Sunday, September 27, 2015

Oregon Adventures XII

 My parents might have detected a hint of homesickness when we were talking a few months ago, a couple of weeks later they called and said, "We're coming to see you guys!"  Our spirits instantly lifted and have remained at a good place ever since. 

We took them to Salem's Saturday market.  Ezra got to be a helper to this hula hooper who was once on Germany's Got Talent.

Sunday we took them to the Oregon State Fair (where Ben was volunteered by Ezra to go up on stage).  Ben was less than enthused.




 I think my parents had a a good time.

 We did too!


This is the footpath two doors down that takes you to either the elementary school behind us or to a nature preserve with wild blackberries and a creek.  Phoebe rides that tricycle every chance she gets!

We go every night that the kids are needing to burn off energy, which is most nights.

One tradition my parents have started is to put on a tea party for the kids every time they get together.  The parties always have themes and are quite elaborate.  Some have suggested my mom go into business putting on themed tea parties.   This trip, they did not disappoint.  It took months of preparation, as usual, with days of work preceding the actual event: baking cupcakes and painting little wooden figures to coordinate with the characters in the book, "Pilgrim's Progress," the theme of this week's tea party.  Themes in the past have varied from, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," to "Pirates and Fairies".  In the weeks prior to my parent's arrival, I read aloud a children's version of "Pilgrim's Progress," by John Bunyan as retold by Geraldine McCaughrean.  They loved it.  Now, they get to act it out with figurines they made with their grandparents!


Gathering the materials for this project (and getting them to Oregon) was no small feat as well.

 Up close

Tea Parties often involve costumes for the kids.  Here Ezra is in the new tree house that came with the house, taking a break from the tea party theme and instead acting out Monty Python's famous line, "Your mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries!"  I love that my dad taught him that!

Not sure who enjoys the tea parties more, my parents or the kids.

One night my parents watched the kids for us so we could go on a date.  We went to a very nice restaurant called, "Rafn's" that used only local foods, then just walked the streets of downtown Salem to get to know them a bit better.  This was a cool tree we found.

We walked a super long time.  It was a lovely night.

We drove to the ocean the day before they left.  I think, if I had to guess, this was my mom's favorite place.  I think it brought back memories of when we lived in Monterey, California.  I was just little (maybe five?) and my dad was there to learn Persian Farsi at linguistics school.  I can still say, "My name is Rebecca and I am five and a half years old," and count to ten. :-) He used to write our Christmas lists in Farsi, so we couldn't read it.  


Sunday we went to Portland and met some of their friends from England and Germany, while they toured the Sunday market.

They got to see some of Portland's finest.

Including VooDoo Donuts which has a constant line stretching down the street (we did not bother, though we all wished we could try the crazy donuts they sell there).  We had some maple bacon ice cream from the market instead, which was surprisingly good.

The week and two days went entirely too fast, but it was medicine for us all and greatly appreciated!  Not pictured are all the restaurants we visited together and all the work my parents did in our home while they were here.  I didn't do any laundry or dishes for the entire week thanks to my mom and tons of odd jobs around the house got done thanks to my dad. While sight seeing, I heard them often compare Oregon to England or Germany, which I think could be interpreted as "feels like home" coming from them after having lived in Europe for 23 years.  We definitely felt they came and gave their blessing on our new home and it was just what we needed.  Thanks for visiting, Mom and Dad!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thank you for the new news. I check every day for a new post. Miss you all so much. Hopefully some day we will visit also.