Thanksgiving Weekend in Portland

Thanksgiving had all the ear marks of a big bummer. We had been REALLY looking forward to my brother and my Aunt coming for Turkey day and they both ended up not being able to come. Lee thought we should just bag the whole thing but I insisted we go through the motions. I am really glad we did. It was kinda nice to have Thanksgiving with just the 4 of us. I have never in my life done such a small holiday. We ate when we wanted, what we wanted, and how much we wanted (knowing we had all the leftovers to ourselves :). I did the whole thing, even homemade pie crusts for my first time. I think it all turned out great (of course because I only had Lee and Keaton to make the yummy noises). I asked Keaton about halfway through the dinner what his favorite part was. He said, "my family of course". You know he was right.

My mom suggested we do something that weekend so we didn't sit around and mope. I am glad she suggested that. We hopped in the car and went to Portland for the weekend (about 3 hours away). Lee and I decided you could take a week just traveling that road. There were so many cool things to look at!

Friday night we went to "The Kennedy School". My cousin and his wife lived in Portland and gave us all kinds of cool suggestions. It is an old school they have turned into a hotel (classrooms are the rooms), indoor pool, cigar shop (in the old detention room), theatre (in the gym full of overstuffed mismatched velvet loveseats not theatre seats), and a charming restaurant. We had a great dinner then went to the tree lighting in Pioneer Square. We didn't know until we got back to the hotel that the square was almost a victim of a terror attack (although it was a pretty good idea since it was wall to wall people). I don't know why you can't see the tree in the pic above....lame.

The next morning Keaton and Lee went on the sub tour (I don't do claustrophobia things and Annah was too little). Keaton and Lee LOVED it. Keaton favorite was when the tour guide told him he could "name a missile and take it home...if you can lift it". Keaton thought that was pretty funny.....Keaton is pretty funny.

Savannah and I didn't have a camera but we went to the Saturday open air market. We wandered the booths for an hour with a smile on our faces. Annah LOVES dogs and Portland has more dogs then any place I know. I love all the little vendor booths. After an hour and a half we were about done and ready for Lee and Keaton to get us so we got some popcorn and listened to a little band playing in their food garden.

Like I said there was so much to see on the road home. This is Multnomah Falls. It is the 2nd tallest falls in the nation. I think it was breathtaking. It was especially cool with the ice on the sides. We loved how everything was covered with moss. We hiked up to that bridge and got a closer look.

On the way up Keaton found a tree to hide in :)

The first bridge....look how mossy the trees were!

There was another water fall about a 1/4 mile away. Not quite as cool but still pretty. Annah wanted to play in the water.

P.S. Don't you LOVE the kids hats? Lee's Mom made them last year. I am so thrilled they still fit this year!