Sunday Sightseeing Spectacular

Craig and Janene were in town last week following the 50th Anniversary Party.  I took off work Friday to spend some time with them, which included breakfast at Original Pancake House and Voo Doo donuts for lunch.  It wasn't until dinner at Brian and Debbie's house that I had some real food that day.

Saturday was spent at Mason's soccer game followed by dinner with the out of town group at the food carts.

Sunday was out big sight seeing day.  We started out at my parent's house and headed down the Gorge on the Washington side from there.  Due to a needed bathroom break by my kids, we stopped at Beacon Rock.  We couldn't (immediately) find the bathroom so Luis and the kids relieved themselves in the woods which resulted in Siena getting her shorts wet.  So we stripped her and headed off to Skamania Lodge.

Here's mom and Janene at the Beacon Rock pit stop.

After ushering a britchless Siena through Skamania Lodge, we were finally able to buy her some shorts at the pool spa.  Once that was done we could finally settle down and focus on lunch.  As you can see Craig and Mason were very focused on lunch.

Mom and Janene were very focused on the word find on the kids menu.

Is it an elk or a moose?!?  After much debate...we determined moose.

Mason and the moose.

Tables are just their size.

Aaahhh yes, adirondak chairs, sunny day, beautiful view...this is the life.

Mason found some fun.

From Skamania we headed down the hill to the interpretive center.  I love climbing on old mechanical equipment.

Papa Ron mans the rusty tractor.

Mason likes climbing on old mechanical equipment too.

Luis channels his inner saskwatch.

Fish catcher.

Inspecting the old lumber truck.

What's in there?!?

How does this work?

Got any trees that need cutting?

Dong.

Steering the ship...

Firing the cannon...

Them some big rope cables (comparison to Siena's hand).

Mom and Janene in front of the logging truck.

Pilot dreams.

Checking out the old school desks.

Might be a little small for some kids...

What's in here...

Did I mention my love of rusty machinery?

Channeling my inner farmer.

Mason too.

Siena's happy to just go along for the ride.

After the interpretive center, we crossed over the river at Hood River and spent some time at the shops in downtown Hood River.  We also enjoyed some ice cream and these family sized chairs!

More ice cream enjoyment.

Kids behind bars!

When in Chicago, my cousin Carrie was looking for some flip flops for walking around the city.  The cheapest she could find were $30.  These $5 ones were a much better deal!

Siena on a big pink, uh, chair?

After shopping in Hood River, we drove up to Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood.  Not much snow this time of year but the mountain is still impressive.

Not sure if Mason is enjoying the love from his sister or not.

Luis, Janene, mom, dad, and the kids in front of Timberline.

The cool old chairs in Timberline.

Yaya and her boy on the balcony.

Fun facts...

Mason tests his new coin trick at an old desk in the lodge.

Shuffleboarding.

Siena has a new hobby!

I found Craig's hat.

Old style picture like the one in the background...still in Craig's hat.

I love the old remnants in the lodge.  I half expected to see Jack Nicholson's head pop up behind these bars.

And the old mail boxes.

After a wonderful dinner at the lodge, it was time to head back.  It was such a fun day and so nice to be able to spend time with Craig and Janene before they headed back home.

Ron & Lucie's 50th Anniversary

Yesterday we celebrated my Uncle Ron and Aunt Lucie's 50th Wedding Anniversary.

It was a beautiful day up at my parent's house.  A number of people came out for the occasion, including my cousins Craig and Carrie who flew out from Illinois.

Lucie with her beloved great granddaughter.

Ron and Lucie through the years.  Note the nuts and mints.  These are a Kinney family wedding staple.

This little one LOVES her great grandpa Ron!

Ron & Lucie and their family - son Brian, grandkids, and great grandkids.

The happy couple.

Ron and Lucie with Lucie's sisters.

Family pic with siblings.

My cousins Brian and Larry.

Cousin picture.  From left - Larry, me, Craig, Carrie, Judy, Curt, Brian, Denise, and Cheryl.  For some reason Mason got his mug in the background.

Mom and her bro Leonard.

Getting ready for speeches.

Mom spoke first and had some good stories from living with Ron and Lucie when she was a teenager.

Brian spoke next and also had some wonderful things to say about his folks.  He also presented them with a gift of a trip to New Orleans and a Caribbean cruise this spring.  I had to talk to him about setting the bar too high at this event...I'm on deck for my parent's 50th in 5 years... :-)

Awwwww.....

