Portland, part 1

I came into town for my grandpa.  He turned 90 on April 11th.

 

  I just flew in with the baby.  I kind of wish we could have all made the trip, but I sure enjoyed my time with just Ava.  The flight was okay, it would have been seamless if we didn't have to deboard!

  Friday morning I got to hang out with my college friend, Paige, and her new little guy.  I got to introduce her to Petite Provence.  It's a good thing I don't live close by, almond croissants are to me what donuts are to my husband.

Oldest and youngest of the family.  I was nervous she was going to be too much for him.

Yeah, she was.

We tried this method, but the picture taking moment was long over by then.

  We did a little thrift shopping.  Very Portland.  Actually, this place used to be a furniture and home décor shop that I bought a bunch of stuff from for Hannah's nursery and it has recently become a consignment shop.  I was sad to see that the former shop was no longer, but the current shop is keeping with the trends and is Portland to a T.

 

  If you think the pictures of Ava are going to stop, you are just fooling yourself.  :)  I have a big family in Portland and they all wanted a piece of her.

Uncle Jeff cleaned the slide off for Ava and everything.  Her first slide experience and she was less than thrilled.

 

We had dinner at Uncle Jeff and Auntie May's and it was a large feast as usual.

  We sang Happy Birthday (with a leftover birthday cake if you didn't notice) to Gung Gung because it was his actual birthday on friday.  We were saving the real cake for the party the next day.  Haha.

  Saturday morning we explored parts of Portland we've never been to.  We go to Portland a lot so you probably think we've seen a lot and know Portland.  Well, we don't.  We usually are always doing things with family and/or have 4 kids to tote around.  Checking out the hippest neighborhoods, restaurants, etc. just does not happen.  We went to Alberta which is in NE Portland.  My sister blogged about Portland and took lots of pictures of the art in this neighborhood.

We found this tea house which turned out to be a gem. 

 

They had a bunch of different kombucha teas on tap.  Um, hello!!  I loooove kombucha and am currently brewing my own (to be blogged about another time).  I tried Ginger and Cort tried Spiced Apple in bottles to go.

 

For lunch we went to Bollywood Theater as per the recommendation of my cousin.

The samosas, goan style shrimp, and chicken curry did not disappoint.

However, this kati roll was over the top amazing and stole the show.

I was seriously in heaven.  Amazing food, perfect atmosphere, and some of my favorite people to enjoy it with.  Ahhhh!

  I skipped ahead here and didn't post about the party.  I did not want to overwhelm you with more pictures of Ava, so I'm saving the party for tomorrow!

 

  My grandma and I.  I see myself in her in soooo many ways.  The night of the party I was up late working on Ava's scrapbook and she came to me and told me I should go to bed.  I looked at the time and it was 12:45 am.  I had no idea it was that late, but the real point of the story is, why was she up that late?  She is a busy bee, working hard until things are complete, all for the love of her family.  She gets ideas in her head of how she wants things done and doesn't let them go, even if it means staying up late or driving all around town to get all she needs.  Speaking of driving around town, she will do just that to get the best deals.  I am not as thrifty, but I do like my sales!!  She is also where I get my craftiness, she was a calligrapher and did watercolor for years.  She is the one that taught me how to carve stamps.  She also is an amazing baker and cook.  I remember watching her roll out pie crusts and dough for cinnamon rolls.  She taught me how to make homemade potstickers and won ton.  She is a mother of 5 and when she tells me how good of a mom I am, I am honored.

 

  I had so much fun in Portland and it was so hard for me to say good-bye.  A kind lady helped me out in the line to check-in at the airport.  She saw the tears and probably thought I was overwhelmed with travelling with an infant.  Haha.  No, the tears were there because when I go back "home" I am reminded of how much people love me and especially my kids. It makes me sad that my kids are not growing up with the people that love them so much.  I don't think that will ever go away.  For now, I will be thankful for the things that we do have, the visits, facetime calls, and sharing them here on this blog.