Bird festival, upcoming stuff

The other day while I was volunteering (and drooling at all the cool stuff) at Crafty Wonderland, Bret took the girls to a Bird Festival in Portland. The girls got to see several birds, climb trees and get their faces painted.

I heart Portland. Always fun stuff going on.

Also getting so very excited for the upcoming Life is Good conference. This will be our 5th year attending! I went to look for some photos, but apparently we are usually having so much fun that we don't remember to take pictures! Will try to remedy that this time. It is truly one of the highlights of our year.

In other news, we are getting ready to have our main floor bathroom remodeled. This is the last "big" project inside the house (still lots of "little" stuff to do...all in good time)...more pictures and details to emerge soon. Bret already did some demo to prepare for it: removing a tiny closet that will be replaced with a big one, and also re-hung the bathroom door. It's nice to get to do some of the work ourselves (that is, the "ourselves" that means Bret).

I've joined a bookclub here, which I'm very happy about. It's one of the things I really missed about Wyoming (hello any Bluestockings who might read this!). We had a fantastic meeting last night and voted on a year's worth of books (thanks, Nancy Pearl) using the method here. I'm lucky to have landed in a place with so many new fantastic women friends!

And yet another reason to love Portland

Vivian and I had meandered up to Faubion School (right up the street from us) on Sunday afternoon so she could practice her training-wheel-less bike riding. We were getting ready to head home, and I noticed a person in a bunny suit riding a bicycle towards us. (It was Easter, so I wasn't too surprised...) but then I noticed another, and another, and WOAH -- about 60 of them! And one bunny on a tandem with a guy in a chicken suit in front.



Vivian and I left the playground while they were still waiting for all the bunnies to catch up. They then biked down our street -- Bret was already out front, and I was able to run in the house so Sabine could come see them too. It was a riot!

Apparently it's a Portland tradition. We'll have to catch it next year.

Our new horsey

So our first Portland Horse Project pony got stolen...we thought about putting up a sign that read "We're from Wyoming. We hang horse thieves" but then thought better of it...Instead, Bret went to the hardware store and bought steel cable. This one's stayed...so far.

Pink snow

(Not to be confused with that yellow snow in Wyoming!)

I'm glad I took some photos of the trees when in full bloom, because they didn't last long. This is actually from a few weeks ago -- they're now all full green.

Roller Derby

We used the last few hours of our January babysitting allotment to go to the Rose City Rollers Opening Season tonight...yes...Roller Derby is alive and well in Portland.

From the colorful characters waiting in line (we had general admission tickets, so had to get there early. Those are multi colored dreds)...


To the event itself...


It was a night of fun! We sat in the bleachers -- top row -- of the team Heartless Heathers. Dave's friend "Soul Train" (her skate name) is a Heather...so we rooted hard! You're not supposed to whistle during the matches, as it can confuse the skaters (the refs use real whistles) so lots of screaming ensued.

Karmin and I kept talking about how fun it looked...except for the whole-body-checking thing...we pondered if they had a "powder puff" version, and sure enough, while walking around at halftime we found the Recreational League table...we put our names down for more information...I asked if it was the league for those over 38, and the woman at the table said "Well...I'm 36..." (um, that's not over 38...but anyway, she seemed very nice).

And almost as great as the derby itself was the marching drum corps that opened up the show. Very cool! And the man who sang the national anthem was amazing.

My little bird, Portland activities

Sabine took the bag that she filled with art goodies at S.C.R.A.P. and turned it into a mask. She ate a bowl of Lucky Charms (for dinner? Not my child...ha ha ha!) wearing it. Then proceeded to put it on Bret, then Dave. Pretty funny.


This is the map Sabine made of Portland. It shows Daddy's office, the nearby fountain, the playground, the Oregon Zoo and OMSI.

We've been to the Zoo twice already, got to see the new baby elephant with NO WAITING (gotta love going during "school" hours) the other day...here he is:


We've also been to OMSI twice, it's less than a mile from our house, and just a 5 minute bike ride from Bret's office, so he's met us there for lunch.

Otherwise, we're settling in, enjoying bouts of sun and clouds, meeting people and generally enjoying ourselves.

This is the house...

in Portland...we'll be there on the 31st of Aug. Wahoo!

More pre conference...

...at Dave and Karmin's in Portland. They put us up for 5 nights...we had a great time visiting with them, learning to pay KOOB, and hanging out with their kitties.

Sabine and Vivian's favorite part was...the Otter Pops. In case you were wondering, 2 young girls can eat almost 100 Otter Pops in 5 days. Burp.

Pre Conference

i.e. Portland, OR rocks! Here are the girls at the OMSI dinosaur exhibit...


...near the monkeys at the Portland Zoo...(on the little playground)...


...checking out the Orangutans...


...and the polar bear exhibit. A good time was had by all!