Yesterday was a big day for us. My in laws were in town from Enterprise to meet their latest great grand daughter Luciana who lives in Texas. Molly was at the beach with a friend from work, but Rob and the kids came by to see Colleen and Luci. Brandon and Anna might have been a bit bored, but decided our bathtub was a great place to play and color. Anna was eating cherry tomatoes.
Above is great grandma, Colleen and Luci. Below is great uncle Martin holding Luci.
Yesterday, Martin had a furlough day and I took a vacation day and we decided to beat the crowds and go to the Portland Auto show. We started out looking at a few vintage cars that were on display then moved forward to the Eco section of the show where the hybrids and electric cars were located. We are interested in getting a high mileage car for me to commute in. We would keep our dog van which really isn't practical for my daily commute. Martin is in love with this Mini Cooper convertible that I was sitting in below. I am not convinced, though Martin claims I can pull off driving with the top down.
This one wheeled scooter below is not really practical for our purposes either, it kind of looks like it came out of Star Wars.
This is one of the new Hyundai models below called the Veloster, we liked it because of how sporty it looks and all the features that were standard on this model, that you would have to purchase with other car companies. Mileage was 28 city and 40 highway which is pretty great as well. One of the new Hyundai models the Equus, had a small refrigerator in the back seat. Talk about your luxury models, but that was a new one for me.
No car show would be complete without a visit to Martin's favorite, the Lotus. This is the Evora, and I do have to admit it is a pretty classy looking sports car.
Great day, we walked about 6 miles, didn't buy a new car, but had a great time checking out all the new models for this year.
Took the dogs for a 2 mile walk around Lacamas Lake. Really wonderful winter afternoon, cold but no rain. This picture was taken at dusk, if you look at the lake reflection, you can see a bit of the colors of sunset. Below are a pair of ducks we saw in a slough next to the path. They didn't even move when we walked by them with the dogs.
Back to work for me tomorrow after a 2 week vacation, though I have taken a couple of calls from my staff this weekend. Back to reality, I decided that I am not looking at my work e-mail until tomorrow morning as there really isn't anything I can do from home tonight. It will all still be there in the morning....
Tonight we met the Kindleys at the Melting Pot in downtown Portland OR for a fantastic New Years Day Dinner. Martin and I had never been there before and the place definitely lives up to all its rave reviews. It was a first for the grand kids as well and they were great, especially since the meal lasted 3 hours by the time we had all four of our courses. They were very patient and cleaned their plates.
Yes, that is the remains of a lobster tail that we cooked in our fondue pot. We had shrimp, lobster, chicken, pork and assorted vegetables that could be cooked in the fondue. There were also 6 different sauces to dip the main course in that were all excellent.
You can see that Rob is ready for dessert which was two different types of chocolate seen flaming below.
Earlier in the day, Martin and I took the dogs for a nice long walk down around Fort Vancouver and crossed the land bridge which was designed by the same woman who did the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC. There are gathering spots along the way with the names of all the Indian tribes from Washington State.
Merry Christmas everyone, Santa arrived at our house and delivered some wonderful gifts for Martin and I. We have had a lazy morning with no real schedule, since our Christmas dinner won't be until tomorrow when the family gathers for a Christmas celebration.
We took our time opening our gifts, and Martin was very happy especially since he received his Kindle Fire!
And guess what, I got a Kindle Fire, too. And for once, I was connected to our wireless network and had it up and running before Martin did! I think I am really going to enjoy this thing.
A wonderful relaxing Christmas, I hope this finds you enjoying a day filled with the things you love!
It was Christmas Eve and we all relaxed knowing that it would not be long until Santa would be coming to the Pacific Northwest. Brandon brought his IPad and Rob brought his new Kindle Fire and we played games and enjoyed spending time together waiting for Santa to arrive.
Brandon showed Grandma Marlene and Grandpa how to check out where Santa was by using a special application on his IPad. He also taught me how to play Angry Birds. Below he is showing Grandpa how to play a Jet Fighter game that he downloaded while he was at our house.
And of course, there were gifts to unwrap. A great prelude to Christmas day.
Below Anna patiently waits for her picture to be taken so she can open her gift.
After all the eating and presents, we settled down to watch "A Christmas Story". A great Christmas Eve and so much fun. After the kids left Martin and I watched "It's a Wonderful Life" and it is!
We went to the Portland Center Stage this afternoon to see the Christmas Story play. It was fantastic, and put us in the spirit of the holiday. What really put things over the top was the 350 0r more people we ran into who were dressed like Santa, or their interpretation of what he looks like. Apparently, this is an annual event organized on Craig's list, to organize a group of Santa lovers to go bar hopping at Christmas. They were an incredibly friendly group. We were invited repeatedly to join them on their travels. The couple below gave us candy canes and a set of reindeer antlers.
Here I am modeling my gifted reindeer antlers. It was so much fun to see them all and the reactions of the folks on the street who stopped to talk to them like we did.
Here are some more of the "Santas". I didn't know he smoked, did you?
This young woman had a name badge that said 'Naughty Santa', not sure how she earned that name.
You have to love Portland, you never know what you are going to see downtown!