Cake - modeled after their wedding cake from 50 years ago.

Cake pose.

Opening cards.

Um, I guess they only make so many 50th Anniversary cards...

It was a really fun party and it was great to see family that I don't get to see very often any more.  We may need a few more family parties to bring people out of the woodwork.

How Much Can We Fit Into One Week

Clearly, our goal for this last week was to cram 2 months worth of excitement into 6 days.  It all started on Tuesday.  Luis started his new job at Springbrook Software (sorry, no first day of work photo for Luis).  The kids had their first day of school for the year.  And I went to Chicago for a conference.

Mason is snow in third grade and Siena in first.  Both kids had great first weeks of school and are happy to see their friends again.

I was busy during the days in Chicago at the conference but on Wednesday and Thursday evenings was fortunate to get to spend time with my Chicago relatives, Janene, Carrie, and Craig.  They were amazing hosts!  They drove into the city each evening and took me to two incredible dinners.  The first was at http://www.chicagopizzaandovengrinder.com/ where I had my first pizza pot pie.  This is definitely not something that would be found in Portland.

Thursday night we went to Lawry's - famous for its prime rib.  And it was good!  We had a chance to do some walking around on Michigan Ave., also known as the Magnificent Mile.  There is a lot going on down here, even on a weeknight.  This is the water tower - one of the only structures to survive the great Chicago fire of 1871.

We went up to the top of the Hancock building after dinner.  This is the view from the ladies room at the 96th floor lounge.  Incredible.

Our conference ended at 2 on Friday and since our flight home didn't leave until 9, my coworker Julia and I decided to go sight seeing.  Here's a self portrait of us at the big "Bean" in Millennium Park.

This is the Pavilion in Millennium Park.  The Lyric Opera was performing a dress rehearsal while we were walking by.

The Chicago River.

Navy Pier.

After walking around for an hour or two, we decided to give our feet a break and take the double decker bus tour.  Definitely a good choice.  We got to see much more of the city and learn a little bit about it along the way.  As seen on the tour:

The Chicago Tribune building

Wrigley building

Hancock Tower

First Presbyterian Church

The Merchandise Mart was the largest building in the world with 4,000,000 sq feet of floor space.

We got our kicks on Route 66.

The Chicago Building was my favorite building.  With all its brick, it actually weighs more than the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower.

Did I mention that Chicago has some amazing architecture?

The Jeweler's building is on the left.  It was featured in Batman Begins, as were several other Chicago buildings.

The Theater District.

After our tour, we made our way to the airport via the L and got home around 12:30.  No rest for the weary though as Mason had his first soccer game of the season at 9 on Saturday morning.

He's improved a lot since last season.  He has a great sense of where to be on the field and is developing into  a great passer.  He's the green jersey on the left.

There's #41 putting applying the defensive pressure.

Mason's best friend Aiden is also on his team this year.  Here they are during a pause in action.

There's the soccer star!

And to top off the week - the Warrior Dash!  Somehow I was able to convince my podcast friend Mike http://mikeschmidtcomedy.com/ to participate in the race this year.  Mike was going to train in the months leading up to the dash but decided instead to go into it cold to set a benchmark, then train until April, and participate in the Warrior Dash in LA in April.  I think after yesterday he's rethinking that plan.

Here's Mike and I before the race.

And the post race shot.  On the left is Rich, another listener who signed on to do the race after Mike did and stayed with him the whole way.  Mike's calves seized up on him and he lost the sole of one shoe early on but that didn't stop him.  He completed every brutal obstacle and finished the race.  I am so proud of his determination.  This was no easy race.  It was 3 miles of steep hills, tough obstacles, and dirt.  I'm bruised and battered today so I can't even imagine what Mike feels like.

Race results aren't yet posted so I can't tell you how I did.  Seemed to take me somewhere between 50 & 55 minutes.

After the race, bath in the pond, and a shower at 24 Fitness in Beaverton, Luis and I took Mike out to dinner at the Chart House, followed by a trip to Voo Doo donuts.  We had a great time chatting with him and showing him a bit of Portland.  It was another late night, getting home at midnight, and I'm definitely dragging today after the last crazy week but it's back to life as usual tomorrow.