Ryan's dining partners in Portland--Claire & Brooke (Brooke has a patch on her eye because she scratched her cornea before we got there)
Above are pictures from our room in Portland.....tight quarters! 
At the zoo...elephant in background...
Hanging out with Claire & Brooke & the penguins....
With Claire...
Baby and Mommy Elephant...Ryan's favorite combination of people (or animals)
Baby Elephant in background...
More Baby Elephant...Sorry, Charley, no pictures of you at the zoo. You were there and enjoyed strolling around eating Cheerios.
Onto Phase 3 of the trip. On Monday morning we got up early at the beach and it took us from 7 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. to get the house cleaned up which is to be expected considering we had a demolition crew going behind our efforts. Our goal was to leave at 11:00 a.m. and Greg (Pat's friend) took the day off to spend time with us and we didn't even get to Portland until close to 3 p.m. We felt real good about that.
Once we arrived in Portland we met Greg, Claire (4-years-old), and Brooke (2-1/2 years old) at the zoo. We strolled through the zoo and got to see polar bears, penguins, elephants (and a baby elephant), birds, zebras, and monkeys (and more that I can't remember probably).
Then, we went to Greg & Kim's house which was full of fun toys to play with. Greg made kabobs for us and they were delicious!! He also sauteed peppers and onions....I loved them (and just had to document that here so I'll remember to make them). Kim made a frozen lemon pie that was very similar to my "famous" frozen key lime pie but I may have liked it better.
The next morning Greg and Pat played golf. Kim took the day off of work which was really nice. Ryan had a meltdown that took about 45-minutes to get her back on track. Brooke had a baby stroller and Ryan had put 4 dolls in it the night before. However, by the next day all of the girls had one of the dolls and Ryan wanted ALL of them to herself. So, she had to be removed from the situation because she couldn't share THEIR toys. It took a while for her to recover. We then loaded up to go to an outdoor shopping area. We strolled around, went into a couple of shops, let the girls play on the playground equipment, and got PF Changs takeout to go back to the house. We got home and the girls napped. They woke up and we took a walk through this really great trail that took us to a couple of playgrounds. Yeah-Batesville doesn't have anything of the sort unless you include the walks by the river and surrounding chicken plants. Then, we got home and the girls played in their inflatable pool. Ryan, Claire and Brooke sat together at all of the meals and they were so cute. They were talking about their dog, Simon. Brooke told Ryan what his name was and Ryan did her usual "Whyyyy?" complete with hand motions and scrunched up nose as if it was the most profound question ever asked. I was so sad as I saw that her question was ignored. That night we had ribs that Greg smoked all day, green beans with BACON, and cornbread. We had the lemon pie again....and later on Kim and I had 2nd pieces...you've got to love someone who will do that with you!
On Wednesday, Greg and Kim returned to work and I had a GLORIOUS day to myself. I went and had an hour and half massage at 10 a.m. then had shwarma and baba ganoush at a Mediterranean restaurant. I was going to go to Powell's books but called Thomasin who loves Portland and she directed me to NW 23rd which is the reason we are going into foreclosure next week. All I initially wanted to do was spend the afternoon sipping tea and perusing books with lofty ideas. What I did instead was spend my life savings on a small number of trendy and hip clothes for my two little daughters who couldn't care less if they wore stained clothes that are 15 years old. I also bought some new makeup which I really did need and three items for myself from a consignment shop. I remember hearing that mothers sacrificed buying things for themselves so that their children can have the best. I guess buying used clothes counts. But, I'm not sure if it does if one of the shirts is Diane von Furstenberg following an hour and a half massage. While I enjoyed my afternoon of leisure, Pat went to visit two Saras. Sara Kincaid was his student at Gonzaga and one of Ryan's first babysitters. I really did want to see her but really did need some alone time. Then, he went to see one of his first loves, Sara Ellis (remember that because he will see another first love in the next few installments...hmmmm...should I worry?) We went back to Greg and Kim's and Jason and Arian came over for leftovers. We had more ribs and pizza. They brought a yogurt cake from TCBY. It was delicious. They don't have children and don't want them, either. Greg and Kim are always trying to convince them they do want children but their message may have been lost that night when Brooke pooped in her pants, Ryan & the other girls did horror movie screams because of a bee outside which moved all of us back inside to dine, and I left to put Charley to bed carrying a glass of wine. It really IS wonderful being a parent despite how it looks!
We left Portland the next morning and began Phase 4 of our trip in Seaside, Oregon with Jeanne Mae's side of the family. But, before we head out, a few little details from the trip (versus the chronological timeline above).
The four of us slept in a small room with a queen-sized bed (pictures above). Charley and I slept in the bed and Pat and Ryan made a pallet at the foot of the bed that took up all of the floor space between the bed and closet. The other floor space between the bed and wall on each side was taken up by luggage. This is not how I normally like to live but it was surprisingly just fine. It's amazing what living with two small children will do with you tolerance levels. Other than the doll episode mentioned, Ryan got along very well with Brooke and Claire. Greg and Kim do not baby them or make sure their emotional states are healthy at all times and therefore their children do not appear to be whiny and listen when they are told to do something. Their bedtime routine is vastly different from our 2 hour routine. I'm using the word routine lightly because their routine is put on your pajamas, brush your teeth, and go to bed without 600 trips back in with various threats. Pat always talks about how "crazy" Greg is and that he is his wildest friend. But honestly, I was so impressed by their parenting abilities and am trying to do some things a little more like them.
I think that's it from that phase. I'll see you in Seaside....KK
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