snowy porch

It is snowing here in Portland with seemingly no warning. Henry and Ian got out to enjoy it but quickly got cold and cranky. We have a winter wonderland here and it is beautiful.

in search of snow and papa

My dad is working in Central Oregon, neither Beautiful nor I had to work today so we decided to go have dinner with Papa. The path to papa led over Mt. Hood, or around it anyway so we also went in search of snow. We left around 11 in the morning to make a day of it and it really was a great day. We found some snow in piles and the boys got me with snow balls, or frozen chunks of snow from close range. Since we arrived in Madras, where my dad is working building a contraption that allows the fish to maneuver the new damn, early we decided to explore a little. We followed sign to Overlook Park but they led down some deserted looking roads. I was sure we were soon to be abducted and tortured at any moment but we eventually made it to this overlook and man was it amazing. It looked down into this canyon with a lake below and Mt. hood in the distance. We ran around playing in the brush and enjoying the lovely fall day. These are the days where we take to heart the advice of our great friend Linsey. She told Beautiful that the one thing she regretted most in her frantic job search was not taking time to enjoy the time she had. We are frantic in our job search but really enjoying the opportunity to leave at 11 AM and head over the mountain and through the brush to Papa's work we go. We had diner with Papa at the Black Bear Restaurant in Madras and the boys were thrilled. Finn screamed "Papa's here, Papa's here, I'm so excited!" and Henry stood next to him the whole night at diner laying on his shoulder and kissing him. We made the 2 hour trip back with the boys falling asleep in the back and Beautiful and I listening to some music with smiles.

The beach to the Snow

I am 5000 feet up an hour into to a six hour trip back to Portland with Finn playing with everyone of his trucks on the empty seat in our row. It was an adventure to get from the car to the airplane and a fitting end to an adventure in Hawaii. We have been here for the last six months and we are now heading back to a new house, new housemates and a lot of uncertainty. We spent the morning gathering toys and clothes and getting the bags packed before heading to the beach for one last play in the surf. Finn is now fearless in the water on the day when he is leaving. We was jumping into waves and body a surfing a little even having waves wash over his head as he got up and squealed with joy. While standing the whitewash saying goodbye to some great neighbors I had a Man-of-War wrap completely around my foot. I grabbed Finn and put him out of the water and then walked back in to peel off the jelly fish. It stung immediately and it took me a minute or two to get all the tentacles out. We took that as a cue to head back to the house and as we were walking back I felt the sting move up my leg. After washing off in the outdoor shower I now had a sore leg and really sore groin area. The stinging pain was bad but expected, the pain in my groin was not. Scott said the same thing happened to him when he didn’t get the tentacles off right away and that it goes away in a half hour. It didn’t go away in a half hour and it was a terrible pain. I would focus on the burning sting on my foot to take my mind away from the other pain. Laying on the ground in our room I woke Henry up form his nap with my moaning and after about an hour the pain started to go away. My foot still hurts after four hours but I can live with that. I made it the whole 6 months without getting hit and on the morning we left, as a going away present, I got a fine send off.

Finn and I are now in Clatskanie making our way through the snow and slushy streets. We walked down for coffee this afternoon and went out later in the car to visit some cousins. It is fun for us to be in the snow but for everyone here they are over it. We will go visit Papa tomorrow if we can make it out and then head to Portland later this weekend to make sure I can make it to work next week.

The in between times

Over the past couple of weeks we have had some good snow fall to make the scene lovely but the getting around a pain. I have become an expert in getting stuck and unstuck in snow banks and come to appreciate a lot of the neighbors that I thought had hid away for the winter. People materialize out of nowhere when you get stuck, all the while talking about the blizzard of 78 when things were really tough. Finn loves being outside in the cold so we get him in his snow suit and sit him out on the porch while we get ready. As soon as he sees the snow suit he starts grinning and kicking his legs like crazy, I think that is baby for "Jackpot!" The snow makes it more difficult to get out and walk and the worry of getting stuck in our un-plowed alley makes driving a chore so we sit at home mostly. Playing, sleeping, eating, and playing some more fill most days as I plan the things I want to do when it warms up a bit. This seems to be an in-between time, a time of forced rest and solitude before a more hectic time. It is odd that the more crazy and busy Kate's work schedule is, and right now it is really busy, the slower my days are. I read a 400 page book in two days between Finny naps. I'm really enjoying this time.