We had not been there, so we thought we would head down to take a look. There are a lot of sculptures around, as well as lovely well kept parks and nice places just to visit. Here are some pictures from our day.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
A trip to Lake Oswego
Lake Oswego is just out of Beaverton, and is considered quite luxurious. The houses are very expensive there, and the area is based around the Oswego Lake.
We had not been there, so we thought we would head down to take a look. There are a lot of sculptures around, as well as lovely well kept parks and nice places just to visit. Here are some pictures from our day.
We had not been there, so we thought we would head down to take a look. There are a lot of sculptures around, as well as lovely well kept parks and nice places just to visit. Here are some pictures from our day.
Spring has well and truely arrived.
The weather is starting to fine up. Today is a beautiful day, as was yesterday. There are still patchy days of rain, but it is getting warmer, and more time can be head out and about without the worry of doing things indoors.
Cynfor's soccer is back in-door again though, and below is a picture of him getting ready for the first game of the Spring 2007 season. He loves his soccer, and plays whenever he gets a chance. Actually he is enjoying anything, including throwing the basket ball and playing catch with his ball. Sometimes Jessie will join him, although she enjoys riding her bike more - so generally I will go out and play with him.
Here you can see the street with the trees in spring. We have pretty much seen all four seasons now, just waiting again for the start of summer.
Cynfor's soccer is back in-door again though, and below is a picture of him getting ready for the first game of the Spring 2007 season. He loves his soccer, and plays whenever he gets a chance. Actually he is enjoying anything, including throwing the basket ball and playing catch with his ball. Sometimes Jessie will join him, although she enjoys riding her bike more - so generally I will go out and play with him.
Here you can see the street with the trees in spring. We have pretty much seen all four seasons now, just waiting again for the start of summer.
Time to wash the car...
So, luckily for us, currently there are no water restrictions in Portland. We are able to wash our car without that problem. Many people still take their cars down to be washed at a service station, but we chose in this case to have the car hand washed by a professional at home. If you look closely enough - this is the expert washing the car this past friday - hasn't she done a great job?!
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Another year older...
Although I know that she is not necessarily happy about it, Tara celebrated her birthday on April 10th! As you can see by the small cake above, we did not necessarily make a huge deal out of the event. Actually the size of the cake was chosen as we don't all necessarily eat a lot of cake, so we did not want to waste it!
Anyhow, we had a good night, Tara chose a lovely Japanese restaurant to go for dinner, which we have been to several times before. It is very good food. We have heard that it is also quite traditional. We had a quiet dinner as a family, then when we returned home, we were too full to eat cake - so we left the cake until the next night!
Anyhow, some pictures of her cake, and her blowing out the "never die" candle.
The two performers
Cynfor and Jessie are dressed up here for their first "public" performance. They were part of a group at a flute recital. The teacher that we use for flute here had a performance at her house. There must have been aroud 40 people at the event, with about 15 - 20 performances. It went for a little over one hour, and Jessie and Cynfor (were the "headline act") performed very well.
We enjoyed the evening, listening to many different people who had different levels of skill when it came to playing the flute.
We enjoyed the evening, listening to many different people who had different levels of skill when it came to playing the flute.
Easter Hunt...
For us, it is a tradition on Easter Sunday for the kids to get up early and start hunting for easter eggs that the easter bunny has left lying around the house. They find them in all sorts of places, hiding high and low, sometimes in drawers or on top of things.
This year was no exception, and the kids enjoyed their hunt. You can see in the second photograph that they had quite a stash!
After we had the Easter hunt, we headed out to a friend of ours for an Easter dinner. Traditionally it seems that Easter is a little like Christmas here, in that people tend to have a family gathering, and eat together.
We did have a great time though, we ended the night playing a game of Balderdash, which was a lot of fun also.
This year was no exception, and the kids enjoyed their hunt. You can see in the second photograph that they had quite a stash!
After we had the Easter hunt, we headed out to a friend of ours for an Easter dinner. Traditionally it seems that Easter is a little like Christmas here, in that people tend to have a family gathering, and eat together.
We did have a great time though, we ended the night playing a game of Balderdash, which was a lot of fun also.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Our trip to California!
