Monday, June 7, 2010
Cue the music: today's soundtrack (given both the sad fact that it was my older brother Shishin's last full day in Portland, but also the happy circumstance of being my sister Akari's birthday -- yes, just one day after her own daughter's) could definitely have been Sly and the Family Stone's "Family Affair".
To that end, we packed in as much family fun as humanly possible.
Day dawns.
Actually, we dawned waaaay before the day did, since Ayize continued to wake up between 4 and 5 in the morning. Darn that time change! But around 5:30, we watched the sun rise from our hotel window into a cloud-filled sky.
Finally, it was 6:30 a.m. We headed downstairs for the just-opened breakfast buffet and were the first ones there. Ayize ate a large breakfast, and Grandma came down around 7 to eat herself, so we had a happy surprise reunion.
It was short-lived, however, as Ayize was chomping at the bit to escape from the confines of the dining room. He had entertained himself long enough playing with his Matchbox cars and hiding them under his cloth napkin, so we bid Grandma goodbye and headed off for a stroll.
Somebody was so happy to be out of the hotel and puddle-stomping the streets of Portland!
We meandered past this religious center's retaining wall and he couldn't resist walking the "balance beam". The skies were clearing and the sidewalks were drying. It was going to be a beautiful day!
We passed this apartment complex with its patterned wall and he happily explored its texture for a long time.
Then he bunny-hopped up the steps (a recent fave activity) and strolled around the apartment courtyard, enjoying himself mightily.
A moment later, he was up on this wall, and I had to pull a super-speedy dash-and-grab to prevent a near waterfall-immersion. Typical.
I re-directed his energy using his beloved umbrella, which I had hidden on my person for just such an occasion.
He snatched it from my hands and began to stroll about in circles, saying, "Ta-ta, ook-eye-aye." I kept imploring him to clarify but he would only repeat the same sing-song. Finally, after about the fifth time of asking, he looked at me for all the world like I was a complete moron, and carefully enunciated, "Tut-tut, look like rain," which is, of course, a variation on the classic Winnie-the-Pooh line.
Kids are the darndest creatures!
We read that book together maybe a year ago. And he saw just a snippet from that animated story (the one where Pooh is pretending to be a raincloud in order to steal honey, and makes Christopher Robin an accessory by having him wander around armed with an umbrella, saying "Tut tut, it looks like rain", despite blue skies and abundant sunshine) on a pal's TV set a couple months ago as we passed through. How do they make these connections? It's kind of crazy what they absorb, when you come right down to it.
So down several long city blocks we progressed, Ayize blinded by his umbrella and running into trees and parking meters. Several passersby stopped me to comment on how cute he was, walking around in his big frog boots, holding an umbrella and merrily sing-chanting on this hot, sunny morning.
Finally I managed to sneak the umbrella away (my legs were getting bruised from him bumping into me so much) by distracting him with an empty cereal box and these construction horses.
Phew!
We walked to the overwhelmingly-gynormous Lloyd Center Mall and were the first customers at the bookstore when it opened at 9. Ayize happily fell to playing with the standard Thomas table (thank you, Barnes & Noble), and I enjoyed the freedom it bought me to peruse the shelves, looking for fun books for Miss Madison's birthday.
I picked up a couple of titles I thought she would enjoy -- one was an old classic, the Newbery Award-winning From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, which I thought Maddie would like because it's about two kids who run away from home, taking refuge in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. (Brag alert, proceed with caution LOL) -- did I mention that my talented, adorable, genius of a niece recently won a trip to New York City when she won the Chicago Toy and Game Fair's Young Inventors Challenge? And that she adored New York City, and especially the museums? So if figured this would be a possible hit with her. I also saw how much she loved the book my mom got her, Maniac Magee, so I got her another book by Jerry Spinelli called Loser.
Then I somehow managed to tear Ayize away from the train table, paid for my purchases, begged for some free wrapping paper, and we were off to the hotel.
I'm a big fan of poor editing and this sign gave me a good laugh.
Apparently one may only park in this lot if they are willing to make a lot of noise.
Ayize was beginning to zone out after a long morning spent walking, running, playing, and climbing and when he asked to ride in our borrowed stroller (a hearty thank you to Jo Jo and Bahar's friend Buffy for lending us this lifesaver all week), I knew for sure that a nap was coming soon.
