Manzanita, Beach, Pizza & a Bald Eagle #family #Sunday #fun {#oregon #travel #NehalemStatePark}

Is it really already the second week of March? All is great here I just have been feeling under the weather a bit…but you know there is nothing like spending time outdoors to lift my spirit.   On Sunday we ventured out to the Oregon coast which is one of our favorite places it always rejuvenates with its majestic beauty.  There are so many great places to go from Portland for a quick day trip - often times we go to Cannon Beach closest to Portland but there are so many, many other fantastic spots…

This time it was Manzanita - the town is south of Cannon Beach and this is the view of the town and beach from 101…

Amazing, right?!  It is a cute little beach town this is the view down main street….

What do you think?

Since we did not pack a picnic {yes, shame on me} besides a couple of snacks we decided to order a couple of pizza's from Marzano's Pizza - easy enough, right?!  Yes, especially when the dough is "safe" for the girls (i.e. no milk sugar) and that makes this mothership very happy…Anyway it was a pepperoni pizza without dairy for the girls, and a number eight for the parental units.  While the pizza was in the making we walked down to the beach and relaxed for the twenty minutes until the pizza was ready.

The beach in Manzanita is by far not as crowded as in Cannon Beach, but looking for an even more quiet spot plus some dunes we packed the pizza's and drove down the five minutes to Nehalem State Park.  It is the perfect spot…dunes, beach, quiet…

We ate our pizzas on the beach - the girls ran down the dunes and the absolute cherry on top {as MiaRose says} was this sight…

Yes,  a Bald Eagle devouring his catch right on the beach;  good thing we brought the binoculars and Ron took the pictures.

Walking back to the car after a fun day on the beach

Timberline Lodge - Mini-break on Mt. Hood {#travel with #kids #oregon #pdx}

Here it is only the beginning - okay almost - middle of January and we were ready for a mini-break; to be fair {to us albeit} we had not been away since November and let's just put it right out there the four of us love to get away and travel.  Yes,  this surely is not shocking news.  Sometimes one night away at a spot that is close, does not break the bank, has a lovely pool and ambiance is all that is needed and I am so excited that we found the perfect place. Less than 2 hours away from Portland - less than 1-1/2 hr actually from our house - in winter wonderland on Mt. Hood Timberline Lodge is the perfect spot that fits the bill.

Stay in one of the  "Chalet Rooms" {aka bunk bed rooms} with a shared bathroom and it becomes an economical getaway that these adults and kids love.  We stayed in a two bunk room and - of course - both ladies wanted to sleep in a top bunk.  Plus just a short walk down the hallway what do you find?  The most amazing - I do not say this lightly friends; really it is amazing - year round outdoor swimming pool.  It was snowing up on the mountain and we were swimming outside; really pure bliss and I am not exaggerating.  Not only does Timberline Lodge have an amazing pool but also a great Sauna.  Most probably do not know that I   we - as in Ron and me - are huge fans.  The pool and sauna are perfect for relaxation after a day on the slopes, or as we did sledding…

The restaurant at Timberline serves up delicious fare, with great ambiance and - you know this is the most important part for us - they are able to accommodate the girls dietary needs.  Our serve made sure that everything was "safe"  The girls even got dessert!  You may not know this however dessert is mostly impossible when eating out as most of the desserts are laden with {ga}lactose.  Same thing at Timberline however sorbet is served as a palate cleanser and thanks yo our awesome server the girls had a big scoop of sorbet for dessert.

The perfect place to hang out after dinner is by the fire place on one of the couches.  Fire crackling, snow outside…it is perfection.  MiaRose and Ron decided to read while Alena and I enjoyed several rounds of Eckolo before heading outside into the snowy night to enjoy absolute quiet and darkness.

