The Portland Aquarium

Two weekends ago, the Explorers Club explored the brand-spanking-new Portland Aquarium. It's pretty cool (as you'll see below), but it's no Oregon Aquarium (in Newport, OR). It's in a former restaurant (a Chili's or something), and two of the big exhibits (otters and puffins) are still under construction and unpopulated. But what they had was great. I thought the moray eel was fake, it looked so awesome sticking its green head out of the Buddha head.

It's one of those aquariums where you can touch a lot of stuff -- sea stars (as starfish are now called), a surely confused lobster (I imagined it thinking to itself, like a German U-boat commander, "Dive! Dive!" but there was no depths into which it could plunge), and rays or skates. In the ray/skate, there was a baby hammerhead shark, and a small sign saying, "Do not touch the Hammerhead."

Duh!

In addition to the marine life, there is a very cool climbing structure and a makeshift aviary where you can play with lorrakeets, whatever those are.

It was a bit overpriced, but we liked it, and will be back. 

Green Moray Eel

Humongous hermit crab.

Albino boa.

Jellyfish.

Mommy and Suzanne flirt with the skates.

The Lorrakeet liked Elizabeth; and the feeling was mutual.

Barb was a bit suspicious of the fowl.

Suzanne likes sea stars.

Suzanne was assimilated all too quickly into the Lorrakeet culture.

Okay, I'm pretty sure she's a turtle, not a Lorrakeet. In any event, she's playing tug-of-war with my sweatshirt hood pull. And being supercute.

Thank You, Grandma.

Elizabeth painted this picture for Grandma as a thank you card for the pillow pets and the Mason-Pearson. Grandma liked it so much she framed it and requested that I post it on Elizabethtown.

Reed Canyon

Somehow we have lived here in Woodstock for eight years without realizing that Reed Canyon was a 10 minute bike ride away.

Explorer's Club to the rescue!

One of Barb's friends told her about it: take Steele to 37th, turn left, and there's the trailhead. The trail loops around a long pond created by beaver dams. On the chilly morning when we explored the canyon, we saw a geese, mallards and buffleheads, a blue heron, and a fair amount of beaver-chewed timber.

Suzanne didn't feel much like hiking, so Barb carried her most of the way. (I was more than willing to be her steed, but every time I offered she repeated one of her favorite phrases: "No! Mommy do it.") Elizabeth had a great time being the hike leader, taking field notes, and discovering.

Reed Canyon. This may look like wilderness, but to the right are houses and to the left is a college campus.

The brainiacs at Reed College apparently enjoy the Game of Kings al fresco.

The Explorers find a "beaver chew."

During our snack break, a duck couple came out of the water to see if they could cadge some pretzels from the ignorant humans. Little did they know we were Explorers, cognizant of the havoc bread products wreak on ducks, duck poop, and the pond ecosystems the ducks poop in.

Elizabeth returning from the water's edge, where she discovered ice. This side of the pond was noticeably colder than the other side, due to having been in shadow all morning. There was a rime of ice at the shoreline, more frost on the ground, and the air had a definite bite to it. 

Explorer's Club!

We decided to form a club. The Portland Explorer's Club, to be precise. It came about because Elizabeth became interested in Paul Bunyan (I cannot remember how), and that led to us doing research, which led to the discover, via Wikipedia, that there was a Paul Bunyan statue right here in Portland, OR!

I was somewhat chagrined that, having lived here 17 years, I was unaware of the presence of a massive, full-color statue of the legendary lumberjack. It seemed obvious that we all needed to get out more, to explore the many fascinating corners of the Rose City. Thus The Portland Explorer's Club was born.

The female members of the club made the inaugural trip to the Bunyan statue itself last week. This weekend, the full membership went on two more expeditions: to Reed Canyon and to the new Portland Aquarium. Both were awesome, as you will see if you stay tuned.

Elizabeth with her current obsession: Paul Bunyan. But where's Babe?

Equestriennes

Shots

Here are the girls at their most recent doctor's visit, awaiting shots. Suzanne didn't cry, despite two shots. Elizabeth, very unusually, cried, but she got three shots, and they were harsh: all bled, all resulted in bruises.

Suzanne's Friends

Suzanne is best friends with Jasper, the little boy Barb babysits every week. But she is also becoming friends with neighbor Ani (pictured). It's neat to watch her social skills develop as she gets older, and fun to witness the joy she gets from her friends -- especially Jasper.

 

Now, if only she would get some percentage of that joy from interacting with her sister.

 

Elizabeth & Grandma Photoplay

Here are the two ladies enjoying our new pass through.

 

Break Out!

Elizabeth was acting a little strange at tuck-tuck, running around chortling and standing on her head on the couch. But that's not too strange, so I thought nothing of it. Then she said she would pick out her own pajamas. Odd enough that she even wanted to wear PJs -- normally, she's a diaper-only gal, summer or winter.  But odd turned to truly puzzling when the "pajamas" she chose consisted of a long-sleeve t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans.

Huh?

"I want to be all dressed tomorrow when I wake up," she said with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"OK," I said. "Great."

I tucked her in. A moment later she called Mommy and asked for her flashlight. Then she spilled the beans: she was planning a break out!

Her school friend Mila had conspired with Elizabeth to sneak out at night and meet up at the school. To fight spider-bees or something. As Barb talked through the plan with Elizabeth, she found that Elizabeth had her boots and coat all laid out, ready to go. When Barb told her that sneaking out of the house alone was not acceptable, Elizabeth magnanimously invited Barb in on the adventure.