Life lessons learned amidst a Portland parade

Last Saturday was a busy one.  Three service projects, one soccer game, one patio deck painted, most of the house cleaned, one grocery store trip completed, and more that I've mercifully blocked out of my mind.

All day Aubrey begged me to take her that evening to Portland to see a play put on by the theater group with which she has previously performed. I wouldn't commit to go until the very last minute because I really didn't  know how we were going to get everything done, but at 5:45 (after Aubrey happily helped finish the chores) we left Dan and Joseph and two of Joseph's friends at home and took off to downtown Portland.

And thus began a situation so ridiculous that it was downright comical.

• As we were driving down I-5 an electronic banner warned of an accident ahead, on the exit we would normally take. This required us to loop around Portland to come in from the other direction.  Okay, no problem.

• The next faux pas we are going to blame on Apple's sometimes faulty GPS mapping system. As I drove Aubrey looked up the theater's name on the GPS, and Siri led us off the freeway and round and round in circles. Literally. We knew that the theater was on Broadway, so when Siri finally told us to turn right on Broadway we were uber relieved.

• We started winding up the hill on Broadway. Wait, up the hill? There are no hills in downtown Portland. The hills are to the west of the downtown and are filled with lovely older homes perched precariously on steep dropoffs. I realized almost immediately that we were NOT being led the right way, but the switchback steep road didn't give me any options for turning around. And then Siri announced, "you have reached your destination on the left." Which was the edge of a cliff. Apparently Apple iphone maps incorrectly used Broadway Drive as the address for the theater, not Broadway Street.

• But, no problem. We still had 45 minutes until the show was to start, so we found the correct address online and prompted our clueless digital assistant to lead us there. And she did lead us . . . down the other side of the mountain and right smack dab into the middle of gridlock.

My attention had been otherwise occupied, so I had failed to read the newspaper or watch the news that weekend.  So, I hadn't heard that Saturday, May 31st was the annual Portland Starlight Parade and Fun Run. Here is the promo information I later found online:

Starlight expects record Saturday night turnout for annual 5k run

Portland’s most popular Fun Run is cheered by more than 250,000 spectators who line the 3.1-mile Starlight Parade route to see the costumed competition up close. With more than 7,500 runners projected for this year’s event, the Legacy Health Starlight Run is not only the largest Fun Run in Oregon, but also the most entertaining – with participants vying not only to break the tape, but to claim prizes (and bragging rights) for best individual and group costumes. 

We came off the mountain probably half an hour before the Fun Run began, so there were zillions of cars clogging every road and vying for the limited parking spots. There were also thousands and thousands of fully costumed and wacky looking race participants streaming across the streets.

Siri had somehow managed to plant us in the middle of the worst traffic jam I've ever experienced AND the theater we were trying to reach was directly on the other side of the blocked-off race route.  That meant we had to S-L-O-W-L-Y inch at a snails pace for miles in the opposite direction of the theater, trying to find a road that wasn't blocked.

I have to admit that, as much as I disliked being stuck in traffic and definitely was unhappy that Aubrey was missing the play, I did kind of enjoy seeing the pretty houses on the hills of Portland, the zany energy of the pre-race crowd, and the spectacle which is downtown Portland.  To be honest,  under different circumstances it would have been fun to park somewhere and just watch the sure-to-be-entertaining Fun Run and Parade.

But it was not a day for parade watching. We had a play to attend, and Aubrey was getting more and more anxious about the fact that we were going to miss the opening of the play. She was texting back and forth with a friend who was already at the theater (having very intelligently driven directly to the theater and not up the mountain and down to the middle of the parade).  Our hopes increased when the play start time was delayed by half an hour for some reason (hmmm - could it be that most of the audience was stuck in traffic?).  However, it took us almost two hours to drive the 3-4 miles through downtown, and by the time we reached the theater Aubrey decided tearfully that she didn't want to see just the second half of the play and wanted to go home.

So, we gladly drove the opposite direction of the tangled traffic. But I really hated to end the night on such a note.

So we turned to our fickle friend Siri and Aubrey helped me look up the address of an ice cream shop I had heard about which is on the other side of Portland (because ice cream is always the right choice, in happy and sad times!) By the time we drove there the tears had slowed and we were even able to sort of laugh about the situation.

The ice cream was homemade and wonderful. We got a sampler bowl with four scoops of ice cream and four different toppings.

The ice cream employee strongly recommended the chocolate tequila and maple jack bacon brittle (as in Jack Daniels), but we politely declined and instead tried Tennessee Honey, Sizzling Strawberry (with a bit of habanero mixed in to offset the sweetness), Brown Butter Almond Brittle (our favorite), and Cereal & Milk (our surprise 2nd favorite - it tasted just like Captain Crunch and was creamy and delicious).

I wish we had seen the play Aubrey wanted to see so much, but I selfishly really enjoyed the time I was able to spend just visiting with her.

