Great-Grandkids Galore

Growing up, the Buck grandkids were very close. We vacationed together and celebrated all holidays, big and small, together. We were one rowdy bunch. Looking back, I shudder to think of the chaos that we must have brought to our parents. The chasing, the running, the rabble-rousing. Oh, my!

Now, many of us have our own energetic (new p.c. term for rowdy) children and can barely find time to eat a meal at a family gathering because we are scrambling after our children as they chase around knocking over fragile figurines. I believe this is the precise definition of the word retribution.

Yesterday, most of the cousins reconvened for the baptism of cousin Kara's twin boys. And for the occasion, all eight great-grandchildren were together for the first time. Mary (at the ripe old age of four) is the eldest of the bunch. It was a madhouse, but also sheer joy.

Just look at these adorable little kiddos. They are, from left to right: Brian & Karen's Luke, our Mary holding Kara & Travis' Carter (I hope! Kara am I right?), our Lucy holding Amy & Tom's Chiara, Mike & Kylie's Holden, and Mike & Kylie's Camden holding Kara & Travis' Tyler (forgive us, boys, if we have your names switched!). You can imagine, or should we say appreciate, how easy it was to coordinate a photo for eight children under the age of five! Isn't it GRAND???

Greta Girl's Big Day

Greta at Riverfront Park with her favorite tennis ball after a round of fetch.
Mary the Baker, with the milk bone cake for Greta.
YUM! (Do you think the neighbors thought we were crazy for singing to our dog?)

Our little Greta girl turned seven years old today. To celebrate, we started the day with a jog down to the off-leash park at the riverfront. She ran and chased balls and sniffed other dogs and even dipped her toes in the river; it was the equivalent of doggy heaven.


Once we came home, Mary helped me mix a "cake" for Greta of flour and oil and eggs, with milk bones for frosting. Then, tonight, we had a grand celebration with both sets of grandparents. After dinner, we enjoyed peach summer trifle while Greta was perfectly content to gobble her own cake (well, not perfectly content as I think she truly wished she had a piece of the salmon we had for dinner). However, she enjoyed her cake and even shared a few bites with Freddy, the neighbor's corgi.


Now, Greta is curled up on the sofa, perfectly content to serve as the armrest for our evening Olympic viewing. Our spoiled, sweet, obnoxious, lovable, smart, aloof girl. She is naughty and amazing in equal portions, which I suppose is how most dogs are. We love her because of and in spite of it all. Seven years ago, we traveled two hours to meet Greta, little "Number 9" in a litter of ten pups. One look in her eyes, and we knew she had to come home with us. We're so glad she did.


Happy Birthday, Gray Dog Greta!

Domestic Goddesses

Mother Nature likes to tease Portland during the summers. As such, we've gone from 100+ degree days to 65 degrees and rain. Yesterday, we were treated to an incredible thunder and lightening storm. While watching, we decided the house was finally cool enough to fire up the oven and bake our first, inaugural batch of cookies in the new house.

The girls wore their new aprons that came in a great housewarming package from the Mullens, and were very attentive bakers (as you can see from their stools placed directly in front of the oven to watch the entire baking process!). Following our baking feat, the girls had hours upon hours of playing with baby dolls. They fed them from bottles, put them down for naps ("in the manger, just like baby Jesus," says Mary as she tucks them between pillows of a chair), and read them stories. Every now and then Lucy would approach me and say proudly, "I such a good mother to dis baby."

Meanwhile, I think I win the award for doing more loads of laundry in a single day than anyone on the planet (aside from maybe an employee of Fluff & Fold). As a start, I had a week's worth of laundry and sheets and towels and swimsuits to wash. Then, Lucy decided to add to my workload. First, she had a momentary lapse in judgment and had an accident in the family room. Towels, washclothes, and her clothes. Then, at naptime (during which we always put on a diaper just in case she has an accident while sleeping), she decided to take off her diaper. Guess what happened? Yep, add crib bumper, crib sheet, three blankets, two pillows, her clothes, and a few lucky stuffed animals to the washing list. At this point, I thought for sure we were done with laundry for the day. Nope.

