Indoors

The rainy season has hit us again, and so we've been doing a lot of two things.  First, we've been playing a lot of games in the house, and especially in the basement.  We have a really cool (if I may say so myself) play area down there and it's moderately well heated, so it's comfortable to spend a few minutes or even a couple of hours down there.  Also, all of our storage stuff is down there, so if the kids start playing on their own, I can work on the never-ending project of purging our old crap!

As well, we've been looking for ways to get out as much as possible.  Mateo's preschool is a big blessing in this regard, as he gets a guaranteed fun morning twice a week.  Other than that, I've been very pleasantly surprised to find more options of things to do around here than I knew about last year.  Last year, with the swine flu going around, we spent a LOT of time at our house or friends' houses and didn't venture out much to places like OMSI or the Children's Museum.  

This year, I've thrown caution to the wind for those places, but also have found new places, like the Forestry Center, that are new and fun for the kids and me.  The Forestry Center is especially cool because it has a small exhibit of people who were influential in Oregon's forestry history, and my grandfather and great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather all have little bios in it.

And, thanks to adventurous friends, we've found new play places that I didn't even know existed.  There are several newish cafes that cater to families and kids and often have music or storytimes or just awesome play areas for the kids to play in. 

I don't know if Portland is having a baby boom, but it sure feels like it.  Of course, everywhere we go is a kid-type place, so families with kids are all we see!  Anyway, it just feels like an embarrassment of riches in terms of rainy-day things to do.  

All it took was one visit to my brother's place in eastern Oregon to show me that.  We went to the nearby dam across the Columbia River and went into the fish-watching room, where you can watch the fish swim up fish ladders and over the dam.  There was a woman there with her kids who seemed to know everything about every fish, and when we thanked her for telling us about the place, she said that they came there nearly every day.   Because that was one of the only places to take the kids to get them out. 

That was a big aha! moment for me and I feel very grateful to live in the big city where there's so much to do.   I'm sure the kids will be SO BORED with it when they're teenagers, but there sure is a lot for them to do now!