Taking the High (Play)Ground

The convergence of a child unencumbered by a fear of heights that overwhelms her father and a rapidly setting sun led to the snapping of these instant faves. I just love how her bright expression melds so seamlessly with the glowing horizon.

Moment of Tooth

The pain from extracting my own teeth with needle-nose pliers would be far less severe than getting our four-year-old to sit still for a dental exam. I promised Olivia the moon to get her to let strangers peer into her mouth, but ultimately it was the prospect of a new toothbrush and floss that convinced her of the value of good dental hygiene.

Glow Stick Figure

Our iridescent one glowed with excitement and the light of a handful of the glow sticks—a gift from my luminous aunt.

Corn Stalk(er)s

We were all (about) ears today: Olivia and I stealthily and healthily pursued the ambrosial tastes of sweet corn at a local festival.

Hear O's Guitar II

From the musician whose stirring rendition of “Falling Slowly” captivated dozens around the world, we bring you “Parents” and “Parents (Fruit Remix),” original songs debuted by our daughter on this day.

Parents

Parents (Fruit Remix)

Good Manors

The Re-Portland Report: We spent the last day of our vacation back where this whole thing started a week and a half ago—a last chance for us, if you will, to stop and smell the Rose City. We loitered around Powell’s block-long bookstore, sampled the world’s teas at Tao of Tea, and caught an Omnimax film at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

We started our day at the Pittock Mansion, the home once owned by newspaper magnate Henry Pittock—the Oregonian who got The Oregonian off the ground—and his wife, Georgiana. The house had 22 rooms—one with a never-seen-before multi-head shower—and a breathtaking hillside view of Portland’s downtown.

Life Aquatic

The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport was once home to Keiko, the orca whale from the movie Free Willy. Keiko and his whale-sized Hollywood ego eventually left Newport for bluer pastures, but those thinking of visiting the aquarium should know that there are plenty of other awe-inspiring and wow-inducing creatures of the sea to see here.

A Shore Thing

Where there are quaint shops, there are curiosities within them that that make them, well, quaint. In the cases of Newport’s Sylvia Beach Hotel—a literary-themed bed & breakfast and gift shop—and Nye Beach Book House, both featured non-human employees.

The bookstore's drowsy doggy...


...and the B&B's tuckered tabby.

Newport's Beach

We took our time leaving British Columbia yesterday for the return trip to Oregon, and so we arrived in Salem, the state capitol, under a cover of darkness. The original plans called for us to make a morning trip down to Eugene before turning our attention to the Pacific coast, but given how tired we were from the previous day’s travels, we decided to cut out the extra drive and instead head directly for Newport, a coastal town known for its aquarium, quaint shops, and beaches.

We put off the aquarium and shopping for the next day; this afternoon was our time in the sand. After adjusting to the brisk temperatures—Newport was a full 30 degrees cooler than Salem—Olivia had fun racing the ocean waves back to shore and sliding down the mini dunes that lined the entire beach.

Canadian Rhythm

We’ve got our daily routine for Vancouver down: we wake up, grab some breakfast à la Residence Inn, check in on Beni—she’s not been feeling well for the past couple days—before heading out, do some sightseeing, eat lunch, see some more sights, head back for a nap and to make sure that Beni’s okay, order in some dinner, watch the Olympics from our room, head down to the pool to pretend we’re Michael Phelps before retiring for the night.

Here are some highlights from today:

Dreams do come true: Pocky Store on Robson Street

Green Within V.

Vancouver, British Columbia is the next stop on our tour of the Pacific Northwest. This leg is a homecoming of sorts for my mother: she and my dad lived here for a short time before I was born. Beni and I have also spent time in Vancouver, albeit for a much shorter time, having vacationed here the year before Olivia was born.

Vancouver is an absolutely stunning place—the downtown is framed by waterways, a forested park, and mountains—and its progressive ethos makes me love it all the more. Known for its environmental consciousness, Vancouver is the only major Canadian city in which the rate of car ownership and the average distance driven by daily commuters have fallen since the early 1990s.

Here are some of the other greening efforts we noticed during our treks around the city today:

The tree atop Eugenia Place high rise

Solar-powered lights along Sunset Beach Park

One of the many Prius cabs

Can’t Voodoo Without

No visit to Portland is complete without a stop by Voodoo Doughnut, a place where gastronomic dreams come true. (Apparently it’s also a place where marital dreams can begin—the establishment provides legal wedding services.) We grabbed a bagful of their delicious doughnuts on our way out of town.

The Stages of Childhood

Olivia took center stage (and then refused to relinquish it) at the Portland Children’s Museum. She eventually ceded the stage to her peers but only because that gave her the opportunity to order them around as their director.

Hail to the Chef

Iron Chef Cat Cora—who Olivia calls Chef Iron—was the special guest and featured commentator for Iron Chef Oregon, a cooking competition staged at the Bite of Oregon food festival held along Portland’s riverbanks.

Where There's a Will...

…there’s a lazy writer or editor on their way to lame wordplay. And so I’ll hold back my desire to pun up Willamette, as in the Willamette River, the waterway that divides Portland in two and serves as the backdrop in this picture of two of my most favorite people in the world.

Dumpling Ground

For lunch today, we found ourselves at the most peculiar vegetarian restaurant (which is saying something because we’ve been to a lot of peculiar veggie restaurants). Known simply as Vegetarian House, the restaurant served Chinese dishes featuring a wide assortment of faux meats, some more exotic—fake duck—than others. But what made the dining experience especially odd was how all of us patrons were subjected to a looping video tribute to Ching Hai, a blonde Asian woman known as the Supreme Master. She happens to be the spiritual leader of the Quan Yin Method, which is apparently heavy on vegetarianism and overt methods of persuasion.

We came in for some tofu dumplings and sesame un-chicken but left with more than what we could handle of the house special—the religious teachings of the Supreme Master.

In-Plane Sight

This afternoon, we set off on a three-flight excursion (a three-legged race, if you will) to Portland, Oregon, the central location of our week-and-a-half vacation in the Pacific Northwest. My mom is joining us once again—proof that she is an awfully good sport and/or has completely lost her mind.

On this opening day of the Olympics, I’d like to award a gold medal to Olivia for her patience and cooperation throughout this very long day of travel. Given our child’s frequent inclinations toward turbulent temperaments, we were pleasantly surprised when she displayed a champion’s form in the terminals and aboard the planes.

Sees and Resist

Olivia’s first trip to the eye doctor (who happens to be my good friend and her good friend’s dad) was marked by the same sort of trepidation normally reserved for interactions with people with whom she’s not as familiar. I suppose the eye-relaxing substance the assistants sprayed her with prior to the exam may have calmed her tense eye muscles, but it did little for her nerves.

Our daughter had to be convinced that A.J.’s dad is as nice in his practice as he is in person. Of course, by the end of the exam she was begging us for glasses—we assured her that having been born to parents with such tremendous four-sight, corrective lenses were a virtual and visual lock—and the chance to peer through the “eye machine” again.

Facial Networking

You’re looking at the founder members of the Facebook group, Kids Who Get Their Face Painted Anytime They Are in the Vicinity of a Face Painter.