Apple Orchard Take Two

Remember last year when we went to the Apple Orchard?

This year it wasn't quite as easy to get Esme to pose for a picture...

But we still had a great time. 

We got to go on a hayride.

There was a train that Esme got to play on.

There were goats!

And a pony.

 They actually said they had a petting zoo, but beyond the goats and the pony, the animals were pretty two dimensional.  Oh well, Esme pet them and had a great time!

Finally, we walked back to the barn and got some cinnamon donuts. 

 At first Esme didn't want a donut.  Then she kept pointing to the bag like she did want a donut.  Turns out, she didn't want us to hand her one, she wanted to pick her own donut out of the bag. 

We can't wait for next year!

Meeting Baby Brady!

Today we finally got to meet Baby Brady.  We haven't seen Shelly since her baby shower and Brady's almost two months old!  Time flies!  When  I would hold Brady, Esme would climb up in my lap with us and point to Brady's nose, eyes, ears, etc.  It was funny because when Brady would make a face Esme would look at me with her "surprised" face.  She didn't expect him to move!  I think she thought he was a doll right away. :)

Little Brady slept most of the time they were here, but I did get to see his eyes a few times.  He looks just like Nick!  Let's have another play date soon!

Fall leaves

How much fun is it to play in the leaves?!?

Daddy and Esme go for a hike

Grandma Gini and Uncle Len come for a visit!

We love when we get company.  After promising to come to Minnesota forever, Uncle Len finally came for a visit.  He and Esme got along great!

The first night Len and Gini were here, we went out to dinner at Sawatdee in Maple Grove.  Esme was having none of sitting in a chair and eating.  It was a beautiful night out so Aaron and I took turns walking up and down the sidewalk outside the restaurant with her while the other one ate and visited.  After we were done eating, Len got to take his turn walking with Esme. :)

The next day we went and visited Gini and Len's hotel so Esme could get some swimming in.  Lately, she is hating bath time, so we weren't sure how she would do swimming, but after she got used to it she was having a great time.

 

They always say that swimming makes you hungry and Esme was no exception to that.  We went to Boston's for dinner and ordered Esme macaroni and cheese.  She ate it all and looked like she was going to keep going so we ordered her a second bowl of it.  Then, of course, she didn't really want any more.  Go figure.

After eating, Esme was ready for more exercise.  She thought maybe a run would be in order.

Thanks for visiting Uncle Len and Grandma Gini!  Come back soon!

Meanwhile...

It seemed that things were going well in Minnesota while I was in Oregon.

Esme continued to work on her whistling skills.  She's definitely got the form down.

Every once in awhile, she actually makes some sound too!

The morning of my race, I got this picture on my phone wishing me "Good Luck".  So cute!  Miss you both!

Evidently, Cricket really missed me too.  But it looked like she kept my teddy bear, Ben, company while I was gone.  And yes, I do actually sleep with a teddy bear.

Aaron bought chocolate bread for Esme from www.turtlebread.com, but Esme wasn't really interested in eating it.  She just carried it around for awhile.  The girl does not know what she's missing!  We will definitely have to have a talk about this later.

Finally, Grandpa Dan and Grandma Barb brought Esme to pick me up at the airport.  They were a little early to pick me up and I was a little late thanks to Joe Biden visiting Minneapolis and my plane being diverted.  So they had been at the airport for about 3 hours before I got there.  Esme was exhausted after running around baggage claim for so long.  But I still got a good snuggle!

So good to be home with you!

Portland

This week I went to Portland, Oregon.

Business first.  I planned my trip to PDX so that I could also get some continuing education in.  I ended up only going to class for one day but the classes were pretty good and I got to catch up with my friend Joanna.  I haven't seen her since I graduated in 2003.  She was my traveling buddy while we were students.  We're both married now and don't keep in touch nearly as much as we should, but it was great to see her.

After my one and only day of "work", the rest of my week was spent having a great time.  I really wanted a week with no agenda.  I had a few "must do's", but other than that, I just wanted to enjoy being back at my previous home and hanging out with one of my very best friends, Sarah.  Luckily, she was able to take some extra time away from work and I got to spend most of my vacation with her.  We had such a great time!!!

One of the first things Sarah and I did was to go for a walk up to the Pittock Mansion.  It was a completely beautiful day and Sarah and I talked and talked the whole time, catching up on all the girl talk that is difficult to do long distance.  When we got to the mansion, a wonderful view of Mount Hood was our reward.

Gosh I miss seeing this every day!

The next day we walked all around Portland.  We started by going for a walk around the Esplanade in Portland.

Then we went to VooDoo Doughnuts (www.voodoodoughnut.com).  I don't remember it from when I lived here, but I have seen it on the Food Network and I knew that I wanted to visit.  I don't even really like doughnuts, but the flavors and the reputation are crazy!

waiting in line for yummy goodness!

 

Grape Ape - far right

The Grape Ape ended up being my favorite flavor despite sounding kind of gross.  There are a few other flavors that we missed that I will have to try next time.  Specifically "Tang".  I really, really LOVE Tang!

We also went to Powell's Book Store (www.powells.com) and I got a few books.  I could spend hours there.  We walked all around the Pearl District and just had a great time overall.  There are so many little gems in this city.  I kept thinking that I would love to be a professional photographer and live there!

Old building facade that now hides a small parking lot.

After enjoying time in the city, we headed for the coast.  What trip to Oregon is complete without going to Cannon Beach?

Next was Astoria to pick up my registration packet for the 10k that I was running.  After that we settled in at Sarah's mom and stepdad's house.

Yes, they live in the country.  So beautiful there and it feels like you are a million miles away from anywhere.

Next morning, up early to head into Astoria for the race.  I ran this race when I lived in Portland and it is just so amazing that I have always said that I was going to do it again.  It's called The Great Columbia Crossing (www.greatcolumbiacrossing.com) and it's just beautiful.

It is nearly impossible to get a picture of this bridge to show how big it is.  But it's over 4 miles long and the incline of the part that the ships go under is almost 1 mile long.  Definitely butt kicking when you train in Minnesota!

Here is a picture from online.  On the far side of the picture is Washington state, the person taking the picture is standing in Oregon.  You run 1 mile in Washington before you get on the bridge on the far left of the picture.  Then you run for almost 2 more miles before you start the HUGE incline.  Finally, it's all downhill into Oregon. 

Look how tiny the cars are on the bridge!!!

I had two dream goals.  One was to run up the hill and one was to finish in under an hour.  But I knew that the second one relied on the first one happening.  It didn't.  I had to walk.  I wasn't too upset though, because they were dream goals.  I really was just pretty happy to be there and be running the race!

Finish line!

My reward for running was fresh crab!  We were supposed to go out on Sarah's stepdad Bill's boat, but that didn't work out.  So we bought some crab right under the bridge in Astoria. 

Then we gave it a nice ride home in the car.

Then we posed with it.

And cooked it.

Then we cleaned it.

And finally ate it.

Yummy!

After a really fun 2 days in Astoria we headed back to Portland.  We went to Hillsboro and Forest Grove to visit the new and old campuses.  A lot has changed since I was there.  But a few things are the same.  Namely, Maggie's Buns.  Still there.  Still awesome!

Finally, I had to say goodbye to Portland and to Sarah.  :-(  But I have great memories of my vacation week.  Unstructured, unhurried girl time.  Sleeping in until I woke up of my own accord.  Beautiful scenery and amazing conversation.  I will definitely not wait such a long time to come back.

Here are a few more random Portland photos.  I heart PDX!

Thanks Sarah, Jon Erik, Margaret and Bill for a great, great time!  I can't wait to see you again soon!











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