Still, he perked up at the sight of these giant transformers parked smack dab in the middle of a fenced-in city block beside our hotel.
And while he watched them with awe, I snapped a photo of this warning sign...another one for the books. I guess it's supposed to represent a universal warning about the risk of electric shock, but my interpretation, if I didn't know any better, would be: if a sea creature is about to touch you with its tentacle, make sure to have your Wolverine-like internal talon at the ready.
And just a couple of blocks later...it was Snooze City, baby.
We headed into the hotel and Ayize enjoyed a nice, long nap.
When he woke up, I called my family to see what was shaking. Turns out, they were all at a wonderful French restaurant, Petite Provence, for my sister's birthday lunch.
I called Jo Jo to let him know and he was sweet enough to fly to the hotel and scoop up me and Ayize.
We headed there only to find our family was nowhere in sight.
Ayize dangled on this bike-park bar while we made some phone calls. Turned out they thought they were at the southeast Portland location by my brother's house, but they were actually in the northeast at their newer location on Alberta (some navigation confusion, which is all too understandable if you know Portland).
Jo and I got some grub to go for Little Man. They were kind enough to sell me a veggie croissant sandwich at a fraction of the menu price (since all I got on it was melted cheese) and between that, a cup of their mouthwatering potato-leek soup, and a small slice of veggie quiche, I figured Ayize was hooked up for a mega-meal -- he had hardly eaten anything all day besides breakfast.
But he only had eyes for this tasty tray of cookies that they keep at the perfect height to tantalize all the visiting toddlers. Anyhow, we headed to Jo Jo's house; the rest of our family were finishing lunch at the other location and then they were planning on driving to Jo Jo's house too so we could hang out together for a bit.
In a classic case of perfect timing, we all arrived simultaneously. It was a momentous event: the girls had not seen Jo Jo's house for three years, and my brother Shishin had never been there (as I discovered that day, to my surprise).
It was so fun to see my two brothers standing and grinning together on the front steps as my nieces and Ayize (the orange spot behind them LOL) excitedly dashed ahead to the front door.
BTW, check out the crazy purple flower-trees to the left of Shishin.
Extreme close-up. They were huge and beautiful.
We headed inside and I managed to find a small spot on the dining room table (laden with all these wonderful wedding flowers and gifts) where I could put our food containers down. As it turned out, Ayize ate hardly anything. I got him to eat a little soup and a few bites of croissant. He took one bite of the triangular-shaped quiche and determined it wasn't his beloved "pizzey" (pizza) and after that, he turned up his nose.
Oh well. His loss, my gain. I had a delicious lunch of his leftovers while Jo Jo gave him a giant Fiber One bar, which he devoured happily.
Then we headed outside to where the majority of our family was hanging out.
I shot the photo of the kids rocking Jo Jo's tandem bike, surrounded by family (the first one of this posting).
The kids horsed around on the three-wheeler for a bit.
After that, Jo Jo and I took the tandem bike for a quick spin while Ayize clung to Grandpa's leg (he was not a big fan of Mommy riding such an odd vehicle).
We circled around at the end of the block and returned and I took this shot as we stopped the bike: the very-talented Bill, Jo Jo's professional comic artist housemate, had joined the bystanders; Ayize appeared quite dubious about my athletic abilities; and my sister was catching the whole thing on video camera.
Akari was up next.
And then the bicycling brothers did their thing.
Meanwhile, Ayize got bored. Suddenly, like a lightbulb going off, he turned to look down the block, then took off at a purposeful trot shouting, "Park, Mama."
Again, I just have to say that kids are so super uncanny!
We last visited Portland over a year ago when Ayize was 14 months old. One sunny day, we strolled down the block and discovered that one of Jo Jo's neighbors had put a fenced-in mini-playground on their front lawn for their kids to play in. He had tried mightily to make his way through that fence and to the myriad toys within but he failed then and he failed now. Still, I was shocked that he remembered something from so long ago, when he was so much younger. It just goes to show you!
A moment after I took this, the neighbor came out of her house scowling, so Sophie helped me hastily retrieve Ayize and we dragged him back down the block to Jo Jo's house.
He sat on the porch steps with the girls and they looked at bugs. Madison noticed this little Monopoly hotel and commented about it. It's been there for a long time and I'm very fond of it myself so I snapped this close-up photo in its honor.
