Oh, the day before, I had started getting in full summer mode with a key lime pie, fresh squeeze lemonade, fish tacos, cold brew… I ordered an inflatable pool even to prep for the hot days to come (sad spoiler alert, I wound up returning it for annoyingly practical reasons. Stay tuned/hopeful for better options to come?)
My first Monday off was spent with another coworker, Cathy, grabbing lunch at the Island Cafe before hanging by the pool and taking a dip in the river. Next time we'll make it to the pool early enough to claim the coveted in-the-water lounge chairs. Those looked primo.
Dylan and I rode down to Sellwood for a swim on one of the first days too. Seems to be a new tradition
Some lovely and fun and silly bike rides so far with Pedalpalooza and just our own rides.
Bubble Ride where we rode around with all the bubble machines, chewed bubble gum, and ended at the Tiny Bubble Room, and met some new friends.
Rocky Butte Sunset Picnic Ride: We did this just about a month after first moving to Portland and loved it, always talking about needing to do that ride again even if just on our own. But here we were two years later, finally getting to experience the wonder of that view... and the ease of that elevation gain compared to our first attempt! Yay biking legs! I just kept turning around to see all the angles and the colors becoming more striking by the minute saying, "wow!" "look at that!" "Whoa!" "look over there!" Views of the sunset with the river, the volcanos, the city... all while getting silly PopCart DJ tunes going.
We rode bike to the zoo one day with a pit stop at the always beautiful rose garden
Bike Play ("The Bikesmith") — There was bike jousting. Choreographed dance numbers. It was all spectacular. Everyone gathered at Oregon Park for the opening scene, then rode together from park to playground to parking lot as each new act unfolded. There was so much great humor and the story was impressive. Highlights included dramatic helmet removals that ended with helmets tumbling down a slide, a battle between the royals and the commoners over a one-cog bicycle system that kept the poor unable to climb hills, a bikesmith romance with a royal lady, and a completely unhinged archbishop that the audience enthusiastically booed every time he spoke.
Teal Ride — Our second time doing this one and it was like 3x the size, extra silly with the teal houses even getting involved, standing on their porches cheering. Some even handed out teal treats! At our Safeway stop, everyone got their teal snacks and beers... It was great.
I'm gonna add the Ladds 500 in here just because. "Strictly Business" took to the circle to try to conquer this feat of 500 laps around. It was comically official with a suitcase full of Jell-O shots, a whole business poster, and nonsense corporate lingo all day.
We conquered the Leif Erickson trail again after I built up a hatred/trepidation about the route going from St. Johns and then south on the trail. You can read about the initial debacle here, but this round was 1000% better. I felt strong, I got 0 flats, I wasn't scared of coyotes, and we made it back for dinner and the market on the Pearl.
Quilting
I made three baby quilts in one week! Not that unusual for me, but these were the first quilts I'd made in a while. These years in Portland have made for low quilting inventory. Too many fun things to do here. I think one year in Pacific City I made like 30 or something insane. In two years in Portland, I think I've made, well... let's see.
BRB, counting...
16?
Plus a ton of little zipper bags, two fanny packs, two dog beds, and some oven mitts... But man. Quite the reduction in production (I did have to Google "business terms for saying a decline in inventory" for that one).
Fitness, Hiking, and Housewifery
Our beloved CrossFit gym is coming to a close. But another gym welcomed our crew in so that's been a good transition. I got to do some yoga for the first time since pre-COVID. That was great. And I didn't get dizzy and weird vertigo! Success. Will try again. Got back into running and adding my weight vest to hikes for an extra boost. That's all felt great. I had a very housewife-feeling day with cleaning, cooking, and a mother-son hike in Forest Park, listening to the Wildwood book while hiking the Wildwood Trail. Lots of other housewife vibes with just reading in the house, lots of cooking, trying out more crockpot recipes, yard work, errands, trying to keep flowers alive, chilling in the hammock, daily workouts, quilting, shopping, running... I could definitely do this long-term.
We enjoyed a great hike with Kelsey and Jake. Kelsey's new friend I met from work and they are great. We hiked Eagle Creek and had to take them for a bike ride around Portland to lunch after (gotta convince them to move here too). And another to Moulton Falls with a solid crew!
Beach Trips
A sunny Short Sands day actually getting to see Dylan catch some waves.
Cape Lookout: I could make a whole full-length movie out of the pictures and videos on this hike and beach day. Every time I start that hike I think, "I don't need to take any pictures. We've done this hike so many times, I probably have hundreds already." But then shortly after... "It's sooo green! I gotta capture this!"
All these beach trips always include lots of good Tutu cuddles and watching these boys frolic. The boys always freak out when Dylan goes in, run after him barking, then do big sweeping circles back in to me.
Overall, a month full of relaxing, productivity, activity, silliness, learning.
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