We had our first family of four airplane trip across the country. Jay’s brother Andreas got married and we were lucky enough to get to take a week long trip to Portland and Hood River, Oregon. I have family in Portland, too, so it was a fun trip to plan as we knew it would include a lot of family time along with some time for just us four to explore Portland. My mom flew out there during our visit to stay with her brother at the same time as us so she could help us and spend quality time with the kids. It was a nice balance. The kids got to spend time with my Aunt and Uncle, as well as my cousins, and then their two little cousins, Elizabeth and Emily. The four of us were able to spend some time in Portland eating at food carts and ice cream parlors.
And the rest of our city time sampling the local splash fountains. The weather was unseasonably cool that week, but that didn’t stop these crazy cats one bit.
I wish we could’ve had more time hanging out in the city itself, but the bulk of our time was spent 60 miles away in the adorable town of Hood River. Our first day in Hood River, we left the kids in Portland with my mom, aunt and uncle and high-tailed it up for some much needed kid-free time. The kids got a trip to the Portland Zoo while we were away. Once we checked in, I spent several hours BY MYSELF in the town while Jay was at the rehearsal. I shopped, ate lunch and just slowly walked around the town. We celebrated the rest of the day with everyone on the Columbia River waterfront in Hood River. It was a truly magical evening celebrating Andreas and Amara.
I drove down the next morning and picked the kids up in Portland and we spent time at the hotel pool and BBQ’ing with everyone else staying at the lodge. The wedding was Sunday and absolutely gorgeous. It was at the Mt. Hood Organic Farm so how could it not be? It was the most beautiful setting I’ve ever seen for a wedding.
And who was the dapperest almost-five-year-old at the wedding?
Here, Ruby is saying, “booberry?”.
Theo ran around for a bit with my phone taking photos of the scenic view. He captured a truly epic shot of Andreas’ friends.
The kids were awesome overall with the time change and the go, go, go of it all. The flights on the other hand…we had issues both directions starting with a canceled flight on the way there, which added a third flight to our trip. Then on the way back a missed connection got us home later than planned, and no yet again no luggage upon our arrival (both times it was delivered to us the next day). Ruby was pretty squirmy on the long leg out there, and it was probably the longest 3 1/2 hours of my life. We made it, though. The flights back to NYC were better for sure. It did take the kids several days to get back on track with sleeping. Theo slept until almost 11am the first day back, and about 9am for several days thereafter. We won’t be taking any long flights anytime soon, but it was well worth it and a great time was had by all.