Portland, June 2010: Day Six

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Our day began when Ayize woke up bright and early, declaring, "Choo choo!" He rolled off the bed and loaded up some freight onto his train cars -- namely, his pet spider and his mini-Percy -- and began driving the trains all over the room.

Eventually, I harassed Jo Jo to come rescue us because (a) I didn't have the rental car keys, (b) after an hour of trains, Ayize was getting restless and starting to tear apart our hotel room, and (c) it was too rainy to walk anywhere. I felt horrible though when I realized I'd woken him up with my call! It felt "late" to me because of Ayize's crazy morning hours and the time change, but it was actually probably only 7-something when I called. Oops!

Anyhow, he was sweet enough to drive over and take us out to breakfast anyway.

Our savior! Complete with his awesome iPhone, which by the way, is now mine -- a birthday gift!

Have I mentioned how lucky I am to have such a fantastic family??

Anyway, he took us to the Cadillac Cafe and told me a funny story about a mutual friend of ours who worked there -- for a very brief time. Apparently, the owners are real sticklers about tardiness, yikes! On the other hand, they must be sticklers about food quality, too, because our breakfast was delish. Ayize devoured his blueberry pancakes and a lot of scrambled eggs and toast, too. I was thrilled!

Jo Jo inspected my new camera and used it to take a few shots (I was complaining about how indoor shots sometimes "yellow" out and have to be hand-adjusted. Here's a good example!)

After our meal, we headed outside and were happy to find we were having a brief respite from the rain. Ayize turned some outdoor pipes into a playground and climbed around on them happily.

Whee!

Then he hopped up on a nearby bench in front of a lingerie shop. He checked out the view...

...and his response was, "Ugh, no thank you!"

Climbing around on the bench for additional exercise while Jo Jo spoke with Akari, who was back at the hotel, to hammer out a plan for the morning.

Back at the hotel, Ayize's impromptu workout continued.

But the kids settled down for a quick portrait.

Jo Jo showed Maddie a new DS game and Ayize was totally entranced.

Hugging Sophie and checking out a cartoon.

"Forget the TV, let's smooch! I love my cousins!!"

Next, he perched himself comfortably atop Aunt Akari.

Holding hands.

And then leaped from there onto the bed, and onto Madison's back, who fell onto Jo Jo's back.

Sophie got in on the human crush action, too.

Eventually, Jo Jo headed back home. Mom and Dad stayed in the hotel again because Dad was still feeling a bit crummy and the weather wasn't helping.

The kids really needed to burn off some pent-up steam, so Akari and I loaded them up in the minivan and we headed out to...

...the very-fun Portland Children's Museum!

We checked out the outside of the water play area, but the kids' attention was quickly drawn to...

...this big boat!

Up they went, and I went after them as soon as I took this shot. It was pretty cool up there -- steering wheels for the kids and a great view of the museum, plus lots of fun stairs and bridges to climb and run across on your way up and down.

Next, we headed up more stairs to this suspended area with Colorforms and magnetized interlocking gears. Akari caught this group shot of us as I held Ayize back for a moment before he ran off to explore the rest of this fun area.

Window and floor cut-outs gave us a spy's-eye view of other exhibits going on below us. We crawled under the wall, following the black-and-yellow flooring, and discovered this hidey-hole.

Woo hoo!

On our way back down, Ayize took a shortcut through this funny tube.

Next, the kids practiced their dentistry on this accommodating crocodile.

Cornholio in the kid's grocery!

A walk through the forest.

Pottery time!

The girls get down and dirty, too.

Ayize loved cutting the damp clay.

Lots of fun in the colors and shapes room.

The requisite Kokopele offering for Brianna. We seem to find one on every trip!

Big stage debut. He was so happy to be the center -- literally -- of attention!

Look closely at the marquee behind the ticket taker. Yes, Madison Y was the featured actress of the moment! Until some other kid came along and changed the nameplate....

The cars, trucks, and rains room. Predictably, Ayize only had eyes for the trains.

The water room. The scientist got busy right away and took his job of water measurements very seriously, so he had no time to look up for this photo.

Sophie shows off both her cool face paint job, and her prowess at this hand-pumped water gun!

But she was called over to assist the scientist shortly after.

Time for some lunch at the Caterpillar Cafe. Milk, Annie's Organic Chocolate Bunnies, and...

...a PB & J cut into the shape of a bunny, complete with an eye pockmark.

After lunch, me, Ayize and Maddie went up for a closer inspection of the animal decor.

We discovered that each animal was composed of a bunch of household items.

This panda was mostly made from bathroom fixtures.

This ?? deer ?? was primarily made from half of a plastic one-gallon container and a flat brush.

Maddie did the penny swirl. Ayize was quite nosy about investigating this interesting contraption.

A penny at a 90-degree angle. Wacky!

Fortified with food, we made our way to the giant dig pit. The kids "dug" right in, ha ha ha, pun intended.

Busy, busy, busy.

Next, we climbed up into the giant treehouse. Look at my little owl way up in his hole!