After a good nights sleep it was time for some coffee {and tea} with a view of the great blue sky, and a snowy top of the mountain.  Lovely beyond words.  The restaurant serves breakfast a la carte, or also has a fantastic breakfast buffet; now I do not say this lightly because this girl does not like buffets.  Yes, they are usually not my thing but this one is fantastic.  Fresh fruit,  homemade granola, potatoes, make your own waffles…plus there is plenty for the girlies to eat well sort of.  The eggs on the buffet are not "safe" so the kitchen some just for the girlies, pancakes, sausages, and ham were "safe", just not the waffles. Admittedly MiaRose was disappointed that she could not eat a waffle, but she ended up making a couple of waffles for Ron :)

This was the perfect get away and yes,  I we could have stayed - quite easily - another night.

Disclaimer - NO compensation was received  for this post  :)

Fun Times at the Oregon Coast

Where does the time go? I cannot believe that it is already late Wednesday afternoon and I still have not talked about our fun weekend in Newport at the Oregon Coast. It was the perfect storm for storm watching. Let's just say, that it was one crazy storm and we did not once - yes that is right - go to the beach; well I tried but then lightning hit which made return swiftly to our room :) Good thing we had the perfect view right from our room....we all - including my sister - got to enjoy this huge storm at the coast.

 For dinner we stopped at Rogue Brewery which is a family favorite. Delicious adult beverages a.k.a. beer, good food, and kid meals that are served on frisbee's :) The kids meal even comes with a "safe" dessert - as in jell-o - which makes it even more fun for the ladies...

School, Play, and Playmobile Land {Germany 2013}

How are you?  Have you been missing us?!  Yes, yes I know the world does not revolve around me...it is just my meager attempt to be funny ;)

Anyways, we have been in Germany now for almost three weeks and am very much enjoying ourselves.  The girls go to school Monday through Friday, while I work and visit my German clients.  We are staying at my Mom's this year and it has been the best decision.  It is wonderful to get a little spoiled by not having to cook, enjoy my Mom's kitchen and spend quality time with her.  Have I mentioned how amazing her Bratkartoffeln {fried potatoes} are?

The girls have been - at least most of the time - enjoying to go to school and see their friends again.  They visit every year so it is - also for the German kids and at least in Alena's class - a welcome back, Alena.  For Mia Rose it is the first time at a German school, as school here starts with first grade and not Kindergarten :)  One of the things my youngest loves is that she is able to walk to and back home all by herself.  Alena is not the biggest fan of it, but Mia Rose?!   Both girls are fully integrated in the classrooms {they both speak German} and the experience to compare the German school to their school in Portland has been - as always - awesome...Last week, both participated in the Bundesjugendspiele which is a full morning of competitive sports.  They ran, long jumped, high jumped and had loads of fun.  Alena went on an afternoon hike with her class and we ended the day with a big BBQ party at one of the many parks {Waldspielplatz} surrounding Tuttlingen.

On the weekends we have been visiting friends; we see each other only once a year but always pick-up right were we left off.  Now that to me is a sign of true friendship!!!

For fun other we have been to an outdoor theater and saw Rapunzel; visted the Fairytale Garden in Ludwigsburg; went swimming at TuWass; spent time at many playgrounds; visited the Playmobile Fun Land....

And for dinner out?  There is one dish that always works; do you know what it is?  Yup, Pommes Frites which the girls prefer "red/white" { ketchup & mayonnaise}, as well as  plenty of ice "cream".  There are always options when you ask and explain the situation!

Roses, Peonies, Rhodies & Pizza

Do you know where the city of roses is? Maybe - shall I give you a little hint, or are you rolling your eyes...oh, you are just so lame...yes, it is Portland as in Portland Oregon, or PDX, or our hometown...
This time of year the air is fragrant with the scent of flowers - roses are already starting to bloom, peonies have started, and rhodies {as in rhododendron} are still going strong.  So what do we do on a beautiful Friday night - I guess the hint was pizza - we walk to Apizza Scholl's for a delicious {1/2 no cheese it works like a charm} pie and on our walk enjoy the flower's.  Here is the pizza

and I just know that you also want to see the most amazing blooms...