The ice cream was noteworthy, the drive through Portland definitely memorable, but what I hope she remembers from this crazy night is this:

Sometimes life throws us curveballs, like a parade blocking the way to our theater destination, struggles with health, a challenging relationship, or financial/job woes. It's normal and very okay to be disappointed, angry, furious, anguished,and sad. But eventually it's a really good thing to be able to laugh a little, find comfort in the people who are going through the challenge with us, and enjoy the scenery as we make our way through life's obstacles. The older I get the more I believe that true happiness doesn't come from avoiding the pitfalls and quagmires of life, but from the process of dealing with them.

The last few weeks

This is a random rundown of happenings in the Porter home over the last few weeks.

Vancouver Springtime

 The weather has been nice - occasional rainstorms which don't last forever and are followed up by some magnificent rainbows.

Aubrey's new morning routine

Aubrey has decided that she wants to exercise at 6 am to help re-set her sleep schedule in preparation for early morning Seminary next year.  She has also decided that she kind of likes running. She found an app which guides her through run/walk intervals until she is jogging for the entire time. Most of the time she goes with her friend Laura, but sometimes she and I go around the neighborhood in the morning after I get Dan and Bailey off to Seminary. However, my bad knees don't let me run so I walk while she jogs around me in circles. Luckily, my long legs help me walk almost as fast as a slow jog!

Done with AP Tests - woot woot!

Two weeks ago Bailey took her last (of four) AP tests!  She feels like all the tests went pretty well. In other academic news, she was recognized for being on the Honor Roll again.  To celebrate the end of the big tests, as soon as she walked out of her last test at 11:30 a.m. we took off to celebrate.  First stop, Panera for lunch. We sat outside to really enjoy the 80 degree day.

Then we were off to Portland's famous and uber-trendy ice cream shop, Salt & Straw. They have the most unusual flavors and delicious ice cream! We lucked out and didn't wait for service, but many times people wait for over an hour.

We sampled quite a few of these flavors after settling on scoops of Honey Lavender and Rhubarb Crumble with  Toasted Anise (for me) and Almond Brittle with Salted Ganache and Cinnamon Snickerdoodle (Bailey).

Gardening Fever

For the last 3 or 4 weeks I have spent every free moment gardening. The weather has been beautiful and the flowers and plants in the garden centers are simply irresistible to me.  Planting flowers and veggies always feels like to me like the embodiment of hope. Every May I succumb to the vision of possible beauty and I am wooed by the promises of blooms on flower tags. I feel giddy as I try out a new variety and new combinations in areas of the yard. I wish I could say that I'm as good at follow-through for the rest of the summer as I am with enthusiasm in May.  Once summer hits there are so many fun places to go and things to do that my plants get somewhat neglected, but the hardiest of the bunch still make it through.

My trunk looked like this after just about every trip to the store. (In fact, this trunk kind of sums up the last few weeks with few words. Lots of flowers, a few groceries, and football and soccer balls mixed inbetween.

This year Bailey's AP Environmental class has ignited her interest in gardening, healthy eating, and being environmentally conscious. She scrutinizes every label on food we buy and eats more fruits and veggies a day than any kid I have ever met. She helped me plant our herb pot and garden as part of a project for that class on planting, buying, and preparing locally grown produce.

Sisterly Love

Bailey has a lifelong habit of pinching Aubrey's cheeks and cooing at her. Aubrey tolerates it.

Dan the DeeJay 

Dan reprised his role as the coolest deejay in Vancouver with a performance at our Stake's Dance in May. He was up on the stage with all his paraphrenalia, including the big screen and projector with which he showed some funny video clips and played Just Dance songs on the Wii. The large crowd of kids (including Bailey, Aubrey, and two of Aubrey's friends from school) all seemed to have a great time!

Football and baby watching

It's always fun to watch Joseph play flag football or soccer. He is on a flag football team this spring with two of his best buddies. It has been a good experience for them to learn the sport. Who knew that football was so complicated? It always looked pretty simple to me. Players tackle eachother and someone grabs the ball and runs until he, too, is tackled. It turns out there are things called plays and there is a lot of strategy involved.

Bailey and Aubrey are especially entertained at the games when they can hold the coach's 1 year old daughter Tilly. Tilly has five siblings, the oldest of whom is 7 years old. The youngest is a newborn baby brother. Her amazing pioneer-stock mother goes to almost every game and practice (including the one which was 4 days after she gave birth) with the newborn in a front pack, Tilly in a backpack, and holding the 2 year old's hand. Wow. Makes me tired just talking about it.

Absentminded or losing my mind?

On one particularly busy day I was running around like a crazy woman all day and misplaced both pairs of sunglasses. Finally, after running into several stores I looked in my mirror and found them . . . .

Not sure why I'm including this, except that it makes me smile

Joseph and Alex have been best friends since they were 2, and we are always so happy to have him and his brothers hang out with us.  Mason is the cutest redhead I know.

