Hiking Dripping Dancing

Home Office Report:

Last weekend this little Ama went to Denver and the other little Mama ran wee, wee, wee, all the way home for a three-day weekend with Mr. Man. We had fun all three days, despite the fact that Mama dressed us incorrectly for the weather every single day.

Friday was beautiful so we took the train to Washington Park and hiked over two miles through Hoyt Arboretum on steep trails and past an archery range to the Japanese Garden. We took pictures of the beautiful gardens, the tea house and the water basins, but Mama can't Bluetooth her photos and they're not as good as the website anyway. Just know it was beautiful. We were too tired to hike back the two miles so we bussed back to the zoo, where we had lunch in the zoo cafe and played in the Children's Museum until they closed. Mr. Man chose to paint his face with the face paints in the museum so he could look very scary. Maybe Ama can get the photos up sometime. The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm. (We had coats and long sleeve shirts.)

After grocery shopping we walked through Sellwood in search of a place to get Mr. Man's hair cut for summer. We tried three salons in the neighborhood but they were all busy, so instead we hopped on the bus to go to REI. When we got off the train and were walking to the streetcar, we saw Mr. Statue. For those who don't know, Mr. Statue is a man painted entirely in silver - every inch of his body. He stands exactly like a statue. Most people don't think he's real until he gets out his juggling balls and does the smoothest, gravity-defying tricks with them - until he stands like a statue again. He's awesome. A few blocks later Mr. Man and I run across the street to catch the oncoming streetcar and he loses his sneaker as we're running across the intersection. We skiddled at the cool waterfalls on the way to REI and then went to get sandals for summer. After we purchased Mr. Man's Tevas, he attempted to rock climb the mountain in the store. This marks Mr. Man's second attempt and he went a little farther and a little longer. While in REI, the rain begins to come down. Despite the early morning warm weather, the day became cool and rained a lot. (The most we've seen in Portland since moving here.) We did have our waterproof coats, but were wearing only short sleeves underneath so we shivered the whole way home. We stopped at the Lloyd Center to warm up. Mr. Man got his hair cut and we had dinner and watched people ice skate in the mall.

Sunday we prepared for our first pagan celebration with other pagans. The local Reclaiming Collective hosted a Beltaine ritual and Mr. Man and I went. We made rhubarb upside down cake and a bean/rice salad to share. Mr. Man and I made a beautiful flower arrangement that sat in a strawberry carton. We decorated the carton with ribbons and made a basket handle out of leaves that we wove together. It was great fun. Mr. Man's favorite part of the ritual was taking a handful of lilacs and other herbs and tossing them over our heads to cast the circle. After the ritual Mr. Man and I went to Sellwood Park to play. He rode his scooter and I walked. It was warm and sunny all day, but when we got to the shade of the park it was chilly and we had no jackets.

Aside from the inability to dress ourselves properly, we had an awesome weekend.