Tourists

To celebrate our anniversary, Rick and I were able to spend 24 hours without the kids exploring the "big city" we live only 20 minutes away from! We considered going to the coast, but decided to stay a little closer to home, spending our time shopping, eating great food and just enjoying each others company. We had lunch at the Screen Door, on 24th and Burnside, a great little hole-in-the-wall restaurant I would highly recommend. Dinner was at Jake's Grill, attached to the Governor Hotel around 10th and Alder. Great food and even better conversation.

We spent time in two different book stores, scouring the shelves for cheap, used children's books, some for our own collection and some for use in (possible/future) classrooms. First we hit The Title Wave, which sells outcast/overflow books from the Multnomah County Library, they had a great selection of picture books and tons of educational books, too- all for only $1-$1.50!! Later in the day, after dinner and playing pool, we hit the big Powell's Books in downtown where I scored on a ton of used Mercer Meyer Critter books for the kids. They were favorites of mine when I was a kid and I love reading them to our kids now. I searched through probably 100 new and used ones, picking out each of the used ones we didn't own already- that's what I call FUN! I can't wait to introduce all the "new" books to the kids over the next few weeks at bedtime, they LOVE books, which I am very thankful for.

We found time between dinner and Powell's Books to play a couple of games of pool at Ringlers and enjoy a pint of my very favorite brew in the whole wide world- a Ruby. I love McMenamins and their Ruby!

I think my favorite re-occurring theme throughout the 24 hours we were gone was how many great conversations Rick and I were able to have. Don't get me wrong, Rick and I have great conversations on other occasions, but we've learned to master holding a conversation in the presence of 3 kids who are also vying for our attention. We were able to just focus on each other and talk freely, knowing there wouldn't be any interruptions, and it was wonderful. Second best to the great conversations, was definitely sleeping in! No little girl at our bedside telling us about her dry pull-up or asking for help with putting on a dress-up dress. No little boy calling from the hall, "Mommy, I need to go potty!" It was bliss. (For a brief second, it made me miss my P.M. overnights when I can sleep-in without an alarm...)

Sunday morning included an hour and a half walk around downtown Portland, exploring the city streets like tourists and enjoying a couple of warm drinks from Peet's Coffee. It was a beautiful, brisk morning and the only thing better than walking around and taking in all the sights would have been running along the waterfront. Something we'll save for a warmer, summer day perhaps.

Huge thanks to my wonderful sister, Robyn, for making the drive down from the Tri-Cities to watch the kiddos for us! We could relax even better knowing the kids were in great hands!

A few photos...

We had a view of Mount St. Helens from our room!

The happy couple (that's us!), at dinner.

Playing pool- Rick beat me both games. :)