently I needed to beef up on my Portland weather history a bit more.

So, of course we had to take this opportunity to head outside this morning and do a little snowball action with Ian and let him enjoy his first real snow experience (that he recognizes and will remember, at least). There were also a couple of snow angels involved at one point which we caught on video. So all in all, it's been a wintery but fun Sunday here.

And in other weekend news - I think I've mentioned that this is the first year that Ian is really starting to get the whole Christmas concept. Of course for him this means a tree, presents and Santa Claus. He's been especially intrigued by Santa Claus so we decided to break Vow #683 on the "things I will never do when I become a parent" list and took him to see a mall Santa yesterday. The line sucked but at least there was some entertainment involved in watching all the parents shove their screaming babies in Santa's lap in hopes of getting the perfect shot. We offered Ian the option of backing out several times while we were in line but no such luck. He was very excited to get on Santa's lap. I said, "You know, Santa will probably ask you what you want for Christmas - so what will you tell him?" And he threw up his hands and said, "A tostada!" Awesome. I think we can handle that one. While we weren't really interested in taking out a second loan on our house to pay for one of the "professional" photo packages they offered us, we did manage to snap our own shot:

Oh, and then just to cap off the weekend extravaganza - I'm extra excited to report that less than a week after finally recovering from the effects of my last cold, I came down with a new one yesterday. Frustration and disbelief are the two words I'll throw out and leave it at that. (Ian came down with his latest around Wednesday and already appears to be on the mend, by the way.)

Last, I'll leave you with some food for thought: If you were awakened in the middle of the night fearing your house was on fire - do you have an evacuation plan? Because we don't. And I realized this at about 4:30 a.m. this morning when for some unknown reason multiple smoke alarms - including the one in our bedroom - starting going off in our house. Let me just say I didn't know I could move that fast. All I remember is jumping out of bed and racing toward Ian's room when the alarms just stopped after about 10 seconds and everything seemed to check out fine. I don't think my heart stopped racing until about midday today, though.

Until I write again.

LATE BREAKING NEWS: We just heard on the news that basically every school district in the region is closed tomorrow which means no preschool for Ian. Our first school closing experience. Bummer.