Four Holidays in One

I'm not sure if this has ever happened before, and I am definitely too lazy to do any research, but 2014 saw me celebrating Valentine's Day, Oregon's birthday, my birthday, and President's day all in the same weekend. Similar to last year, though for different reasons, I was able to take a vacation day and make it an extended stay from work.

I committed to attending school functions for both Aaron and Edward; some people might not value taking a day off just to see their kids in school, but it really does refresh me. After riding with the older boys to school, I rode back home to eat a quick breakfast before walking back to the school to accompany Aaron's class on a field trip to the Portland Rock Gym. The day before the teacher had said he had commitments from two parents, so I was surprised that I was one of 10 parents there for the adventure. After a rowdy ride on a Tri-Met bus, the fifth graders spent 90 minutes climbing the 40-foot walls. All of the students appeared to enjoy their time, I didn't see any frustration or disappointment, and everybody appeared to be participating, despite different levels of desire and fitness. Aaron proudly reached the top of three different climbs.

After we returned to the neighborhood, I walked around trying to find a food cart that was both open and accepted credit cards. My odyssey failed, so I ended up eating a couple of tacos from ChaChaCha to keep my stomach from growling while I took pictures at Edward's Valentine's day party. I didn't tell him I would be there, purely for selfish reasons so I can enjoy the look of joy overwhelm him and have him jump out of his seat and race to give me a hug. Since I was one of half a dozen parents to help, I was able to focus on taking pictures of the third graders while they made crafts and decorated cookies and delivered their love buckets to the various administrative staff at the school. 

When the bell rang I rode Aaron's bike home with Edward and then raced back to the school so I could join in the Friday afternoon ritual of the indoor soccer game between the fifth-grade boys and the fifth-grade girls, who also have a few teachers and parents to balance the competitiveness of the game. I was late to join the game, but I'm pretty sure the tide turned as soon as I walked into the gym and laid down the defensive hammer. The girls team that I was on won, but I'm told most games end up a draw, so clearly I made a difference.

After Aaron and I returned home the whole family hopped in the van and drove to the Bagdad Theatre to eat burgers and tots and watch The Lego Movie. We had never been to the Bagdad before, and Meg and I were blown away by how ornate and detailed the decor was and how big the theater was--largest in Oregon maybe? Anyhoo, the movie was fun for all of us, and we ended the night eating crappy fro-yo on Hawthorne--truly everything tastes better in Sellwood/Westmoreland.

Meg hired a real-live sitter for most of Saturday, so the two of us were able to meander around NW Portland. We ate a late lunch at Smokehouse 21; Meg had a coupon, but as we approached the restaurant, the scents won us over and sealed the deal. I devoured enough meat and carb-heavy sides that I fasted for the rest of the day, at least until we hit Voodoo Donuts after the show. But I'm getting ahead of myself . . . The rains weren't too bad for most of the day, although at one point they drove us to seek refuge in a store on 23rd, and the streets were temporarily flooded. I love walking with my lady, as she is a good sport and doesn't fear going too far, which worked out nicely as we also walked by the hospital where I was born.

We made sure to return to The Mission Theater to get in line for Mortified, a live show where six different people get up and read from their journals about awkward times from their youth. Meg had invited two couples with whom we are both friends (they hadn't met each other before, but they got along fine) to join us, so it was the right size party for me to feel comfortable in. We attended Mortifed last year for Meg's birthday (she really likes it) and, though I'm not a big fan of live performances, I enjoyed it more than the last show.

During intermission the sponsors gave away prizes; some of our friends lamented that they never win anything, and they didn't perk up when I informed them that I'm a good luck charm and often win such prizes. All of us were glad that our raffle tickets weren't chosen for the "home organization consultant;" we like keeping our messes to ourselves, thank you very much. But the last prize of the night was for a free hat from Goorin Brothers (a store we had actually walked by earlier in the day)--any hat in the store, your choice. Well, when the MC read the final number and it matched what was in Meg's hand, she jumped up in pure, genuine excitement and let EVERYONE in the theater know that she had won. The MC even specifically asked those who won to make a big deal out of it, but Meg was the only one who heeded his plea. She visited the hat shop a week later (with Aaron, who returned wearing a newsboy cap) and picked out her favorite, which was the second most expensive hat in the shop ($125). Meg has quite the collection of hats and loves wearing them, so it was a perfect prize.

On my actual day of birth, I slept in (as much as one with little kids can) until being showered with retro games (Super Metroid, Link to the Past, Kid Icarus, Mega Man 2) that I have recently rekindled an interest in playing. We later went to the Oregon Historical Society Museum in downtown Portland as a family. Yeah, it's free admission for us Multnomah County residents, but Oregon was one of my first loves, and it was her birthday on the 14th, so it was an especially timely and appropriate place to visit. The museum isn't totally kid-friendly, but it's big and open enough to let them wander around without getting too bored. I especially liked looking at the Ansel Adams collection of 50 or so photos that they had as a special exhibit. Later in the evening Meg and I stole away for a couple of hours (mostly waiting in line) to dine on sushi at Saburo. I'm purposefully not linking to their site because I do not want you to go there and make my wait in line any longer--it takes longer to get in than go on a ride at Disneyland. But the feast is always worth the wait, even in the extreme cold of winter. Lest any of you think I'm gluttonous, we split the sushi you see in the photo.

Finally, to celebrate President's Day I returned to the office and put in a full day of work. I partied so hard this weekend, which is physically and mentally draining on me, that I spent the next Saturday entirely in-doors cleaning and resting and playing retro video games.