City Trip & Quick #Pasta

Did everyone have a good weekend?  With the Thanksgiving Holiday we did enjoy a super long weekend.  We spent Thanksgiving in Portland, and on Friday drove up to...take a guess...

 ...yup, Seattle.  This is somewhat of an annual trip for us.  A fun way to start off the holiday season and Ron {my runner husband} loves to run the Seattle 1/2 Marathon.

We started the trip with a visit to the American Girl Place where each of the girls took a look the beautiful dolls.  Let me just say, that both now know what they will ask for from Santa ;).  And no, we did not make a purchase but still both girls said "this was the best day ever". Now that is what the parental units really wanted to hear :), oh yes a hotel with a nice pool and fantastic view sweetened the deal ...

One of the great things about travelling to Seattle is that we really do not have to worry about food choices for the girls.  A Whole Foods is in walking distance from the hotel, and vegan options, soy milk, etc.  are available in most restaurants. We even had vegan pancakes....- The girls rode the carrousel, we explored the city, and Ron had a fantastic run.  Take a look....

Oh, and yes I did make dinner last night.  Let me just call this Cheater's Quick Pasta Dinner.  A jar of Newman's Own Sockaroni Sauce {enhanced with some Paremsiano Rind}, a box of Farfalle Barialla Pasta, and a sprinkling of fresh parsley. Voila - perfect cheater's dinner plus leftovers for the lunchbox.  Hooray...does it not look fancy ;)

Fall is when the party is called Oktoberfest...

one of my fellow expat German friends invited us to her family's Oktoberfest party this weekend.  You know, it is fall when the Oktoberfest parties start :)  -  This should have been the perfect time for the girls to wear their Dirndl's but you know what?  They did not want to wear them!  Can you believe that?  Usually they always wear them.  To school, to the playground, to parties...but no, not to the Oktoberfest. Is that not funny?! Oh well, it really is no big deal.

This Oktoberfest was a family event.   Children playing, decorating Lebkuchen Hearts with frosting {not "safe" for the girls to eat but still fun to decorate :)}

What should I do next...

...perfect

while the adults enjoyed some grown up conversation, as well as some beer.

Hello...

 It was fun party and you know what was really fantastic?  There were Brezel's (Pretzels) from Fressen and they are...dah daaahhhh yup, dairy free :) So exciting to have "save" Brezel's for the girls to eat, something that in Germany is such a rarity.  Usually there is always a little bit of butter in them.  Not in these as they are made to appeal to the Portland market and are vegan.  {Yay for Portland, friends!} It makes my heart sing.  You know, it is the little things in life. As for other food, there was Bratwurst from Edleweiss - here in PDX - which is also "safe", and we just skipped the sides.  Who said that Bratwurst with a Bretzel is not enough?!

Look at the Brezel...

...yum!!!

And yes,  before you ask yourself there was no "safe" dessert for the girlies something I had already anticipated.  So just in case,  I brought along a box of Newman's Own O's and kept the entire family happy....

The last couple 2012 summer days...

we spent just lazily at home, and in Portland. On Thursday we took a long walk around our neighborhood, met the new teachers for the girlies {it will be great}, and - of course - spent a lot of time on the playground.

Ron and Mia Rose

Ron and I made dinner together {whoo-hoo - that does not happen very often and it was so much fun}; Summer Linguine with fresh corn, fresh tomatoes, and garlic - it was simple, but so good :)  We really need to do that more often, right?!

The 31st of August was our - tadahhh - 15 year anniversary.  The girls were so curious about it and wanted us to tell them the story about how we met over, and over again.  It was quite cute.  You know, the big question for them was "How did you meet if you did not grow up in the same country?"; "Mama did you always know English?"; "If you did not know each other, how did you talk with each other?".  It was really, really cute...OK, for us it was probably not for most of you :)  So we told them, and I will tell all of you as well.

