PDX Playdate

Waving from the fish eye.

That's right, I'm back in Portland and this time my sissies came with me. :)  It's been a great trip.  This time we got to see Maggie's new home for the school year.  She's sharing a house with five other students in North Portland.  It's a cute little place--a perfect student house.  She gets her own bedroom which she claims is as "weird and quirky" as she is.  And it's true.  It's got moss-green, shag carpet and old floral print wall paper (pink and lavender with leaves that match the carpet).  She's also got one wall that is a chalkboard, fun for writing on, and two doors, one of which opens into the kitchen!  Sadly, I forgot to photograph the room. :(  Maggie was VERY excited to start moving in and get a key to the place.  We slept on the floor (yep, that nice green carpet) our first night in town.

Tuesday we met up with my cousin Marcie, her husband Rob and their son Danny at a great place called PDX Playdate.  It's an indoor play area, kind of like the McDonald's play areas, but a thousand times better, where the kids can go wild and parents have access to free wifi.  There is also a little cafeteria serving great food, beer and wine.  It was a great hang out for parents and I found myself getting envious of the little tots running around having such a good time.  Maggie and I finally decided to ditch our shoes and head in after Danny--What FUN!!!  We lept through the castle after the four and five-year-olds, crawled through the tunnels, bounced over balls, waved from the fish eye and slid our way out on the wavy slide. (see video below).

Maggie in the castle at PDX Playdate. :)

The little performers: ballerina and rock star.

Yesterday we met up with our other cousins in the area and were treated to a mini piano recital, a ballet performance followed by a rock concert and then later a water fight in the pool with burgers for dinner. :)  My cousin Sarah's kids, Rowan and Ainsley entertained us for the beginning of the evening and then we headed over to my cousin Matt's house for pool time and dinner with his two boys.  What an adorable, talented family I have! 

The morning had been cool and overcast and we wondered about our plans to swim in the evening, but the cloud cover burned off around mid-day and the pool was a perfect 80 degrees.  The boys, Gavin and David are little fish.  I couldn't believe how well they could swim.  We had several races and then a water fight before grill-master Matt served up the best hamburgers I've had in a loooooong time.  

Bedtime for a monkey

Lucy and David bonded over being the youngest siblings while Maggie, Gavin and I were competing like mad swimming back and forth across the pool.  When they came in last in the race and Gavin was gloating over his win, she whispered to David, "We really won...it's just that Gavin doesn't know it!  Shhh!  It's a secret." ;)  From that point on, she had a new little buddy.  She helped him eat at dinner and then was requested to read him a bedtime story afterwards.  In return, he regaled all three of us with homemade jewelry--bracelets and necklaces.


It's been a fantastic visit.  I am leaving tomorrow to visit my dearest friend, Miriam in Massachusetts and so this is the last time I'll be in the Northwest for quite a while.  It dawned on me yesterday, as we were saying goodbye to Rowan and Ainsley that Rowan might very well be ten the next time I see him (he's six)!  This thought occurred to me out loud and I immediately regretted saying anything because Rowan's face fell and he turned to his mom in disbelief, "I'm gonna be TEN the next time I see Viola!?"  Then, as I choked back tears he mused, "Wouldn't it be nice if Spain were just a city in Oregon?"  


Yes, yes it would, Rowan.

Cousin Lucy lends a hand to Ainsley.

The whole crew in the pool. :)