Travel Log June 1, 2011

My mom's bday today. Hoping she gets to celebrate it properly this weekend! Happy birthday mom.

What a very full day today.We are still in portland for a few more days and as the weather was in the miss category this morning, we opted for an indoor activity and took Violet and Greta to the Portland Children's museum. Wow, wow, wow. Violet could have spent 5 hours there easily. I would LOVE to have something like this in Victoria. It is basically a preschooler's dream.

There were role play areas including a veterinary clinic. a grocery store, diner, theater, construction zone and many more. There was a great curious george exhibit, a water room, a clay sculpting room - you get the idea. It was exhausting but awesome. Even Greta had fun in the 3 and under room which was laid back but full of interesting textures, colours and motion and in the many other baby friendly exhibits. To top it all off, the lunch we had was tasty, nutritious and affordable.

After a much needed but brief break at our condo, we headed out on foot once again exploring downtown.  The rain finally broke so we stopped for some ice cream and decided to take the girls on one of the side by side tandem bikes with seats for the little ones. Violet (and Jon) have been dying to try one for several days now but the weather has not cooperated with us. We thought we were in with a chance today but about 5 minutes into the ride, the kids (who were not under a canvas awning like us) were getting soaked by a passing rain storm. Luckily there are about a dozen bridges along the Willimet River and we high-tailed it to the nearest one for cover. In the end, we managed only about 40 minutes of riding, including our 5 or so minutes under the bridge. We couldn't get very far due to river flooding obstructing our waterfront route and Greta decided it was a bit too weird to be riding in front of her parents. She ended up strapped (very clumsily) into the seat beside us so we just had to pack it in. Ah well, we tried it and got a little work out at the same time.

It would probably have been wise then to take the girls back to the condo for a nap but we didn't. Sometimes those decisions work for you and sometime against. Today, happily, we had a great time staying out instead. We packed Violet into the stroller for a 'snooze' as she calls it, Greta into the carrier for a snooze of her own and we walked north to a part of town we hadn't seen before. It didn't rain, we had a conversation and we ended up at a recommended italian restaurant, Serrato, which is fine dining but accommodates kids nicely. The food (and wine) was fabulous and we had a quiet and happy meal.

Today was special because there were no major meltdowns. That always makes for a good day. But we also got to see Violet enjoying herself to an extent I don't think I have seen for some time. She loved being at that museum so much and she had a wonderful time but what struck us was how seriously she took everything she did there. Her concentration was incredible and she was exhausted and happy at the end of our visit. It was also wonderful (if not a little sad) to see our little baby getting in there too. She played with the best of them at the museum, even getting her first smack on the head from another baby. We (that would be the vacationing adults) also find ourselves content, if exhausted at the end of this day. Time for another glass of wine.