Portland Getaway

We had a weekend getaway to Portland, OR this past weekend. It was a great way to avoid the mess in our house with the plumbing project still going on. The weekend was fantastic. We started out with a trip to the Children's Museum. They had a special Seasame Street exhibit, where Christian went crazy for Elmo; and a ton of other great things for the kids. Of all the children's museum's we've been too (ok, just Seattle and Minneapolis) this was by far the best! That afternoon, we drove down to wine country and visited a few vineyards. The kids were obvioulsy less intersted in that, but they did great playing soccer ball in the boccee ball court while Leif and I got to enjoy a glass of wine. Our hotel had a great indoor pool, so we spent both nights swimming. On Sunday, we drove along the Columbia River Gorge and saw some breathtaking water falls and did a short hike to the top of one. Now we're back home, to our mess.... luckily the plumbing part is done, now we will be waiting on the drywall and painters to visit.

 

 

 

Hurra for syttende mai!

Norwegian national costumes in Seattle (Ballard) , WA


Christian is showing of his costume for Gina!


Jill and Campbelle are watching the parade!

..of course you need to end a traditional 17 may celebration with some ice cream!

 

Plumbing Project

Our plumbing project started today! The workers did all the prep work and cutting the sheetrock to prepare for the plumbing working. The house is a bit of a disaster... but the kids love all the plastic walls. It's a good thing, since this project is suppose to last 3 weeks!! YIKES!. Needless to say, the kids and I will be staying with Gina for a few days. 

 

Another hot, sunny day in Seattle yesterday. The kids played outside most of the afternoon. 

Happy Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day weekend. It started Saturday night, Leif and I had tickets to the musical 'Pippen' at the 5th Avenue Theater in Seattle. It was a fun production with some timeless themes of love, war and the follies of youth. Gina watched the kids for us .... they love going to her house.
Early Sunday morning, Gina and I voluteered at the Y-Me Breast Cancer Walk. We talked to people about inflammatory breast cancer and met some outstanding people. It felt nice to do something on Mother's Day to help honor my mom's memory. I know she would be proud of all that Tammy, Gina and I do.
For lunch, we went to my favorite place - Blue C Sushi and met Leif and the kids. The afternoon was spent perfectly - napped a little, read a little, played outside with the kids a little... and now to relax a little with Leif! What a perfect Mother's Day! 

Ha Det Bra

Farmor and Farfar's holiday is over. Campbelle cried at the airport after dropping them off. She looked so wounded and sad. On the drive home she said "at least tell me we are still going to see Maddi and Will in June." I think she had thought she was going back to Norway with them. We'll see you at Christmas time.... it will go fast!

Mariners Baseball

Leif took his dad to a Seattle Mariners baseball game. It was a sunny afternoon, beautiful complex and Leif caught two fly balls. One was given to a little boy, and the other is now if Leif's office at work. A great American pasttime!! ;-) 

Salon Brenne

Farfar playing haircut with Campbelle (her new favorite thing to play!!)

Sunny Day

This past weekend was 85 degrees in Seattle, so we filled the pool and spent the afternoon outside. The kids loved it... should be a fun summer at the real pool for us. 

Japenese Gardens

We stopped in Portland, OR for the afternoon on our way back from the beach. We visited a spectacular Japenese Garden - it was amazingly cared for, and great morning stroll. We later went to Powell's Book store - which is the largest bookstore I have ever been in... nearly an entire city block! I was in heaven. What a great city!