We met in Chicago shortly after both of us moved to the city.  Ron from Wisconsin and me, well a little farther, from Germany. Our first date was at the Chicago Blues Fest, and from there on out we were inseparable {little did we know that we also share the same recessive gene for Classic Galactosemia - it was just meant to be :) } .  Yup, that is right :)  We got married outside on Labor Day weekend at the Cheney Mansion in Oaks Park, on a beautiful hot, late summer day.  It was a fun luncheon reception, and let's just say that both of us had a fantastic time.  We stayed in Chicago for a few more years, and then in 2002 moved to Portland, Oregon. This is where we are now - 15 great years later, two beautiful girls....

t

That is us...

Oh, and just in case you are wondering we all went out to dinner last night.  It was Lardo - a food cart turned into a simple, rustic restaurant.  The parental units had desert from the adjacent food cart "Sugar Cube" while for the girlies we stopped at "Swirl" where both made their own desserts.  Dairy free Lemon-Strawberry sorbet topped with - Alena and Mia Rosie made it - Skittles, Nerds, and Marshmallows....

City Hike at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge to Oaks Park Amusement Park...

You may know by now that this family likes to be outdoors.  We very much - well, okay three of us - love to hike; so a hike to the amusement park was perfect to keep everyone happy.  Mia Rose had been asking all week to go to Oaks Park so finally yesterday was the day.

We parked the car at the trail head to the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge in SE Portland - Oaks Bottom another amazing gem in the middle of the city.  Walk down the trail and there is only nature around - it is one of our favorites.

Ron and I have come here since we first moved to Portland ten years ago.  I actually remember our first hike talking about what a great incentive it will be for our future children to hike Oaks Bottom with the incentive of a carrousel ride :)  Well, time flies and yes we have hiked with the girls before but this is the first time I actively remembered our very first hike...


The hike there was so much fun - Ron and the girls were looking for snakes while I happily walked ahead...

Look at those trails. It is so hard believe that this is in the middle of a large city, is it not?

Once we got there - there was all kids of fun to be had.

The girls hydrated with a Sprite for the hike along the Springwater Corridor via Oaks Bottom back to the car

And there was also a treat of ice "cream" at Staccatto Gelato in Sellwood with five different "safe" sorbet's to choose from :)

Fun day at the Oregon Coast

One of the many great things about living in Portland the closeness to the Pacific Ocean.  All of us love the beach - and which kid does not like the beach, right.  Yes,  the water is cold - we do not go in the water past our ankles :) - days can be overcast, and a little chilly  b u t the Oregon coast is so amazing.  Beaches are accessible to all - it is a beautiful, mystical coastline that is inspiring and rejuvenating.

Ron was off from work today so yesterday we made the plan to make a day trip to the beach.  We usually take quite a while to get going so by the time we left it was already well past noon...so we decided to go the closest beach which is in Canon Beach.  It is cute little beach town with a fantastic beach, a water inlet where the kids can play, tide-pools by Haystack Rock.  Look it up on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannon_Beach,_Oregon

I am glad we went.  The girls played in the water, built a sandcastle, slid down the dunes - yes plenty of sand everywhere :).....

We also stopped at the Candy store for salt water taffy - all flavors but butter and butterscotch are dairy free but remember to double check - each girl was allowed to get ten pieces, and of course we got to watch them make it too :)  http://www.brucescandy.com/

Before heading back to Portland we stopped at the city playground and picked up some smoked salmon for dinner at the fish market http://ecolaseafoods.com/

And all of that fun was had in less than twelve hours :)

Jamison Fountain fun...

to add to our fun camping we went straight to Jamison Square - http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/index.cfm?PropertyID=1140&action=ViewPark - to spend a few more fun hours before heading home.

The girls jump in the water to cool off, and have a fantastic time.  Take a look at them....

