Portland: Part One

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  This week has been a blur of motion for me, coming off my trip and being a bit behind on work.  Throw a couple of kids, a sick dog, and mountainous piles of laundry in the mix and you have a snapshot of how my days have been.

Today I wanted to share a little bit about our short stay in Portland, OR.  I've broken it into two parts so I don't overwhelm you with too many pictures at once.  Both my husband and I enjoy taking photos, so the memory card is quick to fill.

Portland reminded me a lot of Seattle, but a little cleaner and with shorter, more manageable buildings.  I think those factors make the downtown feel a bit more friendly and safe at times. There are old brick buildings everywhere and the occasional bag-pipe player. We spent most of our time walking, shopping, and eating in the Pearl District.
 

We ended up walking to a local coffee shop called Barista each morning with the girls.  Like a lot of the brick buildings in Portland, the shop had great industrial style.  I tried to take some pictures with my phone while sitting inside, but thanks to wiggly children they were all too blurry.

A trip to Portland is not complete without a visit to one of Powell's Books stores.  They have a vast collection of new and used books.  It's exactly the kind of place I would love to spend an afternoon by myself in, searching the shelves or sitting in a cozy corner with a book.

We discovered a huge selection of street food vendors spanning several blocks.  We all tried it out for lunch one day.  My family likes a wide variety of food, so it was kind of perfect.  Also, no worries about how kids will behave at a restaurant. I'm pretty sure I would be hanging around these blocks a lot in the summer if I lived there.

Sadly, we didn't get to play by the waterfront much.  The weather had been rainy, so Friday we planned a trip to the Children's Museum.  Of course, Friday ended up being sunny and perfect for the park.  My husband slipped out while the girls were napping and took some photos (after taking a short nap himself).

Stay tuned for Part Two.