J & J's Portland Adventures - Easter Sunday

For us Easter actually started a couple of day early when we decided to dye some eggs. Rather than follow the tried and true method we wanted to use a method we had seen on the Martha Stewart show. Jessica is a very crafty girl and was more than game.

It involves using 100% silk fabric. We scoured the local thrift shops for old silk blouses, ties, vests, robes and even boxers. We got a great selection for about $10.00 and had been storing them for over a year waiting for the right time. Now that time had come.

Jessica and I cut the fabric into squares and Patty joined us in wrapping the squares tightly around the eggs and securing them with twist ties. The next step is to boil them for about 20 minutes. After they cool you unwrap them and go crazy over the abstract designs left from the silk dye.

We had lots of fun as shown by the pictures.

Easter Sunday we slept in some and I began dinner preparation. Jessica and Jamie wanted to go back to Saturday Market but they were disappointed that a lot of the vendors from Saturday decided to skip the market on Easter.

Dinner was good and the special order cake was delicious. It was lemon overload when we added some lemon gelato from Mio Gelato.

J & J's Portland Adventures - Day 4

Saturday - Day 4 was shaping up to be another busy, busy day.

First on the agenda was a ride on our mass transit train nicknamed MAX. We caught the MAX at a local mall and rode it into downtown Portland so the girls could shop at Saturday Market.

The MAX lets you off right in front of Saturday Market. The market is open each weekend from March through Christmas and only allows vendors who hand make their wares. So everything is handmade in some fashion and there is an ever changing assortment of goods. We go about every other year now to see what is new and different.

Jamie has been many times and we have taken Gabriel and Daniel as well.

Jessica was "blown away" by the cool items for sale but because we were on a tight schedule wasn't able to see all the booths before we had to leave. She did manage to find a couple of neat hats and other items she couldn't live without. We had reservations for tea at 2pm so we had to go before seeing everything. It was pretty evident they would be back the next day (Easter) time permitting.

There's a store in Sherwood called Sleighbells. Actually it's on the outskirts of Sherwood and actually it's an old farmhouse. It is a store full of Christmas decorations for sale. They have two stories full of every type and brand of Christmas theme decoration you can imagine. They also have rooms full of decorations for Halloween, Easter, St. Patrick's and 4th of July. If you are looking for something special to complete some collection you will probably find it here.

In the center of the house is another business called Teas Me and they serve what I call a proper English tea. The menu includes finger sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, lemon curds and fancy desserts. Each service includes a pot of tea.

I had been there before and knew that they had a special blend of tea called Happy Hour so I ordered it and after everyone tasted it, they ordered it too. It was a fun and magical time and we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Jamie bought some of the Happy Hour tea to take home.

After a leisurely tea and some more shopping we took pictures of the wildlife and got back on the road.

Next stop was Helen Bernhard's bakery in Portland. We had to get there before they closed to pick up the cake Jamie ordered for Easter dinner. We made it with about half an hour to spare.

It turned out to be another rush, rush day but everyone had fun and got to do some new and different things.

Did you see a dog?

Our neighbor, Steven, was born on the 4th of July. Now he believes every Independence Day celebration is for him.

Just kidding.....

For the past 4 years we have celebrated his birthday with some sort of special activity. It usually ends up after dark with fireworks in the street as we dodge passing cars.

In 2008 we were joined by his mother, Gwen, when we took him to a fancy dinner at Jake's Grill in downtown Portland. The food is fabulous and we had a great time with presents, cards and the sort.

Near the end of the dinner a large group of folks were seated in our area. Not long after they sat down we caught sight of something moving under our table. We looked and were aghast to see a little white poodle-type dog zooming around.

What the????

Turns out one of the 20-something girls from the other table sneaked the dog in her purse and it had escaped. They managed to get it back into the purse but had to remove it from the restaurant when we complained to the manager.

Here is the scrapbook page of the event.

The Japanese Garden - Pt. 2

The Japanese Garden is soooooooooooo beautiful it really was hard to condense the event to just 4 pages. We had a lot of fun and created some great memories.

If you ever visit Portland this is a must see for anyone who appreciates flowers, gardens or anything Asian. Enjoy the pictures, we sure did.

Day 3 - The Japanese Garden and NW Portland

By day 3 are butts were really starting to drag. Morning was spent having a leisurely breakfast at home. We did a little shopping in the Beaumont-Wilshire district then had lunch at Tuk-Tuk's.

They serve great Thai food. Some of our favorites are the Rock&Roll salad rolls (with yummy peanut sauce), lemongrass chicken and taro bubble tea. Jamie is so fond of the salad rolls she insists on having an order to herself.

The afternoon was spent touring the Japanese Garden. It is so beautiful and peaceful there you want to just slow down and take it all in. When Jamie brought her brother Daniel to Portland we took him there too.

In the early spring the garden is more about structure and form because most of the flowers haven't bloomed yet and the maples haven't leafed out. Still there is lots of water features and great buildings, cool paths and walkways and many different pagodas.

Check out their web site for pictures of the garden in all four seasons.

http://www.japanesegarden.com/photography/gallery

Again we took tons of photos and it was hard to capture all of it in just 4 pages. The first 2 pages are shown here.

After the leaving the garden we took Jessica to the trendy Pearl District where she was able to visit Powell's Book store (largest West of the Mississippi) and have gelato at Jamie's favorite place, Mio Gelato.

Patty taught school all day but was home waiting for us when we got there. We took the girls to Gustav's Bier Stube for Happy Hour. Jamie has been wanting to go there for a year now because we are always raving about the inexpensive and tasty food they have.

We ate their famous swiss cheese fondue and things like Shephard's pie, chicken schnitzels and ceaser salad.

This trip is quickly turning into a whirlwind of Jamie's "must see" attractions and "must try" eateries.

Doing the Zoo - Pt. 3

The elephants are always a treat at the zoo. They have a long and successful history breeding Indian elephants. The most recent addition is a little guy named Sam.

Sam was born last August and is as cute as can be. His mom had no experience with babies so there was a lot of concern right after he was born. They split them up for a couple of weeks but eventually reunited them and now they can't be kept apart.

I thought it would be cute to use the picture of Jessica on the tractor in conjunction with the elephant picture to tie them together.

Doing the Zoo - Pt. 2

OK here are the next two zoo pages. The lorikeets were fun and very colorful. Jessica was bold enough to feed them and at one time she had four of them fighting for food. They are engaging little birds and a treat to watch. The keepers are concerned about hygiene so they make you wash your hands before entering the aviary and after leaving.

The two polar bears are brother and sister. They have two different enclosures but they are connected so they have a choice of where they want to be. When we first saw them the male was swimming laps on one side and his sister was pacing in the bigger pen. Eventually the male came over to her pen and they ended up in the water together. He goofed around with her and she played for a bit but eventually she got tired of him and even though she is much smaller she chased him back into the other enclosure. Watching them interact was the highlight of my day.

For your viewing pleasure I've included a video Jamie shot of the male while he was swimming laps.

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