The end of March is "Spring Break" for the Oregon schools, which is also the time we chose to head down to California and visit Mickey and friends at Disneyland. We headed out on Friday March 23rd, in the afternoon - parked the car in the long term car park at PDX, and flew to LAX.
When we arrived, the weather was warm - not hot. We grabbed our bags, and headed for the Shuttle which took us to our hotel in Anaheim. The trip took quite a while, because there was an accident on the freeway, which slowed traffic for quite some time. One thing we noticed very quickly - the traffic in LA/California was significantly worse than the traffic in Portland!
The trip lasted over 1 hour, but we made it safely, and went straight to our room to dump the bags. We were around 2 blocks away from Disneyland - which by the end of the trip were the longest two blocks we had ever walked! On our first night, we headed to "Downtown Disney" an area around the Disney owned Hotels, which had restaurants, stores, and a lot of nightlife.
We also made sure we picked up our tickets that first night before the mad rush on Saturday morning. It was a good thing we did, the lines to get tickets on Saturday were HUGE!
The next day we had planned to be a late day at Disney, staying for the fireworks which were at around 9.25pm. The night we arrived, the fireworks were canceled due to "high winds" so we hoped that we were not going to have that happen to us the next night!
We had breakfast in the hotel, and headed into Disney around 10am. Saturday was to be our lazy day around the park, getting a feel for the rides that we wanted to go on, and the shows we wanted to see, etc. We had a great day. We only saw a small part of the Disneyland park, the kids picked rides to go on - sadly for Jessie, her ride was closed for renovation - but we enjoyed walking around anyway.
We found out pretty quickly that anything we wanted to purchase in the park was going to be pretty expensive, food, water, drink, anything pretty much. We kind of expected it - but our suspicions were found to be true when we started looking for food for lunch!
We did get to see the fireworks, but sadly not closely. We had watched the night parade, which is in the second of the two Disney Parks - California Park, which meant we missed the timing to get across to see the fireworks first hand. Nevertheless, we did see most of them, and enjoyed them from afar.
Sunday and Monday we had organised a rental car. We picked up the car on Sunday morning, a small Toyota Corolla, and headed in to LA - specifically to look at Hollywood. Well, what can I say - the traffic in LA is horrendous. We got stuck behind an accident, that took us around 30 minutes to go around 2 miles! Yes - you read that right. Once we passed the accident though, it was smooth sailing all the way until we hit Hollywood. We then had to find a place to park.
Because we were also looking for a specific place, we ended up driving through Beverly Hills, and kept going - heading up to Mulholland Drive, which goes across the Hollywood hills, and allows you to see LA from above.
Hollywood was also busy, because of the World Premiere of "Meet the Robinsons" a new Disney movie being shown in the theater across the road from Man's Chinese Theater. We looks at the hand prints of famous people, and the stars of fame on the sidewalk. We even paid a guy $1 for having a photograph with us!
We met up with a Uni friend of Tara's for dinner, who took us to a nice Chinese restaurant. We then headed back home to Anaheim. (Thank goodness for GPS is all I can say - we would have been lost without it in LA!)
Monday we headed South to San Diego. We had no plans on what to see, other than to go see the sights. We enjoyed the trip down - which ended up being around 1 1/2 hours. We looked at the massive Navy ships in the harbor. We also saw what appeared to be a rescue mission of a dolphin in the water, and headed across to a lovely old hotel and the beach where the kids played for a while.
Tuesday was our "early day" at Disneyland. We had the ability to get in one hour early with our passes. We had made a lot of plans from what we had seen on Saturday as to where we would head first, which were a little ruined when we found out that only certain parts of the park were opened early, and not the whole park.
We ended up staying late on Tuesday until around 9.25pm, when we wanted to see the fireworks - but they were again canceled due to high winds. That was disappointing, as Wednesday was our day to head back to Portland, and we were going to miss them.
Wednesday we packed up early, and headed back to the California Park. This was our last day, and Jessie wanted very much to ride the roller coaster called "California Screamin'" We ran madly around the park getting our "Fastpasses" for each of the rides we wanted to go on, and got our tickets for "California Screamin' " which would mean it was the last ride we went on before heading home.
