Our eighth week here was lovely, though I have no pictures to prove of our time at a church camp that was a community outreach for the local area we live in. I got to know some wonderful people at Salem Mennonite church and many from the community.
Saturday, we decided to head to Portland for two reasons. #1. Portland's Saturday Market!
This is a local brand of kombucha that is super healthy for you. Some brands are better than others for you. They sell this one at our local health food store in Salem.
See anything wrong with his head?
Ezra had to try too. I'm more disturbed by his choice of clothes, how did I not notice this pairing when we left the house?!
Within about 20 feet there was a magician, a guitarist playing music and a hoola-hoop performer. I saw lots of great artsy things I would love to buy for Christmas, but it was too crowded for lingering with the kids. There was about another block of market that we didn't even get to see.
There were people everywhere. This has been consistent everytime I have gone to Portland (4 times now?). Tons and tons of people. It is one of the most crowded places I have ever been. I liken it to New York, only the buildings are shorter.
There were even interesting people doing interesting things for free, no money being requested. Just in the middle of space.
#2. The other reason we came to Portland was for FLUGTAG. Translated, it means Flying Day, in German. It is sponsored by Red Bull and is a race to see who can build a silly flying machine and get it to fly the furthest after they push it off a platform over the water. These boats are lining up to watch the action from the water.
It was a really hot day, mid 90s and did I mention there were a lot of people there? As we walked to find a spot to watch, we walked through the "hangar" where all the aircraft and their owners were.
We saw the Beach Bums
The Flying Squirrels
The Purple Unicorns?
Australian TinkerBell? Bang-a-Rang
The Bowling Spartans?
Mr. Tumnus?
I give up.
See the Red Bull runway? It ends over the water. There are thousands of people on the lawn between us and the water.
See?
Phoebe was crying because she was hungry and since everybody stood up in front of us when it started, the kids had to take turns being held up to see the action. So, there was always one or more upset. We saw a few flying machines take off and plop into the water, but decided to go when the crowd behind us started pushing and crushing us. We found out later, that the whole thing was shut down early by the coast guard because The Portland Spirit couldn't get through the FlugTag boat traffic. (photo below from KOIN.com) We were long gone before the masses were disappointed by the news of their fun ending early.
We didn't end up missing as much of FlugTag as we thought! We took all of Sunday to recuperate from our Portland trip. It was whoa whoa.
3 comments:
You guys are so very very adventurous. I love reading about all your adventures and seeing all the pictures.
Thank you, Nicki! We feel a little like kids in a candy store, there's so much newness to see and explore. Ohio provided a good long term foundation for stability and consistency, but whether it was the kids being too young to get to the cultural things in Ohio while there or we were just too remote, we mostly stayed close to home. Ben and I did lots of traveling and adventures before the kids were born and we are remembering that part of us during this Summer vacation time. Soon, we'll hit the grindstone and have routine and consistency like normal people - we are actually eager for it!
Hi Becca, I just finished reading about your adventures. So much fun! I just met a friend of yours today, Sandra Head, and we connected the dots. I think of you all often and am so happy you all are doing so well - Jeannie McD
Post a Comment