Another nice thing about Jamison Square is that there are several food options around.  I walked over to Laughing Plant Cafe - http://www.yelp.com/biz/laughing-planet-cafe-portland-6 - to pick-up lunch for all.  Quesadillas for three of the girls - twice with "unsafe" cheese for our friends, and with vegan cheese for Mia Rosie.  Alena - always the bean lovers - chose rice and beans.  One thing I really like about this restaurant - and probably Portland in general - is that it is so easy to have "safe" as well as vegan options.

We ended the trip with a walk to Cupcake Jones -  http://www.cupcakejones.net/ - where vegan/safe choices now await our girls :) - Take a look at the choices...

and the girlies enjoying them :)

Our travel adventure going home...

it has been quite an adventure to come back to Portland.  We left Tuttlingen on Wednesday for our early morning flight back to the US on Thursday. Our good friend drove us to the hotel in Kloten which is right next to the Zurich airport.  All very uneventful.  We checked into the hotel - Hotel Allegra - and went to our super cute, yes, really I am not exaggerating, room.  It was a family room with four individual beds in them. - Check it out here  http://www.welcomegroup.ch/en/allegra/
Then we decided to go to the pool.  The hotel does not have their own pool, but you get a pass to the public indoor/outdoor pool which by my book is much better anyways.  We took our towels and swimsuits before walking the five minutes to the pool.  Everyone had a fun time.  Mia Rose kept sliding down the big slide, Alena played in the water, while the parents just hung out.

Ice "cream" before we headed back to the hotel.  At the hotel, all of us had a drink at the bar - yes, kids get to go to bars in Europe :).  The staff was amazing! The girls got Pommes Frites in the bar - usually not possible - they were shown the kitchen, and scored a scoop of mango - yes, "safe" - sorbet each.  The staff really went above and beyond!

It was the perfect compliment to our sandwiches my Mom had made for us in Tuttlingen :)

In the morning the shuttle left - of course - on time at 6:15; and took us to the airport.  We checked in, went to the gate and waited.  Argh, the plane was late getting in from Atlanta.  But then we saw it landing, taxi to the gate, and in no time we were on board settled into our seats.

Captain comes on the intercom to tell us flight time will be a little over ten hours, and five minutes later "we have a small mechanical problem".  You know what that means, right?!  The plane needed repair, we stayed on board and took off with an almost three hour delay.  Our connection time in Atlanta was 2-1/2 hours...long story short, we missed our connection to Portland.  Delta had rerouted us to Las Vegas and put us on standby for a flight from Las Vegas to Portland.  That was not an option for us! So we were put up for the night by Delta in Atlanta, and rebooked in the morning via Minneapolis/St. Paul to Portland.

So I told you about our beautiful hotel in Switzerland, right? Clean, everything organized, no chaos, shuttle working, on time, you sign up and get your seat...Let me tell you, I was in for culture shock.  The shuttle was not there, the phone line to the hotel was not working, and Ron got us a ride with another shuttle.  We checked into the hotel by presenting our voucher, and were assigned a room.  The beds looked clean but that was about it.  We were next to the laundry room with sheets strewn everywhere, and several trash bags - full - next to it.  The carpet was stained, and the furniture had several cigarette burns in them.  Quite a difference to the clean room at Hotel Allegra. We also had meal vouchers, luckily there was a restaurant in the hotel to get some dinner.  Ron ordered a burger for the girls to split.  We determined that the bread was not safe after talking to the waiter and ordered it without the bread.  The "hamburger" as stated on the menu was served and you know what it was?  A "cheeseburger" - that was a little different, right?  In any case, it all worked out and I had the best Coca-Cola of my life.  Crushed ice and all....

In the morning we found, that several people did not make the first shuttle and that there was no way that we could get on the next shuttle.  Eventually we made it to the airport, and then to Minneapolis

from where we went onto our flight to Portland.  Yay!!! 44 hours later we landed safely in Portland...now that was really a great adventure going back home.