I wedged myself in under the staircase to try to spook one of my nieces. I was gonna grab her ankle as she walked by, but then I kind of got stuck. My other niece took this photo, presumably so that I could treasure the moment forever LOL.

Honk! if your kid loves pinching your nose. Ayize joined me for an even-tighter squeeze.

Story time. But somebody was rapidly starting to doze off...to be fair, it was almost 2 in the afternoon, 4 o'clock on his home time. We slowly began to head towards the door.

Had to stop to check out this nifty aquarium though.

Blub, blub, blub. It's a jollyfish -- a very rare breed, indeed!

All three kids crashed in the car on the way back to Jo Jo's house to meet up with everyone. Akari and I parked in the driveway to await their return from having Thai lunch. The girls woke up and headed in the house and I stayed in the car with a sleeping Ayize. The rain beat a steady sound on the car roof and he snoozed and snoozed.

Eventually, Jo Jo and Akari came out to hang, too. Jo gave us a little guided tour -- from the comfort of the minivan -- of his recent home improvements. Ayize finally woke up and we all headed in.

His short nap had served him well. He was full of beans!

First, these upside-down splits...

..."oops, poked my eye out doing that one"...

...then some crowd-surfing on the top of the futon, with a swan dive downwards...

..."hee hee hee, that was so funny!"...

...and then a sideways somersault...

..."what next? What next?"...

...followed by his Grand Finale: a death-defying leap from the futon onto the back of Jo Jo's easy chair, where my dad was sitting.

Then he slid himself forward, threw his legs in front of him, took the last available Wii controller, and joined in our Mario Kart mayhem.

Go, Grandpa, go!

Crap. Ayize, Maddie, Sophie, and my Dad came in last.

Guess who came in dead last? I'll give you a hint: his name starts with the letter A.

Guess who didn't notice or care that he came in dead last? You guessed right again.

Ayize was getting more and more restless, and Bahar and I were in serious need of caffeine, so off Jo Jo and I tooled to a local cafe so I could grab a couple drinks. Sophie and Ayize joined us on our stroll, and together with Jo Jo, they performed a quick Rockettes number in the parking lot of the Space Room.

Believe me when I tell you that this was the only moment, in the ten minutes it took us to order and get our drinks, that Ayize showed any semblance of sitting still; seconds after I snapped this photo, he was like an electric bolt of energy, whirling around the cafe, chatting to all the people who were trying to talk, read, or study, kicking the screen door, and periodically screeching like a banshee at the top of his lungs, which he would follow with maniacal laughter at his own funny self.

Bahar's drink.

My drink.

So artistic! And very tasty, to boot.

On our way back, we all admired this purple house and its purple landscaping.

Sophie's attempt at throwing "bunny ears" in Ayize's direction; her funny accompanying grin was too precious not to capture on film for posterity.

"I'll just take a few of these for later; you never know when they'll come in handy."

Jo Jo noticed this unfortunate juxtaposition of phrases on the front cover of the Portland Tribune. Somebody in copywriting needs to get canned.

Back at the house, we got a rousing jam session of Rock Band: The Beatles going on.

John and Paul.

Props to Ayize! I was so proud of his mad vocal skills.

Eventually, we wended our way back to the hotel courtesy of sweet Liz, who came to our rescue. Ayize was super tired because of his abbreviated nap and very hungry.

Liz went above and beyond the call of friendship by picking us up at Jo Jo's home, then stopping at Chipotle so I could pick up our dinner (after waiting in the longest line of all Chipotle history), and then hanging out at the hotel with us while we ate the world's slowest meal. Seriously. It took Ayize a whole movie -- Spirited Away -- to methodically chew and swallow his three soft tacos and his one apple for dessert. Meanwhile, I was crappy company because I was so tired from our long day and my lack of sleep. I vegged out in front of the movie and could hardly keep any semblance of conversation going. Luckily, Liz was sweet enough to pretend she didn't notice my horrible hostess skills, and she vegged out right alongside us and enjoyed the movie as much as we did.

After we were done eating, Ayize was super sleepy, but he perked up at the mention of the pool. So we all three suited up and headed down to the hotel pool to meet Jo Jo, Akari, Maddie, Sophie, and my mom.

Ayize had a grand old time while he lasted, but crashed hard after a short while.

Grandma held him like a little bundle, all wrapped in his burrito towel, as I gathered our stuff to head back to the hotel room.

Sleepy little guy.

Soooooo loved by his Grandma!

Liz and I gave him a fast dipper of a bath, just enough to wash the chlorine off, and then we dried him, dressed him in his PJs, and he was out like a light.

Good night, sweet prince!

Liz used our shower and I fought the urge to crash for the few minutes it took her. She emerged, noticed I was fading fast, and made a quick exit, waving off my myriad apologies.

A true friend, and I am thankful for all she did for us that day (and for the duration of our trip, and for that matter, for the duration of our decades-long friendship)!

I lay down beside Ayize and was asleep within seconds myself.