Portland, Oregon - Hood to Coast

For Fourth of July weekend (or Canada Day weekend here) we went to Oregon! We stayed just outside Portland with Ryan's parents. Everyone kept asking us what we wanted to do....and I would say well when you hear about Portland you always hear three things...Voodoo Doughnuts, The Food Carts, and whenever someone doesn't survive the climb up Mt Hood. I'm happy to say we did all three things...well we went to Mt Hood but we didn't climb it (at least not this time!).

The first thing we did was pick some raspberries in Ryan's parents backyard - yummy!

 

Then we were off to Mt. Hood....we made a quick stop in Boring, Oregon..we didn't stay there very long!

We stayed at Timerline Lodge which is located at 6,000 ft. The peak of the mountain is 11, 239 ft. Even though it's summer there was still plenty of snow to greet us - the irony of vactioning somewhere where there is snow and cold temps after our first Canadian winter was not lost on me!

Anna loved the snow...the other day she told me she wanted to go ice skating. I asked her if she likes sun or snow. She promptly replied, "I like winter!" Anna really is Daddy's girl!

To escape the snow we went back down the mountain for a hike to Mirror Lake where the rhododenron were in bloom

On our last day at Mt Hood we went fishing. Anna was very exciting to go fishing...or so we thought...

She likes to go pretend fishing at home and pretend to row row row the boat...

So off she went with Daddy, Ryan and Captain Debbie...unfortunately the further away the boat got from shore the more she called for Mommy!

But Anna did catch the first fish of the day!

And who caught the biggest fish of the day? Alastair!

Next we were off to Cannon Beach....fans of the movie The Goonies might recognize this landmark known as Haystack Rock

And as much as Anna loves the snow she still loves the beach....

Especially when she can dig for treasure!

And no trip to Portland is complete without a visit to Voodoo Doughnuts!

So many choices, which to choose!?

The variety box which included the classic voodoo doughnut, the Portland Cream, a Captin Crunch doughnut, an Oreo Cookie doughnut, and a Maple Bacon doughnut - just to name a few!

Other highlights of the trip!

Anna spending time with her Auntie Lyn...whom she always wanted to be with. She only wanted to hold Auntie Lyn's Hand or Ryan's hand - very rarely Mommy or Daddy!

Anna also discovered how to make make her cousin Logan laugh and giggle...

And got to spend quality time just being silly with Daddy!

 

It's Daddy Day!

Every day is Daddy's day as far as Anna is concerned...I actually tried to post this many weeks ago but couldn't due to the ingterent and computer not getting along! To celebrate Daddy's day last month Anna got Alastair a kite they could fly together in the park. The kite was Anna approved since it was a butterfly!

Up it goes!

Alastair would give Anna the string and hold on to the other end and tell her to run....and off she would go!

What you can't see or hear in the photo below is Anna running after Alastair and yelling, "No Daddy! My butterfly kite!"

Of course no trip to the park is complete without a stop at the playground where Daddy and daughter had some fun on the see saw!

 

Happy Daddy's Day!

Who let the dogs out?

Last weekend we went to Woofstock in downtown Toronto which is North America's largest dog show. I've never seen so many dogs in my life! There were big dogs, little dogs, fluffy dogs,hairless dogs...and even a purple and green dog!

 There were dogs taller than Anna...

 And dogs swimming in fountains! Anna loved going here...she was constantly saying,"Pat the dog PLEASE!??"" And she was very good at greeting the dogs -always letting them sniff her hand first!

 Coversations with Anna have become more and more amusing. Some of my favorites have been:

1. While eating lunch one day Anna looked at me while eating a strawberry and said, "Strawberry in mouth, then to tummy, and then to bum!" I burst out laughing and said,"Anna, what has Daddy been teaching you?" Well when I told Alastair the story he said,"She learned that from the book you read her!" Indeed Alastair was right....Anna and I do enjoy reading the potty training classic Everyone Poops!

2. Anna loves dressing up like a princess. Not a day goes by when she doesn't want to wear a princess dress, crown and carry her wand. She'll take her wand and bobbity boo everything! And when she's in her dress she prefers to be called Anna princess. One day I asked her if Anna was a princess then what was Mommy? She waved her wand said Bobbity Boo, and said, "Mommy Queen!" Then I asked if Anna is the princess and Mommy is the Queen then what is Daddy? Anna replied," King!" Now whenever she plays dress up I am referred to as Mommy Queen and Alastair is Daddy King.....I admit I quite enjoy it when Anna comes up to me and says, "Come on Mommy Queen".

3. Last week Anna and I were sitting having a cuddle when she looked up at me and said, "Mommy I hear the baby". I asked her what the baby was saying. And in the softest whisper Anna said, "I Love You". Ahhhhh...I think my heart melted into a million pieces that day.

All Hail the Queen

All Hail the Queen for the Diamond Jubliee! We had a very royal weekend here in Toronto. On Sunday we went to a friend's house for a Diamond Jubliee tea. While there it was a celebration of all things British...the invitation requested everyone come with their finest diamonds and tiaras. We took it a step further and brought our royal masks!

Introducing Alastair as Prince Phillip

 I thought Anna would like the Queen Elizabeth mask the best (it was the only one with a crown) but she only wanted Kate...she kept calling it her princess mask!

We also made some Diamond Jubilee cookies (any excuse to make something sweet!). It also gave us a reason to try out our new cookie press!

 Anna loves to decorate/paint the cookies!

  The finished product! 

School is Cool

Only 2 more weeks of nursery school and then school will be out for summer - the year has flown by! A few weeks ago Anna took her first school photo. We couldn't have been happier with how the pictures turned out but it's also amazing to see how much Anna has grown!

Here is a picture of Anna taken the first week of school...

And here is Anna's school photo taken at the end of the year....wow! Our little girl is growing up fast!