Rain or Shine

It's a beautiful, sunny day in Portland. (Finally!)

But Riley insisted on taking her umbrella to preschool. "In case it rains after school!!!"

Such a skeptic. Such an Oregonian.

(Summer is really going to throw her off. If it ever arrives. And I just realized where she learned skepticism.)

The Reward

Yesterday was a big day in the Richards family: We went to the farmer's market without a stroller.

That's a big step for a family with a free-willed child like ours. So we drove a hard bargain: If Riley behaved, she got to run free afterward. If she misbehaved, the stroller would return next week.

The verdict:

Summer: The Abridged Version

One of life's little ironies is that when there's a lot to blog about, there's so little time for blogging.

We have been so darn busy maximizing our fun this summer that I've got this backlog of blog entry ideas that, let's be honest, I'm just never going to get to.

So instead, here are the ClifsNotes highlights of our past few weeks:

• Riley's joint birthday party with her friends Anna and Vivian, who all celebrated birthdays within a week of each other.
• The Sesame Street cupcakes my friends Ginger, Lissie, and I made for the joint birthday party.
• Riley's three-year checkup, during which I learned that shots don't faze Riley at all if they're quickly followed by a bandaid.
• Portland's heat wave: A week of 100-plus degree weather. No a/c. Bleh.
• The mobile Matt, our new employee Ben, and I stayed up 'til 2 a.m. finishing just before deadline.
  
• Our trip to Salt Lake City to visit Grandma & Grandpa, Riley's cousins (who were in town from Houston), Matt's extended family, my sisters, and a few good friends.
• Riley's birthday party #3, thrown by Matt's mom and sisters.
• Lots of fun activities during out trip.
  
• Riley's new best (stuffed) friend, Pinky the bear. Sorry Zelf. (And thanks, Grandma!)
  
• Our eighth anniversary!

Whew.

So. If you don't hear from me for a few more weeks, don't worry. We're either busy enjoying our precious final days of summer–or recovering from the past few weeks.

the birthday girls

the cupcakes

the mobile (in process)

the grandma and cousins

the birthday party #3

the pinky bear

Summer Swim

Summer in this city is absolutely glorious. And this year, I've resolved to seize the beautiful weather by riding my poor, neglected road bike as much as possible. Lucky for me, Riley loves the bike trailer this year, so we've set out to explore all the parks within biking distance. Yesterday's destination had a watering hole, which made for a great impromptu swim.

Needless to say, between Riley's swim, my bike ride, and all that sunshine, we were one happy family. (Poor Matt just worked all day. But, uh, earning money makes him happy?)

Sunny Day, Sweeping the Clouds Away...

Finally, a little sunshine. Even Grover appreciates days like this.

Backyard Schmackyard

We live across the street from a lovely catholic church whose grounds Riley has adopted as her backyard.

It's perfect: stairs to climb, retaining walls to jump off, nicely manicured lawns, and (the best part) no yard work for us.

It's Cold Out, Y'all!

As Riley and I headed out for a walk yesterday, I asked her to put her coat on.

Her answer? "I not need a coat. It's sunny outside!"

Never mind that it was 48 degrees out. Around here, no rain means beautiful weather.

Which means just one thing: after two years in Portland, our Texas-born is officially Oregon-bred.

Family/Friends

Riley's cousins were on spring break this week. So on Thursday, we gave them a tour of our downtown favorites: Pioneer Courthouse Square, the food carts (especially the ones selling Vietnamese spring rolls), the North Park Blocks, and Powell's Books.

What a perfect day: beautiful weather, good/cheap food, pleasant moods all around, and fun times with the cousins–or "friends," as Riley aptly called them.

Our New Neighbor

Opening two blocks away.

I'm not proud to admit this, but I'm thrilled.

Fresh Food (and French Fries)

The farmer's market is officially open for the season. Yay! Next to Christmas, it's our happiest day of the year.

We cheerfully spent the morning with like-minded food fanatics indulging in (reusable) grocery bags full of healthy, locally grown food–beets, cabbage, apples, onions, radishes, pepper jelly, and free-range pork.

