April in Portland

I am going to post the video Sandi made of our super fun weekend and a lot of these pictures are in the video. But I also wanted to do a separate post with pics in part because each year I have the blog printed in book form and I want the pics to be in the book.  Plus, not everyone will have the stamina for the video since it is 6 minutes long (but a worthwhile 6 minutes!).

Our trip to Portland was everything we could have asked for, minus some interference with airway issues (Maya) resulting in lost sleep and an on and off case of the grumpies (again, Maya).

We stopped at the bank on our way out of town and allowed the girls to take $40 each out of their never-before-touched savings accounts to spend as they wished.  After enjoying the sunshine at a beautiful park, Ella begged to hit the mall to spend her cash.  To Build-A-Bear they went.  Via school bus.

We went to Silly's Restaurant for supper Friday night and I had to most amazing tofu, veggie, brown rice dish that left me literally aglow.  Maya was right at home being Silly at Silly's.  It was like she had returned to the Mother Ship.

We had planned to have the girls stay overnight with my sister the first night so Sandi and I could have a night away alone but after Maya's ER scare, we decided we couldn't leave her in a house with a cat since the allergy so significantly affects her airway.  We knew we had made the right decision when she was sniffling and coughing the whole way to Portland.  Sure enough, she needed a nebulizer treatment by evening and we spent most of the overnight in and out of the shower steam and Vick's rubdowns.  There was a moment when she was getting scared as her cough got tight and barky and I had a flashback to my role as medic/ambulance driver.  

At least she was happy showing off her nebulizer (the Panda) when it was still fun, before evening had turned to night.  It is always the wee hours that challenge a struggling airway most.

The next day the girls thoroughly enjoyed the breakfast bar at the hotel and a long swim in the pool before we went out to enjoy the unexpected sunshine.

One of the happiest places in the world for our girls is the beach.  Just throwing rocks and looking for treasures.

Which was all well and good until Ella's very special bracelet went flying into the ocean with her rocks and Sandi had to go after it.  You will have to watch the video to see it.  (Sandi even slowed the video down so you can see the bracelet fling off.)

Building fairy houses on Mackworth Island:





Ella built a fairy castle:

Maya built a tavern.  She had a stash of acorns for the fairies to play with.

We so deserved this special time as a family- playing, loving, hugging, chasing, laughing, celebrating.  It has been a hard 9 months for all 4 of us and it felt so good to put our family back in the center of our world where it belongs.  Love, love, love all three of my girls.