February Portland Style

I miss a lot of things about Sandpoint, but I can't say I miss having snow in my yard until April!  Here in Portland, we've had flowers blooming in our yard since January and can enjoy biking and hiking etc. all year long. 

Can you believe this was taken at the beginning of January?!

Also, we love having a zoo, museums and several great community centers close by with lots of kids activities throughout the week.  It makes having a very active 3 year old a bit easier :)

So, here's what we've been up to during our free time recently.

Brushing the goats at the zoo.

Family movie night after a busy day = lots of snuggles :)

Saturday morning hike to Horsetail and Ponytail Falls.

Sometimes we get a little bit distracted with rock-building projects.

Can you see them behind the waterfall?  Pretty cool!

How do rocks always seem to make their way into his boots?

In January and February Kai took a tumbling class.  He wasn't quite as dainty as his female classmates, but he was very exuberant :)

I was really proud of my "don't like to try anything new" boy for all of the new skills he tried and learned over the course of 5 weeks.

And, that's it for tonight, but stay posted for lots of skiing pictures coming soon!

The Winter Adventures of Kai

There aren't too many pictures being taken around here these days.  Both of our cameras are being rather temperamental (okay, the good camera has actually been pretty much out of commission since 2008 when we broke a lens in Australia...but that's a whole other story!), so instead of current photos, here are a few random photos from our adventures over the past couple of months. 

Using the sandbox in December...this would have been unheard of in Sandpoint!

Enjoying some January sunshine, and practicing some new swinging skills from gymnastics class.

Who knew an old piece of styrofoam + some pipe cleaners could be so fun?

Taking the train to a Trailblazers game where Bryon's company had box seats.

Taking the bus to Mt. Hood Meadows for their first ski day of the season.

Even Ducky gets to go skiing sometimes :)

We've also been enjoying our membership to OMSI...Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

More skiing!
I think they've been up almost every weekend since the season started. 

If we still lived in Sandpoint I would definitely buy the ski attachments for Kai's Strider bike.

We've been doing lots of bike-hiking too.

31

Turning 31 was lovely.
Early morning donuts from my boys, coffee out with girlfriends (at a restaurant with a great kids play area...no, not McDonalds!), lots of cards and phonecalls, a very fun and creative date with Bryon (really, Bryon is the best date planner!), and then a weekend on Whidbey Island with two friends from TWU days and our families.  Kai also gave me many "presents" (ie. his own toys that he wrapped up for me) throughout the day.  Each time he'd show up with another gift, he'd sing a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday", tell me the gift was a "secret surprise", and then proceed to whisper in my ear what it was :)  

Sadly, not many pictures were taken throughout the celebrations but here are a few from Whidbey Island.

I loved exploring the ocean beach with Kai.  It reminded me of my childhood on Quadra.

Searching for crabs.

Checking out the sea anemones.

Kai so thoroughly enjoyed the beach that he ended up with soaked clothes and boots filled with water and sand.  Well worth it!