During snacktime, Lucy dumped an entire cup of water all over the kitchen floor. More towels. Then Mary had to contribute something. She was "washing" her baby's face in the bathroom and in the process, got water all over the vanity, all over her clothes, and the floor. More towels.

So, there you have it, Laundress Goddess. Did I mention how glamorous life is as a stay at home mom?

Dog Days of Summer

It's blazing hot in Portland. It hit 100 degrees yesterday, and today is supposed to top out at 103 degrees. Definitely the dog days.

We decided to cool off at the Salmon Springs fountain that's located on the waterfront in downtown Portland. Coincidentally (I think this was a secret plot of Curtis), the New Belgian Fat Tire Tour de Fat bicycle festival was also happening at the park. Beer and bicycles in the same venue = one happy Curtis.

So, we enjoyed some brew, Curtis signed the New Belgian "car-free commuter" pledge, and we watched the crazy parade of unique bicycles. And then we played in the fountain. A fun way to beat the heat!

Glorious Grandparents

Yesterday was grandparents galore at our place. In the morning, the Loebs came and watched the girls so that I could hold a conference call with the office. Then they joined us for swimming lessons at the pool. The girls love learning to swim (or at a minimum, playing in the water). After swimming, the grandparents joined us for lunch. Then last night, the Buck grandparents brought a picnic dinner to us, and we enjoyed a little evening in the park with them.

It's wonderful to live close enough that we can enjoy these visits. The grandparents have been such a huge help to us since the moment we arrived. From watching the girls to househunting to schlepping stuff, they have been amazing.

We stayed with my parents for six weeks while we were first househunting and then waiting for our house to close escrow. After we finally moved into our new house, I missed my parents so much that I kept expecting to see them when I came down for breakfast. Cooking dinner by myself wasn't nearly as enjoyable. Mary and Lucy missed their presence, too, in our day to day routine.

Which makes these visits now all the more special. And the best part? It doesn't require any airplane travel or 12-hour car rides. We are loving it.

Why we love Portland: Reason #189

The "four legged friend waiting area" at our local grocery store.

We love being able to swing by after a jog or walk and pick up groceries....with Greta!

Portlandtopia

We love Portland. We consider it utopia. And as much as we miss (miss miss miss!!!!) our friends in the Bay Area, we are kicking ourselves that we didn't come to Portland sooner.

Call it transplant fever. Call it returning to the mother ship (Heather gets credit for that one). Call it what you may, but we are so in love with the city of roses. People here are so friendly and laid back. When they ask, "How are you today?" as they steam your milk for a latte, they mean it. If you say, "Fine, thanks," they look at you like you have two heads. They actually want to hear how you are.

Our neighborhood is one of the most walkable in the city. Within 10 blocks, we have a hardware store, two grocery stores, the library, the pool, three parks, boutiques, bookstores, coffee shops, furniture stores, yoga studios...you name it. And, because it's walkable, that's what everybody does.

Everywhere we go, people notice that we are new in the neighborhood and introduce themselves. A woman who owns a little shop down the street advised me to just drop in and say hi as I walked by..."all the neighborhood ladies do." A woman I saw at the gelato shop recognized me from an earlier meeting at the park and introduced herself. People at church were so friendly, we were nearly bowled over by them greeting us.

Yesterday, we went to Sundae in the Park, held at our local park to benefit a local charity. There was great music. Tons of young families. They ran out of sundaes, but as you can see by their faces, the girls didn't mind the substitution ice cream bars one bit. As we walked home with another family we met (who live two blocks away, it turns out), we were so blissfully grateful to be in Portland. We walked home along the bluff above Oaks Bottom reservoir, with views of the river and the downtown skyline, and felt like we'd just won the housing lottery of the year.

Now, if we could only convince our Bay Area friends to come join us, life would be perfect.