Jo Jo and Shishin, meanwhile, busied themselves gathering ladders and various tools for a home improvement project. Jo Jo had bought this Coolaroo outdoor window blind to hang over the front picture window so it could be dropped to provide sun shade on hot summer afternoons.
Ayize was quite excited about the bustle and activity. Grandpa kept an eye on him while I ran inside to get us drinks.
I made a pit stop and was psyched to see Craig's gift to Jo Jo -- an awesome, hand-drawn, custom comic panel -- hanging on the wall. I had to rush back outside for my camera so I could take this shot.
I also fell in love with Jo Jo's shower curtain so I snapped a second photo.
By the time I got back outside, things were hopping. Ayize played with some toys on the front porch, Grandpa watched and dispensed advice, Shishin stood on a stepstool, using a squeegee to hold up one end of the blind, and Jo Jo stood perched on a ladder, drill in hand. I got in on the action, climbing halfway up the ladder to hand Jo Jo screws and other supplies as needed.
Extreme close-up of Jo Jo's head. He wore this helmet to calm my mom's fears -- she was predictably freaking out about her son being a few feet up in the air on a ladder!
Meanwhile, Ayize dragged his beloved Rocket Punchers backpack (thank you, Auntie Lei-Lei) out to the sidewalk, unzipped it, and pulled out some of his "tiny treasures" to play with. I always stuff his backpack with ten or twenty tiny toys -- cereal box-type toys, little cars, small sheets of stickers, jumpy bugs -- as they come in infinitely handy on plane rides, restaurants, and on rainy days when we're stuck in hotel rooms.
I kneeled down to see what he was up to.
A-ha! The fish hand stamper was really working hard.
Satisfied finally -- and only after about thirty body stamps -- he re-capped the stamper and looked for something else to do.
During all Ayize's fish-finery frenzy, the shade had been successfully mounted. Now Jo Jo and my Dad gave the drop mechanism a test run. It was a bit tight at first but they quickly fine-tuned it.
Then my brothers went to put all their supplies away. When no one else was looking, my dad grabbed this squeegee and made a silly pose for my camera in imitation of their efforts (though he was actually quite proud, I could tell).
Meanwhile, Ayize dragged his toy trove onto the front steps and pulled out a gob of pink Playdoh. First, he tried to stamp it, but that didn't work too well. Then he turned the stamper over and used the hollow end to push round molds all over the Playdoh as he gleefully crowed, "Circles, mama!"
Finally, he decided to sample the flavor. Apparently, neither nutritious or delicious, as he quickly spit it out with a look of disgust. I have to say, I used to enjoy eating the occasional bite of Play-Doh when I was his age -- probably all the salt they used to put in it -- but I was happy to see this was one arena where he chose not to follow in my footsteps!
As Shishin and Jo Jo had traipsed to the garage to put the ladder and tools back, Shishin had pointed out a latex glove lying in the driveway with some distaste. Jo Jo, laughing, explained that it was just one of his from a recent massage (he's a professional masseuse) and that it had fallen out of his car. He went to retrieve it to dispose of, but suddenly got that devilish glint in his eye and went to put it on instead, inspiring a major eye-rolling response from Shishin.
For some reason, this made me start chanting, "It rubs the lotion on its skin/or else it gets the hose again" -- a totally chilling quote from the Silence of the Lambs, but made goofy in the context by our slap-happy mood -- which further grossed out Shishin, though he himself was laughing by this point. Ironically, one finger snapped off the glove as Jo Jo messed with it...the wedding finger. The better to show off his new ring, I say (though it was the wrong hand LOL).
Then we all headed into the house.
The shade in action, on the inside looking out.
Nice work, guys!
I went to see what the girls were up to. They were sharing a giant Slurpee in the kitchen (I didn't even know they had 7-11's in Portland; I only ever went to the Plaid Panty) and I asked if they were suffering brain freeze. Maddie claimed that not only was she not at that moment, but that she never did. To prove her point, she took a gynormous slurp through the straw just before I shot this photo.
We went back outside to sit in the sun.
I ran to Jo Jo's car and Ayize followed. I handed him Maddie's gift to give to her, but he dropped it on the sidewalk so I had to fetch it and pass it over myself. I walked up to where they were sitting, hiding the present, and said, "Madison, you are in big trouble, and just for being so rotten, I'm really gonna give it to you!" or some similar nonsense, and then whipped the gift out from behind my back and presented "it" -- the "it: I was gonna give to her LOL -- with a flourish.
