Portland: the second leg of our vacation

After the fun in the sun in South Lake Tahoe, we flew out of Sacramento up to Portland, Oregon, to visit our egg donor, Mooshie, and her family. July 31 through August 2, 2007

Off we went, to visit Maddie (2 1/2) and Alex (one month)

The first meeting of Mooshie and Keifer was somewhat anti-climactic, as she got stuck in rush hour traffic on the way to the airport, and poor Alex, only 1 month old, was screaming in his car seat to be fed. Arriving at the airport to meet us, poor Mooshie was an hour late and had to put Alex in her Ergo, and nurse him, her first time in public. We were waiting for her with baited breath, and of course, it was very exciting and just such a joyous reunion. But the tears I predicted would fall were pushed to the side, which I'm glad for, because I do not like crying in public. LOL.

We immediately went to an awesome restaurant, new to CJ and I, called "Claimjumper". YUM. So delicious and great options to choose from. We joined Mooshie's hubby, Dave, along with Maddie, Alex, and Mooshie's parents, Liz and George, who were wonderful to meet. We stayed at Liz and George's house, in their guest room, and better hosts you could not find anywhere. It was very comfortable at their house and they reminded CJ and I A LOT of my own parents. So it really was like home!

The first night was short, as we were all tired out, and we spent Tuesday just hanging out again, and then hitting an outlet mall (as IF we don't have them here in MN, huh?). I spent some $$ on Keifer clothes, as our monkey girl is growing like a weed (she's about 26 or so inches last I checked!). I put a box together of clothes from Mooshie that she lovingly let me take (Maddie hand-me-downs), along with the new clothes, and I'm having her ship them back to me. Our suitcases were already bulging at the seams and adding anymore to them would not be good.

Ready to shop: Egg sisters

Unintentionally matching car seats and patterns on our diaper bags *blush*

That night, we all hung out and chatted even more, and just had a good time watching all our kids and just being together. I do recall watching a little "America's Got Talent".LOL.

The girls love to read!

Wednesday, we packed up a picnic lunch,and drove two hours east to the shore, to Seaside, Oregon. We left the hot and humid 95 degree Portland, and arrived to Seaside, which was only 60 degrees, foggy and freezing cold. Needless to say, the beach was not very tempting at this point, and after the drive, the kids needed to eat and be changed, and we were all hungry. So we did all of the above in a parking garage of a Resort that Mooshie and her hubby have timeshares in. LOL. What, that doesn't sound like a fun trip? It was! We ended up taking a tour of the penthouse in the Resort, and we took a picture of the beach behind us. There were some people crazy enough to be out there!

Waiting to go, Maddie entertains Keifer

We were here: Seaside, OR

We then drove the two hours back home, and visited Mooshie and Dave's house, and I got to meet the cats *sniff sniff*. Unfortunately, I am very allergic to cats, and it was only around 20 minutes before I got all congested and wheezy. But it didn't stop us us from holding an all-out, no holds barred photo shoot with the three kids! LOL. We each took a million pictures, and here are a few from the crazy action.

Everybody: Hands UP!

Alex says, "Peace out!"

Then we went back to Liz and George's, where we all devoured some Papa Murphy's pizza, and their to-die-for chocolate chip cookies (just thinking about them makes me hungry!).

Keif chillin' in Alex's bouncy seat

She LOVED her pal ~ 1/3 sissy, Maddie

We had to get up at the crack of dawn (4:00 AM) to be at the airport and catch our 6:00 AM back home. It was hard to say goodbye to the family, but we all know that we will be together in again in the future. Next time, we'll visit for around a week, to spend more time together, and enjoying the beautiful location, as well as watching our kids get to know each other. On the 2 hour drive back to Portland, Mooshie and I talked about when our kids are older, in school, and if they are asked about their family situations, will it sound weird to people to hear, "no, I don't have a half -sister, but I do have a one-third sister and one-third brother?". Hee hee.

It was sad to come home, but good at the same time (despite the mountain of laundry and shaking off "the tireds" as we all had them). It was also good to be happily reunited with our fur kids!

**It was very sad to come home the day after the 35W Bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Sadly, 5 people died and there are still some missing. Our hearts are broken at the devastating facts,and our thoughts and many prayers go out to the families of anyone involved with the Bridge. What a sad and tragic event. It breaks our heart, and thank you to all of those who were worried about CJ and my family. We are all safe and accounted for, thank God.