It ended up being great. Jessie and I were the only ones on the ride from the family. Cynfor was not very keen to ride it - I have to say, looking at it, it looked pretty scary - and Tara was not interested in going either. We had four tickets to ride though, so Jessie and I figured if we enjoyed it once, we would go again. Well - we did. We were stuck up in the front of the ride, and enjoyed the best view on our first ride. We went up and down and around and when we returned, Tara and Cynfor were waiting for us - eagerly awaiting our feedback.
Both Jessie and I loved it. It was amazingly smooth, fast, and a lot of fun. Very exhilarating!
We then headed out of the park, back to our hotel, to our shuttle to return back to Portland. Now that we are home, it all feels like a memory - but we know we have the photographs to remind us of how much fun we had! (Just click on the link below to see all the pictures we brought back!)
When we arrived, the weather was warm - not hot. We grabbed our bags, and headed for the Shuttle which took us to our hotel in Anaheim. The trip took quite a while, because there was an accident on the freeway, which slowed traffic for quite some time. One thing we noticed very quickly - the traffic in LA/California was significantly worse than the traffic in Portland!
The trip lasted over 1 hour, but we made it safely, and went straight to our room to dump the bags. We were around 2 blocks away from Disneyland - which by the end of the trip were the longest two blocks we had ever walked! On our first night, we headed to "Downtown Disney" an area around the Disney owned Hotels, which had restaurants, stores, and a lot of nightlife.
We also made sure we picked up our tickets that first night before the mad rush on Saturday morning. It was a good thing we did, the lines to get tickets on Saturday were HUGE!
The next day we had planned to be a late day at Disney, staying for the fireworks which were at around 9.25pm. The night we arrived, the fireworks were canceled due to "high winds" so we hoped that we were not going to have that happen to us the next night!
We had breakfast in the hotel, and headed into Disney around 10am. Saturday was to be our lazy day around the park, getting a feel for the rides that we wanted to go on, and the shows we wanted to see, etc. We had a great day. We only saw a small part of the Disneyland park, the kids picked rides to go on - sadly for Jessie, her ride was closed for renovation - but we enjoyed walking around anyway.
We found out pretty quickly that anything we wanted to purchase in the park was going to be pretty expensive, food, water, drink, anything pretty much. We kind of expected it - but our suspicions were found to be true when we started looking for food for lunch!
We did get to see the fireworks, but sadly not closely. We had watched the night parade, which is in the second of the two Disney Parks - California Park, which meant we missed the timing to get across to see the fireworks first hand. Nevertheless, we did see most of them, and enjoyed them from afar.
Sunday and Monday we had organised a rental car. We picked up the car on Sunday morning, a small Toyota Corolla, and headed in to LA - specifically to look at Hollywood. Well, what can I say - the traffic in LA is horrendous. We got stuck behind an accident, that took us around 30 minutes to go around 2 miles! Yes - you read that right. Once we passed the accident though, it was smooth sailing all the way until we hit Hollywood. We then had to find a place to park.
Because we were also looking for a specific place, we ended up driving through Beverly Hills, and kept going - heading up to Mulholland Drive, which goes across the Hollywood hills, and allows you to see LA from above.
Hollywood was also busy, because of the World Premiere of "Meet the Robinsons" a new Disney movie being shown in the theater across the road from Man's Chinese Theater. We looks at the hand prints of famous people, and the stars of fame on the sidewalk. We even paid a guy $1 for having a photograph with us!
We met up with a Uni friend of Tara's for dinner, who took us to a nice Chinese restaurant. We then headed back home to Anaheim. (Thank goodness for GPS is all I can say - we would have been lost without it in LA!)
Monday we headed South to San Diego. We had no plans on what to see, other than to go see the sights. We enjoyed the trip down - which ended up being around 1 1/2 hours. We looked at the massive Navy ships in the harbor. We also saw what appeared to be a rescue mission of a dolphin in the water, and headed across to a lovely old hotel and the beach where the kids played for a while.
Tuesday was our "early day" at Disneyland. We had the ability to get in one hour early with our passes. We had made a lot of plans from what we had seen on Saturday as to where we would head first, which were a little ruined when we found out that only certain parts of the park were opened early, and not the whole park.
We ended up staying late on Tuesday until around 9.25pm, when we wanted to see the fireworks - but they were again canceled due to high winds. That was disappointing, as Wednesday was our day to head back to Portland, and we were going to miss them.
