Walla Walla weekend

Randy, Trey and I just got home from an awesome weekend in Walla Walla.  We went for Randy's 20th year high school reunion, but we got the added bonus of some wine tasting and time with friends.

On Friday we stopped at some waterfalls on the way east thinking that Trey would love them as much as he loved Multnomah Falls.  As you can see, it wasn't his cup of tea...

After the falls, we went to one of our favorite towns, Hood River.  We stopped at a playground so Trey could run around and then went to Full Sail Brewery for lunch.  Our plan worked perfectly as Trey fell asleep as soon as we left Hood River.

Randy: "Say cheese, monkey."

Trey: "Cheese monkey!!!" 

Trey and Randy at Full Sail

You may see a theme in these photos in that it is hard 

to capture him still and/or looking at the camera. 

We got into town early enough on Friday to stop by some wineries before the first reunion event.  We went to two of my favorites: Watermill Winery and Gifford Hirlinger.  We didn't love Watermill as much as we usually do, but we LOVED Gifford Hirlinger.  I think I have enjoyed every single wine that I have tasted from them, and I can't believe they aren't more popular.  We stopped by our house that we rented on the way to the Friday night event for Randy's reunion.  I'm happy to say that I was able to introduce Randy to pre-funcing, something he had never heard of until this summer when we were talking about my high school reunion. The first event of Randy's reunion was a pool party at one of the grad's house.

 As you can see, Trey wasn't interested in socializing.

 Eventually, he warmed up and came out of the house.

He still didn't have much interest in talking to anyone, but to be fair, almost all of the other kids were in the pool.  Randy and I were able to leave before Trey started asking to go swimming (my one goal for the reunion was to avoid getting in my swimsuit).

Randy's friend from high school, Val, and her husband, Marty, stayed at the house with us, and we had such a great time with them!  They also brought their dog, Tilly, and it was great for Trey to spend some time with a dog again.

Saturday, we went to breakfast at the Maple Counter Cafe which was f-ing awesome.  It's Sunday night and I'm still thinking about it.

pre-breakfast drinks 

Trey's french toast bear 

My apple pancake which I don't think was very Weight Watchers friendly 

We all decided to do some wine tasting before the Saturday reunion event at the park.  We went to Dunham Cellars and Russell Creek Winery out by the airport.  Then my awesome husband took Trey home to put him down for a nap, and Val, Marty, and I went to a few more wineries before going back.

 At Dunham Cellars

Trey wasn't very interested in a photo. 

Trey relaxing while we drank wine 

Tasting at Russell Creek

This had been recommended to me, but the service 

was so poor we thought the wine wasn't very good. 

It's amazing how good service 

(as in saying hello to your customers) makes such a difference.

Val and I at Revelry Vintners 

I think Gifford Hirlinger will always be my favorite, 

but this one could easily be in second place.

The Saturday event for the reunion was a catered lunch at Pioneer Park.  Trey was napping, so Randy, Val, and Marty went to the lunch while I stayed at home and Trey slept.  Trey and I got there late, but I didn't get to socialize much because Trey wanted to play at the playground.  I wasn't too devastated by this, but I was sad that I didn't get to talk to Randy's friend Jon who had come from Dubai.   After the lunch in the park, we went wine tasting again, of course.  

Charles Smith Winery 

This morning we went to breakfast again at Bacon and Eggs.  It was good (I mean who doesn't like banana pancakes...well, besides my son), but not as good as the Maple Counter.

I pulled out a new sticker book when Trey started to get antsy.  This strategy worked great for his antsiness, but had him so distracted he wouldn't eat a bite.

After saying goodbye to Val, Marty, and Tilly, we headed out of town.  We hoped Trey would fall asleep but he was fighting it like crazy.  We stopped at a park about halfway home and got Trey out to play for a while (and somehow Randy ended up fishing).  This worked out great because Trey fell asleep shortly after leaving.

Pretty sweet backdrop for a park, if you ask me. 

Now we are home safe and sound with Monday morning looming.  I haven't done any meal planning, have laundry to do, and the house is a disaster.  This isn't exactly how I like to start a week, but oh well.  The weekend was awesome and Trey was a rockstar.  Randy and I are so lucky to have such a well-adjusted flexible boy.  

My two guys, two peas in a pod

Happenings in the Clark house

The last few weeks have included Labor Day weekend and the first few weeks of the school year.  I am back to work full time and Trey is back to full time daycare.  The weekdays are long, and the weekends are precious.  Here are some pictures and stories since the beginning of September.

Trey and I probably went to the zoo about once a week during the summer.  On our last trip there, we were the first ones through the gates.  We were all alone for about the first 45 minutes and it took all the way down to the tractor and the farm animals before we saw another person.  It was awesome.

Bears!  We usually start in Africa, but Trey seemed a little bored with 

the animals the last time we went, so I went through the Northwest section first.  

It was cool to see some of the animals we don't ever look at. 

Trey making his way down the path.  

He was a boy with a mission. 

Near the tigers Trey found this rainbow on the ground.

He was fascinated with it and couldn't have cared less about the tigers. 

Trey and I had a lot of playdates over the summer.  It was so much fun to spend time with my friends and their kids.  At the end of the summer, we were finally able to get together with Dyer and Oliver, and Kellie and Jackson joined us too.  Here are the boys on the porch throwing things out in to the street for Dyer to fetch.  Okay, it was only Oliver throwing things into the street because Jackson was playing with a fishing pole and Trey can't throw that far.  

