Disneyland. Whew.

Well, 16 of us traveled from Portland to Southern California for a visit to the Happiest Place on Earth. It sounds like some cooky sitcom, but everything actually went very well and we just had an amazing time. Tucker, Cade, Grammy Pam, Papa Randy, G.G., Uncle Randy, Aunt Sarah, Jake, Max, Claire and Nana Karleen left on the Wednesday after the (GLORIOUS) election. Sean, Janice, Dennis, Ashe & Finn joined us on Thursday.

Thankfully, we are not crazy and all had our own itineraries, but shared plenty of time together. We also got to spend time with our families (and my dear friend, Kristen!) who live in the area, as well.

We managed to squeeze in many good times, including days at Disneyland, California Adventure and Universal Studios. We celebrated Cade, Tucker and Janice's birthday at a breakfast filled with Disney characters at Goofy's Kitchen.

We had gorgeous weather, but are back in Portland hunkering down for a long gray winter. But, we look forward to many good times with friends and family in the next few months!

The Windy City

I just got back from Chicago with Janice, my mom, Pam & Yvette. I got tickets to the Oprah show a few weeks ago and I knew my mom was definitely going. I asked Janice and Pam and got enthusiastic responses from them, too. Yvette is usually up for any trip, so I'm so glad she came along! We had a great time, ate great food, didn't spend too much shopping, and had fun sight-seeing. Oh, and we went to the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Pam got there earlier (mid-afternoon) on Monday and the rest of us showed up around 9pm. Pam got to enjoy authentic deep-dish Chicago-style pizza with a childhood friend of Sean & Drew's, Annie McMannis (she's married with a new name now, but we all called her Annie McMannis). It was great to meet them at the hotel for a quick drink before Annie had to go home to her lovely family. Before she left, though, Annie gave us some great tips on what to do and see in her very fine city.

We stayed at the Hotel Affinia on Superior, a block off Michigan Avenue. The location was perfect, the hotel was gorgeous, and the staff was amazing. I can't think of a time I've had better service at any hotel. We decided it was just because we were their favorite guests.

Tuesday, we had lunch, shopped and went to the top of the John Hancock Building for drinks before we went to dinner. We enjoyed a good meal at Sushi Samba, an Asian/Brazilian/ Peruvian fusion restaurant. I mostly went the Asain way, but other tastes were enjoyed, as well.

Did I mention we ate a lot? We were there for less than 72 hours, but in typical Ordal/Ealy fashion, we managed to fit in plenty of times for dining and drinks.

Wednesday was our Oprah day, and it was really a day. We left our hotel at 10:00, got to the studios at 10:15, got in line and waited to get into the studio. We then waited to have our coats checked, bags searched and our identities proven. Then we went upstairs and waited for over an hour, so we could go back downstairs to get into the studio to wait for Oprah. I'm just going to say that the topic was curious and generally low energy all around. It's supposed to air Tuesday, October 14.

After a quck bite and a beer, we headed back to meet Yvette at the hotel. We hung out for a bit before heading to the rooftop bar at Affinia. It was almost sunset, and just absolutely stunning!

Yesterday, before heading to the airport, we enjoyed a stroll to Navy Pier, a delicious waterfront lunch and a beautiful walk along the beaches of Lake Michigan. Janice, Pam and I talked about what a great place Chicago would be to bring children. There are great museums, beaches, walks, and other attractions kids would just love. This was only my second trip to Chicago and I can't wait to go back!

Wholesome Fall Fun Day

We began our Saturday, as we have begun many Saturdays this fall, by going to Cade's soccer game. Typical Portland fall weather consisted of blazing sun, blustery rain and cool temperatures. Those 1st grade Red Bulls (and Tucker) are really amazing. The play hard, fast and seem to know what they're doing. It's been a fun season so far - both boys are really enjoying this sport.

Sean's birthday is on Tuesday, October 7th. But since, sadly, I will be gone on that day, we celebrated with friends and family yesterday while watching USC trounce Oregon last night. The outcome of the game was quickly put behind us as we continued to enjoy ourselves after the game.

Thank you so much to the Ordals, O'Dranes, Charbonneaus, Sorensens, Shupps, Kevans, Stephensons, Beldens, and the Gellers for helping Sean ease into his 37th year. I got a late start on the photo taking at the party, but there are a few fun ones (after I almost burned the house down...)