A photo to remember our hotel room efforts at making a decent present and card out of Barnes & Noble complimentary gift wrap.
Maddie opened her gifts, and hopefully, liked them!
Back inside the house, Ayize threw himself onto the sofa between both girls and lay there, gazing up at them adoringly.
Then he got up and played a little drums.
I took this photo of some of the things that adorn Jo Jo's mantelpiece. From left to right: a painting of a horse done by Bahar's father; unknown; a photo of Ayize that Jo Jo took when we were in Arizona two months ago; and a wonderful photo of my parents.
I turned around and saw Jo Jo sitting between Naveeda and Bahar so I snapped this quick shot which is now one of my favorites of the trip.
Meanwhile, somebody was getting a little sleepy. He lay down with Grandma and Grandpa to rest for a few moments, before suddenly finding his second wind...
...and flipping over to fling himself around Pop-Pop's neck.
Then he climbed down from the sofa and made his way over to where the girls were playing a really cool Wii game. It was a lot of fun and involved ringing hand bells at appropriate time intervals.
I stood next to the TV to catch this shot of everyone in chill mode: Naveeda watching the girls play; Bahar knitting a pair of socks for Jo Jo; Shishin dozing in and out comfortably on an easy chair; Akari talking to my parents; and the kids having a Wii-wonderful time.
Jo Jo came to sit in Ayize's chair to play a round, and Ayize took advantage of the comfortable spot between the pillow and Jo Jo's back.
Major chill mode.
Chillax Central.
I headed into the kitchen to "see" Timmy, or at least, to see her photo.
Tim was a wonderful calico mama cat Jo Jo rescued long ago along with two of her kittens. The photo on the left was her nursing her second (?) litter of kittens, shortly after Jo Jo rescued her; on the right is a photo I took of Tim with her son, Kettle, and daughter, Perl, when I was visiting Portland in the fall of 2007 during my pregnancy. Perl and Kettle looked so cute smushed up cheek to cheek, and Tim lounged alongside them looking for all the world like she was still a nursing mama.
I put the photo in an Aristocats magnetized frame I had received as a gift ages ago and sent it to Jo Jo shortly before Ayize was born. I don't think Jo was a big fan of the Disney-fied frame but he let it pass on account of its feline theme, and it lives on the fridge to this day.
Tim passed away since the last time I visited and she was such an integral part of each visit that I just wanted to "see" her for a moment. She was a wonderful, even-tempered (defying her calico roots), silly-natured, and loving, lovely cat.
I headed back to the living room, and as I did, I saw that Bill's wonderful painting of Tim was hanging above the sofa. I had seen this illustration on Jo Jo's Facebook page but I was thrilled to see it in real-life.
R.I.P. Timmy. You are sorely missed.
Ayize hopped onto Akari's lap, made himself at home, and finished the second half of the bar he had started eating earlier.
Jo Jo showed off his "The Pink Thing" Wii controller.
Ayize decided to amuse himself by dumping out the household's spare change cups and sorting various coins by color and size. I couldn't help but hum, "the king was in his counting house/counting all his money."
The day was drawing to a close but the kids still had a lot of energy to burn so we headed to Mount Tabor to play. Jo Jo and Akari took off together in Jo's car to return his wedding tux while me, my parents, Shishin, and the kids headed straight to the park in the minivan.
We went first to the caldera (once the epicenter of this extinct volcano, but now a sunken, grassy, outdoor arena) to play. Ayize's shadow looked so funny here, high atop this volcano, in the light of the fading day.
The kids ran a couple of foot races across the caldera.
Then the girls pretended to struggle to walk along this outdoor stone pew.
Shishin's head was framed like a Buddha's in a grotto.
A view of one bordering wall of the caldera.
Cool patterns that have naturally emerged between some of the big boulders that make up another wall.
The view looking out over Portland from the top of one wall of the caldera.
Shishin and the kids stood in front of the same view. Ayize was still clinging to his "counting house king" cup. And he continued to clutch it, even as we ascended back out of the caldera and along the winding uphill path that took us to...
...the Mount Tabor playground!
Old school teeter totters, rock and roll.
