Portland, Oregon

My brother Jon, has been in dental school for about three years now, in Portland, Oregon. Dan and I have talked about visiting him, but with law school, the bar exam, and moving, we haven't been able to visit. This year for my birthday my mom gave me a great gift, a trip to Oregon with my two girls. Unfortunately, Dan had to stay and work, so my mom and the girls and I headed to Oregon. The girls were great on the plane. Hollyn has always been a good traveler, Paige has her moments, but she was great. These girls are becoming such good friends.
Our first stop in Portland was lunch with my brother and his family to the food carts. Can I just start out by saying I am a hug fan of food carts. Anything you can imagine you will find at the food carts. WE got the most incredible wood fired pizza and some french fries with feta cheese and gravy. I know it sounds nasty, but don't knock it until you try it. I was sceptical at first, but I am now a fan. After lunch we headed over to the children's museum. The theme couldn't be more perfect, legos. Hollyn loves legos and building, so she was in love with the building center and looking at the amazing cities that some professional lego builders had built. I wish I had some pictures because they really were amazing. I love taking the kids to museums and watching them explore and learn from hands on activities. I wish we had better museums close to us. I need to make the drive to Phoenix more often so my kids can have the enriching experiences of museums more often.



I'm pretty sure the theme of our trip was where are we going to eat next. Portland has so many great places to eat. Their farmer's markets and pretty spectacular too. The colors were so vivid and I have never seen so many different kids of fruits and vegetables in my life. There was one stand that had over 20 different kids of mushrooms. My girls loved sampling all the fruits especially the apples. I love that my kids get excited about fruit and vegetables.




My favorite place to eat was a place called The Pine State, at least that's what I think it's called. These two dishes were oh so fattening, but oh so delicious. Their biscuits and gravy were divine, and usually I don't like biscuits and gravy. The hash brown dish we got was just as amazing.
Beside the food we loved spending time with my brother, his wife and their little boy Theo. Portland is so green and usually overcast, so the lighting was perfect for taking pictures. And I definitely took my share of pictures. The girls didn't at all mind.






Could my nephew be any cuter?
Thanks Grandma for an incredible trip. It was a great birthday surprise. Thanks Grandpa and Dan for letting us go have some fun girl time. Thanks Jon and Mal for showing us around Portland and introducing me to incredible food. Thanks Theo for being so cute and for letting my girls love on you.



I couldn't resist posting these, they are the perfect example of Paige, always on the go and always with a smile on her face.