Napa Valley 2008

OK, I realize this hasn't been the most kid-centric place in a while. I'll get back to that in a couple of weeks. I just want to write a brief post on my recent trip to Napa with 10 lovely ladies. There were 11, yes 11, women staying in one house. There was no drama. There were no pillow fights (although there was some skinny dipping). And there was no lack of wine, beer or margaritas.

My wonderful, cuddly, friend, Andrea organized this 2nd annual trip for her good friends. Over the weekend, there was a lot of discussion about Andrea as a friend. The consensus was that we are all VERY lucky friends indeed and Andrea is a very rare find. We love her!

This was also our second stay at The Winemaker's House in Oakville. It's the best house ever, complete with a gorgeous pool and surrounded by the breathtaking Mondavi vineyards.

We enjoyed a winetasting tour (Cakebread, Mumm, St. Clement, Markham and Frank Family Winery) on Friday. Saturday consisted of the spa for some and pool time for the others. I'm not sure which group had a better time.

I just hope I get invited again next year (and the year after...).

An Affair to Remember

This past weekend, my dear friend, Monica, married her match, Brett. They treated their guests to a weekend full of celebration with family & friends, old and new. They started things off Friday night with cocktails at Cafe Allora where many gathered to toast Brett & Monica as husband and wife to be. To say that people had a good time is putting things mildly.

On Saturday, I was honored to join Monica, Lindsey, Angela and Larissa at Hotel Lucia to watch Monica transform into one of the most beautiful brides I've ever seen (how hard is that for her, really?). Once again we shared a toast and they were on the way to pictures and the beautiful venue.








The wedding took place rooftop at the Historic Ecotrust Building in the Pearl District. Like Monica, the ceremony was short, sweet and very thoughtful. The setting was gorgeous taking place at almost sunset.

The ceremony was followed by plenty of food, drinks and dancing!

Once again, a good time was had by all!

To keep things going, Brett & Monica hosted, yes, the bride and groom, hosted a beatiful Sunday brunch to send off their out of town guests with delicious food and appropriate brunch cocktails. For me it was such a great weekend seeing old friends and meeting new friends.

Much love to Brett & Monica!

It's That Time of Year Again

Shorter days, cool breezes, lunch boxes, football, and school buses. Yep, today was the first day of school for Portland Public. Cade started first grade and seemed to have a really good day. He saw some friends from last year and is really looking forward to meeting new ones. And, well, Tucker is starting yet another year of preschool! Poor Tucker...Cade left their preschool last year, and Finn left to begin kindergarten and Laurelhurst this year. Tucker is the only one left. He'll definitely be ready next year!

Another first was my first day working in BPA's Portland Headquarters today. My job hasn't changed; just my location. It's nice to be closer to home, but it will be hard to get used to paying for parking, and the culture is a bit different. I get to work with my other "sister" Sandy, as we share a common wall. She's the best and, besides sharing her newspaper with me, she always keeps me laughing!

Cade had his first soccer practice of the season and loved it! All the guys on the team seemed to have a great time. The coach seems very dedicated and kind, and the parents seem like a lot of fun.

I wasn't ready for this week at all and need to work on getting organized for the school year. I guess I was expecting that we might actually have summer weather at some point. Maybe next year!

Summer's End

We're wrapping up the summer enjoying friends and family. Sean and I enjoyed this past Saturday by going to Ada's wedding, a good friend of Sean's from work. The wedding was beautiful and we had a great time at the reception. Ada was a gorgeous bride!

Sean and I finished up the evening by going to our good friend, and neighbor, Amy's XX'th birthday party. Amy's husband, Jon threw the party at the Chameleon, a delicious restaurant here in the neighborhood.

I talked to Jan on Saturday, and she invited us to Mt. Hood with her family and my parents. We booked a condo at Collins Lake Resort in Government Camp. Sean came up with us and spent Saturday night and the rest of us hung out until Tuesday. We were looking forward to fun in the sun,

but the weather didn't cooperate with us. We still had a great time on this last-minute summer mini-vacation. It was so nice to have my parents hang out with all the grandsons for a few days.

