Friday afternoon my sister Nadine took the Amtrak train down to Portland, and we surprised Mom by taking her for a girls' night away. We showed up around 4:00 at their house and told her to pack her bag. She was a bit overwhelmed (having just woken up from a nap!), but she fortunately likes surprises. (I told a coworker what we had planned, and she was horrified, since she hates surprises!!)
I captured the "surprising" on video, but I haven't figured out how to easily and quickly post homemade video to my blog yet! Here is a photo, though:
Dad took us downtown to the Embassy Suites Downtown Portland, which is an old historic hotel (formerly the Multnomah Hotel), built in 1912. It's not the typical Embassy Suites! Mike and I stayed there overnight years ago, so I knew it was a beautiful old hotel. The basement swimming pool is especially lovely.
After unloading our bags in our suite (which I unfortunately neglected to capture on film), we attended the evening reception--with free drinks, popcorn, and nachos:
Then we walked a few blocks to the great Mother's Bistro for dinner--we had taken Mom there for Mother's Day in 2008, too!
Here we are with our dinners--Mom and Nadine had scallops, and I had chicken paprikash:
And as we were about to leave the restaurant:
In the meantime, Nadine's husband David drove down to Portland with the kids and Mike made a cake for that evening (in addition to rescuing my dad, who had lost his car keys). Such superdads! That includes my dad, who dropped us off at the hotel on Friday and picked us up on Saturday.
That evening we celebrated Mom's birthday (again) with a family dinner, along with my brother Stephen and his girlfriend Gina, who was also celebrating her birthday this weekend.
Here are the kids drawing together while we cooked:
Lovely...
I think the birthday celebrations are finally over until March--when Mike will celebrate 46!!
I captured the "surprising" on video, but I haven't figured out how to easily and quickly post homemade video to my blog yet! Here is a photo, though:
Dad took us downtown to the Embassy Suites Downtown Portland, which is an old historic hotel (formerly the Multnomah Hotel), built in 1912. It's not the typical Embassy Suites! Mike and I stayed there overnight years ago, so I knew it was a beautiful old hotel. The basement swimming pool is especially lovely.
After unloading our bags in our suite (which I unfortunately neglected to capture on film), we attended the evening reception--with free drinks, popcorn, and nachos:
Then we walked a few blocks to the great Mother's Bistro for dinner--we had taken Mom there for Mother's Day in 2008, too!
Here we are with our dinners--Mom and Nadine had scallops, and I had chicken paprikash:
And as we were about to leave the restaurant:
After we got back to the hotel, we visited the hot tub (Mom swam in the pool for a bit, but Nadine and I felt too lazy) and then returned to the room to drink champagne and eat chocolate. Then we talked until midnight.
Saturday morning we had the full Embassy Suites breakfast in the morning, and spent a few hours wandering around the Pearl District looking in art galleries. Fun!
In the meantime, Nadine's husband David drove down to Portland with the kids and Mike made a cake for that evening (in addition to rescuing my dad, who had lost his car keys). Such superdads! That includes my dad, who dropped us off at the hotel on Friday and picked us up on Saturday.
That evening we celebrated Mom's birthday (again) with a family dinner, along with my brother Stephen and his girlfriend Gina, who was also celebrating her birthday this weekend.
Here are the kids drawing together while we cooked:
Cousins Kieran, Garrett, and Daniel
Nicholas wanting to be just like the big boys...
Stephen and Gina hit the Dollar Store to pick up belated Christmas presents for the kids. The boys loved all the costume bits!
Stephen and Gina hit the Dollar Store to pick up belated Christmas presents for the kids. The boys loved all the costume bits!
Lovely...
Stephen and Gina with the beautiful scarves my mother-in-law knitted for them for Christmas!
Pirate Kieran with Garrett
Nicholas loved the plastic "bling" necklace!
I think the birthday celebrations are finally over until March--when Mike will celebrate 46!!
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