Trey spent a lot of time this summer playing with his Sesame Street guys.  I loved watching him play independently as he would lie down on the floor and start talking for Ernie and Big Bird (or Elmo or Cookie or Bert or...).

Randy is definitely trying to make his imprint on our son.  We've started with the fishing gear, and this summer Trey fell in love with Randy's kayak and skateboard.  Here is the latest:

Randy giving Trey his first Metallica lesson 

One of our favorite parts of summer was dining al fresco.

Trey and I also spent a lot of time this summer with Mindy and Camille.  We found a park that is sort of halfway and met there on a sunny afternoon.  As Trey and Camille played on this play structure, Camille picked up a Minnie Mouse bottle that seemed to be filled with bubbles or soap.

As Mindy was putting it up so the kids couldn't reach it, she discovered something disgusting on her hand.  After using a wet wipe, she went to get some hand sanitizer, and I climbed up on the play structure to see where the poop was.  This is what I found instead:

Yes, it had a needle sticking out. 

I moved the syringe to a high place, and we let the kids play for a while longer keeping a very close eye on the surfaces of where they were playing.  After a while, we got too sketched out and took them to a coffee shop instead.  I'm not sure if we will ever go back to that park again.

Cutie pies, oblivious to the poop and needles, thank god

Our friends Jen and Steve came to Portland a few weeks ago for a long weekend.  They moved to Wisconsin in December 2010, and while I have seen Steve a few times on his return visits to Portland, I have not seen Jen.  I was so excited to see her and I was afraid I was going to cry when we reunited.  

Sarah, Jen and I at Hopworks for dinner on Friday night

We went to Metrovino with our other friend Jen 

later that night for some girl talk and wine.  

It was a perfect evening. 

Steve...oh how I miss this face! 

Trey has been really interested in sunglasses lately, and I gave him this pair that one of our babysitters left by accident (she has since moved to Texas which is why they are now Trey's).  I came out from the kitchen and found him like this.  Man, I love my boy.

On Sunday morning, we went to OMSI.  This is such a classic picture of Trey hoarding.  He does this all the time, and I am relieved to know that other toddlers do this too.

OMSI has the most diverse group of figures: a girl in a wheelchair, a blind man with a cane, a man in leg braces, a woman with two canes, a boy with a hearing aid, and then figures of all different races and dress.  I was amazed and at times sort of amused.

Sunday afternoon Sarah and Neil hosted a party for Jen and Steve so they could see their Portland friends.  It was a great afternoon, and it was so fun to catch up with people.

Old friends are the best friends! 

Madi, Trey, and Ashlyn (Nyree's girls)

Oh, how this picture makes me miss the old days. 

What I love about good friends is how almost two years can pass 

and when we get together it's like not a day has gone by. 

This is the main difference from the old days... 

Last weekend we went to the open house for the newest pub in our neighborhood called Oregon Public House.  They haven't opened yet, but it's going to be really cool to have another family friendly pub in our neighborhood.  Trey loved the band and even danced a little.

Saturday we got together with Julie, Tim and Grady at a park near their house to take some pictures.  Watching these two boys together just filled my heart with love.  I cannot wait to watch them grow up together, and I hope they are really good friends.  Baby #2 McGuire will be making their appearance in February, and that just means Trey will have another cousin to love.  I can't wait!

Do you think Grady can keep him from falling? 

It is amazing to me that this is Grady STANDING next to Trey.  

He's almost one which just is unbelievable to me.  

Looks like some important transaction is about to happen... 

Later in the day we played outside.  

I can't get over the fact that my baby is such a boy! 

Here is Trey is his sleeping bag/pillow/dog combo which he loves.  

When he pretends to sleep it may be the cutest thing ever.  

Trey helping me with dishes 

Sunday Trey and I drove down to meet my dad and Sandy at Enchanted Forest.  A lot of it is the same as I remember from when I was a child.  Trey enjoyed it and we had a good time, but I don't need to go back for a while.

Trey, Sanny, and Papa 

Checking out the seven dwarves house 

Walking in the crooked house 

Sandy and I both remembered the crooked house as being one of our favorite things, and Trey loved it too.  I think we had to walk through about four times.

Driving the engine on the train 

This was hands down Trey's favorite part of Enchanted Forest. 

I think we went down the slide at least four times.

The slide comes out of the Old Woman's Shoe. 

Sunday afternoon we met our new friends at the Swap n Play, and Trey scored with a new guitar that our friend was going to donate to the co-op.  Trey went to sleep with the guitar on Sunday night, and when he woke on Monday morning it was around his neck in a second.  It's a pretty sweet guitar, and I'm so glad our friend let us take it home.

Tonight I went to listen to an author at Powell's talk about his book How Children Succeed.  His premise is that the typical way of measuring success by standardized tests is not very accurate and that a better way to measure success is by using character traits such as optimism, curiosity, perseverance, self-control, and grit.  I found his talk to be very interesting, and I look forward to reading his book.

This weekend we are headed to Walla Walla for Randy's 20th high school reunion.  I am so excited to get away for the weekend, do some wine tasting, and see some friends.  I also can't wait to introduce Randy to pre-funcing!  Stories and pictures to follow!