Portland

I have a love hate relationship with Portland. My parents asked me if I wanted to go with them for my birthday. Of course I said yes. Portland is an interesting city! Whenever I go I feel very out of place(because of all the strange peeps) but love all the shops and dining the city has. Hence the love and hate. We drove up because my parents were taking my brother Dan their old car. We visited with Dan, his girlfriend Kourtney, Jake, and Bree. We walked a ton, ate a ton, and shopped a ton. We hit up American Apparel so I could get Pete's B-day gift. We spent a ton of time at H&M it was awesome. We shopped at Powell's for great books, Anthropologie, Trader Joes, and a handful of great thrift stores. I came home with great stuff for all of us! I missed my kids so much but also had a very relaxing Vacation. Every mom needs to go an a Vacation alone every once in a while. It reminds you of who you are and what you love with out any strings attached literally i.e. your kids. What they want to eat, have they slept, what do they want to get or see? It took a little bit to adjust to being away from all of them especially Pete. But I really enjoyed myself. Thanks Honey for making it possible for me to go! And Thanks mom and dad for the awesome trip I had a blast.

AWWWww, we miss Chance, Bree, and Jake so much! I just realized I didn't get a picture of Jake. He was so busy working we only saw him for a little while. Look at how green it is there all ready. I love all the moss and vegetation it's one of my favorite things about Portland. Oh and the old homes....AMAZING!
We ate at this crazy Chinese restaurant where they serve "dim sum". It is kind of like Rodizio grill Chinese style. These cute little Chinese women roll around these food carts in their purple flight attendant looking suits yelling out random Chinese that we couldn't understand and everyone just grabs food off their carts. It was a hilariously awesome experience and amazing food.

Dim sum is an integral part of Chinese cuisine, closely associated with the tradition of yum cha, or taking tea. Dim sum means "small heart", suggestive of a small snack that touches the heart. Dim sum can be found all over China and in many parts of the West, where dim sum is a popular meal. Dim sum is usually served in the late morning through the early afternoon, although some dim sum establishments are open later. Usually, dim sum is served from rolling carts, which makes it markedly different from Western foods. In a dim sum restaurant, servers wheel out fresh trays of delicacies and tables can take what they please. A specific type of dish is used for each food, so that at the end of the meal, the staff can add up all the dirty dishes to determine how much should be charged. Eating traditional dim sum is like grazing, and it encourages diners to linger and nibble, sometimes for hours. www.wisegeek.com There that explains it better than I did!

On the way driving up there was a really bad accident from the storm the night before and they closed the freeway for 2 and 1/2 hours. This is how I spent my birthday morning. Eventually we got on our way and barely made it through the other mountain passes before another storm hit.
Waiting stuck on the side of the road trying NOT to think about going to the bathroom and where I would If I did need to go!?!

Parker and Hannah got great gifts from Daniel and Kourtney. Parker got this really cool crystal garden growing kit and Hannah got an adorable apron.


I got them each one of these really cool hats which they absolutely LOVE and have been wearing every day since!!
The flight home was a hundred times better than the drive up. I was glad to be home and have my kids back in my arms LOVE them!! AND Pete to sleep next to, missed him so much=)