Wednesday we packed up early, and headed back to the California Park. This was our last day, and Jessie wanted very much to ride the roller coaster called "California Screamin'" We ran madly around the park getting our "Fastpasses" for each of the rides we wanted to go on, and got our tickets for "California Screamin' " which would mean it was the last ride we went on before heading home.
It ended up being great. Jessie and I were the only ones on the ride from the family. Cynfor was not very keen to ride it - I have to say, looking at it, it looked pretty scary - and Tara was not interested in going either. We had four tickets to ride though, so Jessie and I figured if we enjoyed it once, we would go again. Well - we did. We were stuck up in the front of the ride, and enjoyed the best view on our first ride. We went up and down and around and when we returned, Tara and Cynfor were waiting for us - eagerly awaiting our feedback.
Both Jessie and I loved it. It was amazingly smooth, fast, and a lot of fun. Very exhilarating!
We then headed out of the park, back to our hotel, to our shuttle to return back to Portland. Now that we are home, it all feels like a memory - but we know we have the photographs to remind us of how much fun we had! (Just click on the link below to see all the pictures we brought back!)
 |
| Disney March 2007 |
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Our First NBA Game
We went to watch a NBA game on Sunday. It was great experience for all of us. We enjoyed the cheers, entertainment and advertising as well as the game itself. However, just as the football game in Melbourne, the food, the parking and the drinks are all extremely expensive at the venue. The game was between the local Portland team, the Trailblazers and the Seattle Sonics. Portland sadly lost the game by around 20 points.
Cynfor loved the game!
Jessie enjoying her hot dog.
A floating car distributing coupons around the stadium.
Cynfor loved the game!
Jessie enjoying her hot dog.
A floating car distributing coupons around the stadium.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Proud Artist
Jessie's art work had been selected to display at Bethany Village Starbuck's for this month. There are only one piece art work from each grade to be selected every month. She is so proud of herself as you can tell!
This is a picture of the whole display. Can you find her work?
This is a picture of the whole display. Can you find her work?Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Our first sleep-over in our house...
It is common in the USA, as it is in Australia, for school friends to come and stay the night. Well, with Jessie's birthday on Monday (March 5th), we asked her if she would like to have a couple of friends come stay. We did not want to have a huge party, as we are planning to head down to California later in the month to Disneyland, which we thought was enough.
Anyhow, Tara picked up the two visiting friends around 4.30pm on Friday afternoon, and they headed to our place for the rest of the night. We arranged Pizza from Papa Murphy's - which basically is uncooked Pizza made while you wait, then you simply put it in the oven and cook it yourself. We had not had it before, but it was very good - although the order was wrong when we looked at the Pizza's after we got home. It was okay though, the Hawaiian was simply missing pineapple, and the other Pizza was missing MEAT! The kids did not care, actually they preferred the without meat option.
The girls headed off to bed around 9pm, but we knew that they would not be falling asleep in a hurry. That is normal, kids talk and don't want to sleep. So by around 11pm, they eventually started to drift off and sleep!
Above are some pictures of the girls before sleep.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Kung Hei Fat Choi - or "Happy New Year!"
This year is the year of the PIG! Below is a link to us enjoying the celebrations here in Portland.
Best wishes to you all in this the year of the pig.
Best wishes to you all in this the year of the pig.
Let's play trains...
This past weekend, the kids and I decided to take a trip down to the Portland Expo centre to see the model train expo. We managed to get Tara to join us, she has not been feeling well due to a cold.
As you can see by the pictures below, there was a lot of cool trains to see. From some amazingly small ones (check out the one inside the old Macintosh computer) - right up to ride on ones (we have no pictures of that one.)
All in all, it was a fun time - definitely a place to visit if you are interested in model trains at all. They had workshops on how to build scenery, to the story about Walt Disney and his interest in model trains.
As you can see by the pictures below, there was a lot of cool trains to see. From some amazingly small ones (check out the one inside the old Macintosh computer) - right up to ride on ones (we have no pictures of that one.)
All in all, it was a fun time - definitely a place to visit if you are interested in model trains at all. They had workshops on how to build scenery, to the story about Walt Disney and his interest in model trains.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Our trip to Tillamook
On January 28th we went to Tillamook. Tillamook is famous for its cheese. Some of the pictures below were taken outside the cheese factory. The other pictures are of some of the famous Oregon coast. We thought the view was very similar to the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
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