Uncle Jo Jo and Madison whipped by on this old-fashioned spinner and by chance, my camera caught Jo's just-minted rear end (he had taken a spill down a slippery slope of mud bordering the playground) at the precise moment it passed. Apologies, brother!
Me and Ayize rode our steed off into the sunset.
Daddy was looking very content.
Ayize grinned like a fool as he mischievously climbed up the slide.
The park was surrounded by these stately, tall trees on all sides.
Jo Jo's fancy photo equipment doubled as a sunhat for Daddy.
Mom and Shishin took a break together on one of the playground benches.
Jo Jo worked on his bicep strength using a unique dumbbell.
Shortly after this last photo, Jo Jo, Mom and Dad went back to Jo Jo's house in his car while me, Shishin, Akari, Ayize, and the girls headed back to the hotel. They were dropping us off and then continuing on to meet up and have dinner all together at Kappaya Japanese Restaurant with Bahar, Naveeda and Andy as well.
Much as he and I wanted to prolong the party, Ayize was absolutely exhausted. It was past 7 (9 our time) and we still had to eat and get ready for bed. Plus, he kept asking for "pizzey" -- his current favorite food -- and I wanted to jump on that so I could make sure he went to bed with more than just a fiber bar in his belly.
So to the hotel we went, with a quick pit stop en route at my all-time favorite pizzeria, Rovente, so I could run in and grab us dinner to go. I had ordered a small thin crust pizza with black olives for Ayize and a small Black Olive Oriente (my vegetarian version of their Chicken Oriente) for me while we were still at the playground, so it would be ready and waiting. I ran in, handed them my cash, and raced back to the waiting minivan with my two piping-hot pizza boxes. The girls' mouths practically watered as they caught wind of our delicious dinner and I felt so guilty for tempting them.
Still, all regrets faded away when we were safely ensconced in our room a few minutes later. With the din and hubbub of our extended family gone, a quiet peace settled over our room. I set up the portable DVD player and let Ayize watch The Polar Express while he methodically devoured more than half of a whole pizza before my amazed eyes.
Then I opened my box and prepared to dive in. I had waited for this moment for over a year. 14 months, to be precise. I closed my eyes and inhaled the delicious aroma. But then I caught a faint whiff of...chicken. No. No no no. NO! It couldn't be. But alas, it was. I had received a Black-Olives-and-Chicken Oriente instead of a Black-Olives in-place-of-Chicken Oriente.
I was so super-mega-ultra-major-disappointed.
And hungry.
And desperate.
So I attempted to pick off the chicken pieces. This worked okay for one piece but (a) picking it off proved more problematic than I had anticipated as tons of tiny shreds of chickenwere literally baked in and throughout the other layers, and (b) I assumed that chicken "juices" had leaked into the whole pizza as the slice tasted strange to my unaccustomed buds, like something I figured could only be residual dead-bird flavor. Okay, so eating any more of this thing was entirely out of the question.
I called the Hawthorne branch where I had picked up my pizza a half-hour before and asked if they delivered to the Lloyd Center area. They hesitated, so I quickly surged ahead and told them the whole sad tale of my pizza that was suffering from a case of mistaken identity. I finished with a pathetic, "And I'm actually from Chicago but I visit here every year, and believe me when I tell you that I look forward to your delicious pizza all year long" -- which, by the way, is the sad truth. The lady started chuckling and told me I was "very sweet" and not to worry, they would make me a Black Olive Oriente pronto and have it over as fast as they possibly could. Have I mentioned how much Rovente's rocks??
Sure enough, my replacement came in a jif, it was steaming hot and picture-perfect, and they told me to keep the old pizza as well. (My family ended up enjoying the leftover slices later that evening and they also agreed that it was one damn tasty pizza).
Ayize finished dinner, yawning, and followed it with an apple for dessert. By now, he had slowed down so much that an eternity existed between each bite.
I took it away at the halfway mark with no protest from him and began to lay out his pajamas. He struggled to keep his eyes open as I changed him, and within moments of laying in the bed, he was out like a light, despite the vast amount of sunlight still flooding our room at nearly 8 p.m.
Yes, this photo is the view from our room at nearly 8 p.m.
Wowzas!
I checked my email and tidied up the room a bit, then followed him to Dreamland in short order.
Tomorrow was going to be another long, fun day. I was just bummed that it would be minus one family member.
0 comments:
Post a Comment