After Sean left on Monday, Dennis, Janice, Ashe, Finn, Cade, Tucker and I tried to go to the adventure park at Mt. Hood Ski Bowl, complete with alpine slides, go karts, bumper cars, and minitare golf. We took the lift up to try out the alpine slide, only to get to the top and be told the park was closing due to weather. It was FREEZING on the ski lift. A good lesson in the great outdoors living or playing in Oregon. It is a mountain after all, and we quickly learned that conditions can change very quickly! Needless to say, we were a disappointed group, and out a small bundle of money, but the boys had a great afternoon anyway. We headed home today and (I) spent a good amount of the afternoon playing Rock Band. Now it's time to hunker down and get ready for the school year starting next week!

Oaks Park - A Blast From the Past

Cade, Tucker and I began our day doing their favorite thing - running errands. Whenever they hear me say that word, they hide. I coerced them by letting them know that following our trip to Fred Meyer, I had a surprise for them. Fred's was a bit challenging today. They seemed to be out of everything on our list. And, man, did I feel like such a loser after waiting in the customer service line for 15 minutes to redeem my $5 Mama Mia Scratch Off only to be told that their lottery machine was down and they could not pay out any winning tickets until it came back up hours later. I shuffled away to fulfill the rest of the items on my list, and we were on our way. We stopped for lunch at Madison's Bar & Grill where we enjoyed a delightful patio lunch before heading to our surprise.








The surprise I had in store for Cade & Tucker was that we were meeting Finn, Ashe and Auntie Janice at Oaks Park. Oaks Park is a nastalgic 103-year old amusmement park here in Portland. We met Jan's boys there to enjoy one of the last days of summer vacation. Ashe, Cade, Finn & Tucker enjoyed a great day with their go-anywhere-do-anything passes. I seemed to take on the younger boys, Finn & Tuck who just had a blast on any form of transportation - motorcycles, airplanes (that come with shotguns?), and cars.















Oh, and when was the last time you saw one of these:

August Shenanigans

08/18/08

This past weekend, Cade, Tucker and I enjoyed a weekend in Merlin, stopping first for an overnight stay at the Red Lion in Eugene. I enjoyed Thai food from Mekkala's and Cade & Tucker ate pizza poolside. Sean wasn't able to make it as he played in a baskteball tournament in Vancouver with Uncle Dennis (see Janice's blog), and is now in Springfield, Ill working hard.





We left Eugene Friday morning and the boys enjoyed their first (and likely, last) trip to Wildlife Safari. While we all had a good time, once is really enough to visit there. We saw lots of animals - lions, tigers, bears, camels, bald eagles, ostriches, giraffes, monkeys, etc... After W.S., the boys enjoyed a trip to Abacela winery with me where I tasted several wines for wedding gifts and bottles to enjoy over our weekend with Grammy, Big R, Uncle Randy, Auntie Sarah, Max, Jake, Baby Claire and GG.





We had such a great weekend in Merlin. Our biggest excursion included a Bloody Mary brunch with Dawn Welch, Larry Miller, Deb & Fritz. That set the tone for a weekend of food and fun around the Ealy pool where most of our time was spent. All the boys were angels and Claire is such an amazing addition to the family. Cade LOVES her! Cade's newest phrase is, "OK, first things first." Tucker's newest is, "didn't see that one coming."

All four cousins got to enjoy visits with GG (Great Grandma). She, of course, brought many things for the boys and they enjoyed THREE rounds of special gifts just for them.

After our drive home from Merlin, Cade & Tucker were very happy to go see Clone Wars with their Portland cousins, Ashe & Finn and Auntie Janice (once again, see Janice's blog).


We have been lucky that this is our second weekend we've enjoyed spending with the Ealy clan. Last weekend was Randy Jr. (Drew)'s birthday where we invited ourselves out to Colton to spend the weekend. Pam & Randy came up from G.P. and we all spent Drew's birthday in the country, once again eating and drinking and with the boys going crazy.






Speaking of Colton, we were introduced to Rock Band while we were visiting. OMG!!! I LOVE and can't get enough of it. The boys tolerate my singing and drum solos, but I'm sure would rather not. Sean, of course, wants nothing to do with it as he can't understand why we would pretend to play fake instruments instead of the real thing.





After a great weekend in Colton, we spent Sunday afternoon bowling at Grand Central. A great time had by all!