And then, on our way home, we lunched at McDonald's.

We're not hypocritical. Just multifaceted. Right? right?

Pleasant Surprises

1. We stumbled across a charming (and cheap) Vietnamese restaurant yesterday, which was exciting since we hadn't really eaten Vietnamese since our Houston days.
2. Riley devoured a healthy serving of pho, a nice deviation from her typical diet of grapes, pretzels, and Nutella.
3. The pho kept Riley so occupied that she behaved perfectly. (At least 'til her soup was gone...)

Dogs, Dirt, Whatever

The weather was beautiful on Saturday, so we seized the day. We went hiking.

On our hike, Matt and I had this crystallizing moment in which we realized we are, in fact, raising a city slicker:

Whenever Riley got mud on her shoes, she cried out, "Yuck! Dog poop!"

Parades are Fun!

(Despite the ultra-bored moment captured here, we did actually have a pleasant time today at Portland's Grand Floral Parade.)

Full Disclosure

Ok, now that I've described how wonderful Portland is, I gotta be totally honest. We've had a long, wet, cold winter. Over the past month, we've had a handful of nice days, but mostly cold depressing weather. It wasn't so bad mid-December. But late April? Enough already!

When we DO get brief patches of sun, Riley takes advantage: She heads to the balcony with her new-found (from my closet) summer shoes.

Summer, please tell me you'll be here soon!

Maybe by then Riley will learn to actually walk in those summer shoes!

Yeah, We Love it Here

It was a year ago this week that we moved from here:

To here:

Here's what we miss about Houston:

• Our friends/family 
  
• Hermann Park. Everything about it.
  
• Rice University (the running trail and free concerts)
• The Central Market, my favorite uppity grocery store
  
• The Fiesta, my favorite ghetto grocery store
  
• The Museum District (and free museum night, in particular)
  
• Texas barbecue. Mmmmm....meat....
  
• The hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurants in third ward
  

Here's what we love about Portland:

• Our friends/family 
  
• The farmer's markets
  
• Our little condo (squeaky floors and all)
  
• Our pedestrian-friendly neighborhood (I haven't driven in more than a week!)
  
• Public transportation (I repeat: I haven't driven in more than a week!)
  
• The waterfront
  
• Downtown
  
• Forest Park
  
• The zoo
  
• The Rose Gardens
  
• The Springwater Corridor
  
• Powell's Books
  
• Trader Joe's
  
• St. Cupcake, Pizza Schmizza, Mio Gelato, the sushi place across the street, and all the street vendors at 10th and Alder

The Happiest Place on Earth

It's not really Disneyland. It's the Portland Farmer's Market.

It opened for the season yesterday, making for one giddy Richards family.

We got locally grown radishes, leeks, swiss chard, and red onions, plus strawberry pepper jelly, pear cider, fresh-baked gingersnaps, homemade pretzels, and lots and lots of samples.

You can't tell me that doesn't beat a two-hour wait for splash mountain.

Latest Discoveries

Birds! And sticks! And mud! And waterfalls! And moss-covered rocks!

We live 2 1/2 miles from Forest Park, which you can read all about here. I've taken Riley there before, but this morning was the first time I let her run free, sans stroller. Sheer bliss. The girl loves her "buuuh," which, I finally figured out, means "birds."

Riley practicing her birdcalling skills

Perfect Picnic

Ours included:

Celery (and dip)

Trader Joe's sun-dried tomato chicken sausages
Good stinky cheese

A refreshing beverage Strawberries for dessert

...and a sculpture to admire.

On the Farm

Last weekend, Riley and I visited a nearby farm with our friends Anna, Treva, and Chad. I picked 6 pounds of peaches and 16 ears of corn—all for $8.50 (nice!)—all while lugging a 20-pound baby (ouch!).


The payoff? Corn soup and peach jam. Yum!

To My Friends in Houston

Not to brag, but the high in Portland today was 69 degrees.

*Coming soon: a nice, meaty Richards Family (ok, just Matt) update. It's drafted, but when I try to post, it disappears into bloggyland. (This is pretty much a test post. I really don't care *that* much about the weather.)