Third annual Bailey Birthday Shopping Day

Once again, this year Bailey chose to spend a day shopping with me so she could pick out gifts for her birthday. Now that the girls mostly like clothes for their birthdays, it's impossible for me to pick out the clothes without them in attendance.

This year we started the Saturday at the Vancouver Farmers Market so Bailey could pick up some locally grown produce for her AP Environ. Science class. It was delightful and oh-so-Northwestern.  Look at the descriptions on these signs:

We live in a very health- and environmentally-conscious corner of the world!  I especially like where it says "organic, raw, alive, loved."  Hee hee.

While there we discovered that Hood Strawberries were ripe!  What - you mean you have never tried Hood Strawberries??  They have a really soft texture, taste like pure sunshine and literally explode with flavor in your mouth. Nothing like any of the strawberries you can buy in the store.  They are only ripe for two weeks a year and are in great demand.  So what did we do when we saw them at the Farmer's Market?  Yep, we bought a whole delectable flat.

The only problem? We were on our way to Portland to shop all day, which would leave our precious strawberries in a warm car. It was quite a problem. We had a few ice packs and a small cooler, so we put as many strawberries as possible in the cooler and ran back to the car about every 20 minutes during our shopping trip to check on our "babies" and let some cool air into the car.  I'm happy to report that most of the strawberries made it through unscathed and were happily consumed by the Porter family.

Here Bailey is carrying our awesome organic finds at the market.

Next we were off to Hillsboro to go to Charming Charlie, the super fun jewelry and accessory store. Bailey found a necklace I dared her to buy (she didn't): "Single . . . Ready to Mingle"

Later, at Ross, she also found a giraffe shirt which she thought was very appropriate because of her height. Nope, didn't buy that one either.

And I had a "told you so" moment when we saw overalls in literally every store. I still have a pair of overalls from the last time they were in still (circa 2001).  I told Bailey that eventually they would come back in style. She swore they wouldn't.  Ha!

For lunch we got burritos at Qdobas and later we got Jamba Juice smoothies. Bailey, my very health conscious girl, chose two very healthy green drinks (filled with kale, greek yogurt, chia seeds, etc).

But we had to follow up all that healthiness with some Dulce de Leche cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory - pure scrumptiousness!

We had a fantastic day being together. We looked at lots and lots of stores and were able to find Bailey a skirt, a dress, a sweater, a few shirts, and some jewelry and accessories. It was a great beginning to her birthday celebration!

And finally, a few more things I've been up to

Mostly, between doing kid stuff, keeping up the house stuff, and gardening stuff, I've been working hard on wedding stuff.  I have a long to-do list for the wedding and it will be very busy for the next month, but things are falling into place. 

In addition, here a few iphone shots of other things I did.  Yesterday I met my friend Rachel at a Portland food cart pod. It was fun to visit and always so fun to try the fabulous food from Portland's eclectic and unique food carts.

I also played DIY-er and helped two friends prepare their houses to sell. I painted the front door at one house and helped the other friend spackle holes in the wall and replace the screen in their patio screen door. We were pretty proud of ourselves for this do-it-yourself wizardry.  It was so easy and the screen looks good as new!

And now, off to a long list of Saturday commitments and projects!

Memorial Day Bliss

We spent a wonderful Memorial Day Monday hiking beautiful Latourell Falls, with breathtaking views of waterfalls and the entire Gorge and Columbia River.  We invited 6 families to join us for the hike, because it's always more fun to hike with friends.  A few hours after returning from the hike all the families and more joined us at our home for a barbecue.

We took our time hiking the steep 2.4 mile loop because there were so many fun places to stop and explore along the way.

  Everything about the Gorge is unbelievably beautiful. Magical almost . . .

I think there might be 50 different shades of green in the forest. It's almost blinding. 

We lucked out with the weather - it was the perfect temperature and sunny.

 We carefully crept down the slick rocks to the area right under the waterfall. The power coming from the force of the water was amazing, and we got soaking wet from the spray!

 Our friend Kristi sang the same obnoxious camp song up and down the mountain. Aubrey joined in happily. Bailey was not amused.

 It's hard to tell from this picture, but we are standing on a ledge overlooking a REALLY high dropoff. Can you see the tiny cars in the left middle of the picture?  We were way up the mountain!

Joseph dressed in his special Pokemon trainer outfit for the hike.

The following pictures were all taken by Joseph, who says he wants to be a photographer when he grows up.

 Joseph also took some pictures of us setting up for the barbecue. We set up two tables on the deck for all the delicious food. We spread blankets and chairs around the yard.

We had a great time visiting with friends. It was hard to get back to the reality of school, seminary and work today!

Mmmmm - Cowboy Caviar just waiting for the guests to arrive.

Dan was a grill master - he cooked some fantastic burgers, hotdogs, and chicken.

Happy Memorial Day!