Thursday, August 30, 2007

One GOOD reason to move back to Ladera





I don't think I need to say a word. Oh yes, this also cost me $10.00




They look shocked and scared. I didn't say a word. We ended up having a bit of fun. The lazy river was new to us.

Still legal

Yes, talking on the cell phone is still legal. Tom sent me a link http://www.iihs.org/laws/cellphonelaws.aspx
Why isn't texting banned???!!

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Am I breaking the law?

Okay I just panicked on the way home from dinner. I don't know how we got on the topic but I think I'm breaking the law.
Can I use my cell phone while driving? I can't believe I didn't notice this before but I haven't seen anyone on their cell phone in their car?!!?? When I used to drive through Ladera just about everyone is on their cell phone. Yes, you Jessica. :-)
Tomorrow I will make an effort to find a talking driver. If I don't find anyone I'll have to ....... what, I guess ask someone. Yes, if I don't see anyone on their cell on my way to my hair appointment in the city, I will ask them.
Wish me luck with my hair. Heidi has been my faithful stylist for over 5 years!

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

California Girl to Oregon Girl in One Day



Now if you don't all know this Holly picks out her own clothes. Usually she passes up the brand new cute outfits I have bought for her and she creates her own look.
One Saturday Holly put on this: She looked very California. Thongs, glasses etc.







Sunday this:
Green sock and purple mocs.

Tour of Portland



Friday we took a tour of the city on an amphibious vehicle. First we toured the city and then we drove over to the dock and drove right into the Willamette River. The river divides the city from east and west and it flows North! The tour was a bit long for the girls (2 hours) but they did get to see most of the city.




Guess what we have a water park, actually many. All of the cities fountains are cycled and treated for swimming. I think we saw about 4 on our tour.

Portland Trailblazer got the #1 draft pick this season, Greg Oden. Portland fans are very excited about this. Since basketball is the only professional sports team in Portland maybe we will become NBA fans.
After the tour we met our landlord and family. They have 3 girls, two are the exact same age as Holly and Emma. We had a great time dinner and headed over to the park and the kids got along great. It make things so much easy when the kids have playmates.

Friday, August 24, 2007

More photos of June Lake

Rush Creek Mud

Kids in creek with Aunt Linda, She is making "fishing poles" Oopps. Wyatt lost his shoe in the mud. Geoff must have searched through the mud for at least 5 minutes!
FOUND IT!

Emma and I on a kayak in Silver Lake. Lovely!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Kid cafe for dinner tonight

Just went out to dinner tonight. I am finding it difficult to cook. All my recipes books and SPICES are in boxes still. I don't know where to put them!
We went to a great place called PB & Ellie's Cafe. you can check out the website at:
www.pbecafe.com
Off to try to set up the kids playroom.
Bye for now.
Kim

My walk to the grocery store


I can walk to the grocery store. Here is a photo of the path I take. About a 5 minute walk. Yes, the one with all the trees. Who would think we are in the middle of a city. The path is just behind our house and takes us right to the grocery store, starbucks, my bank and our recreation center.








Our recreation center is wonderful. I just took Holly yesterday to take a look around. They offer a ton of classes, gymnastics, yoga, weight training, pottery, tai chi, basketball, library and more. They even had a preshcool that I am considering having Emma attend. Love it! Everything is so close! We can get just about anywhere in 20 minutes driving time.

Last night we walked a bit further to The Old Market Brew Pub. Tom and I tasted a sampling of Oregon's micro beer and the kids had spaghetti and chicken nuggets. Dogs are welcome so Addie hung our with us the whole time.



























Addie under our "dining" table









This morning I will do a bit more unpacking. It's going very slowly, as I am being warned to enjoy the outdoors while we can. But at least all the necessities are taken care of. (All but my absolutely necessary scrapbook space!)


Speaking of scrapbooking, I stopped by the closest scrapbook store I could find yesterday. Unfortunately was wasn't calling all my scrapbook friends to brag (Jessica, Jen and Nicole)...... but there is still hope. I have a few more to see on my list. Don't get me wrong, they had great stuff but it was a bit small and the crop room is separate from the store? How does that help sales? Here is a bad photo. You can even see my car.



This afternoon we are off to a small carnival at the recreation center, it's called Garden Home Recreation Center. Check tomorrow for photos.





Monday, August 20, 2007

First Rainday - Monday

we had our first real rain this morning. Now, it's just cloudy and drizzling. Temp will reach about 68. So far the rain hasn't keep the girls indoors.



We all have on closed-toed shoes.... Can you believe it!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Festival


Fun parade and festival. We even saw real Oregon hippies on homemade bikes!

Our first weekend and village parade

Saturday a.m. 8:30 and I'm the only one up. Today we are going to a parade / village fair in our neighborhood. We live in the South West in a village called Multnomah, but our specific area is called Garden Home. One thing I love about Portland is all the different neighborhoods. They each have their character. Check back later for photos.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

And we're off!







Moving van arrived on Wednesday August 8th. We left Ladera around 4:00 and by 5:00 I had one last swim in the ocean. We spent our last night in Laguna at my moms.




Headed out the next morning and arrived at our first stop June Lake early evening. We stayed at Aunt Linda and Uncle Mike's cabin. This was a great transitions as we made our way to Portland. Lots of family, cousins, husbands, 4 kids in addition to Holly and Emma and of course the dogs..... 5 males and Addie. She adjusted by being the "bitch" that she is with other males.




We had a wonderful 2 nights in June. Aunt Linda made her famous homemade spaghetti sauce and french toast in the a.m. I was so impressed with the kids. All six sat down around the table with and were so well behaved. Kids ages 8,6,5,4,3,2, now you see why I am impressed. Our Friday adventure was a tour of all the lakes in the area and wading in Rush Creek. Emma insisted on a boat ride so we hired a kayak at Silver Lake. Beautiful! Thank you Clemence Clan!



Now the tough part begins 2 days of driving at 7 hours/day. Tom in his car with the dog and me in the mini-van with the kids. All went well, yeah for the DVD! Only at the very end did Holly ask, "How many more minutes?" as first every 15 minutes, then every 2.


As we arrived in Portland the weather was beautiful and sunny, YES sunny as it is August.


I was so grateful to be just as pleased with the house we are renting as I remembered.


The moving van arrived right on time Monday morning and took out a few tree branches and had to move a mailbox to get into our street.




Now we are in boxes and everything is a mess. I keep laughing when I think of my website "clutterfreehome.com". It almost feels like it will never be clutter free. All things in time.




Now it's Thursday and our first sign of rain clouds. When I called Tom from inside Costco he tells me it's raining. I was hoping to see the rain when we escaped the windowless warehouse but we missed it. Hopefully tomorrow.