Weekend Musings: Potluck, OMSI & More

We started Saturday off with a morning run to get the blood pumping and some physical activity in before we really started our day. Lindsay and I have both been making an effort to get back to our more active selves and are working to encourage each other to stay active. So, we woke up and started our morning with a very light breakfast before getting our running gear on and strapping Edith into the stroller and hitting the roads.

Despite the light rain, we had great runs. Lindsay pushed the stroller as she did her speed work and I did a slightly hilly (and surprisingly fast!) 3 miler through a local park and some local condo developments. We decided to meet at Whole Foods and really timed it well as we met up on the sidewalk right in front of Whole Foods and finished our run together before getting a little snack to carry us through the morning.

We then headed home, showered and got ready to head out to the last Portland Winter Farmers Market at Shemanski Park. We picked up some great mushrooms, fruit and veggies. After that we were off to a vegan brunch potluck hosted by a twitter/blogging friend of Lindsay’s. We had a great time talking with the other adults and enjoyed all of the food. I particularly enjoyed watching Edith interact with the other two girls as it’s not something I get to see very often since I’m at work during the play groups and meetups Lindsay and Edith attend. It was nice to socialize and meet other people who share the same interests as us as well.

After a couple of hours, all of the babies were starting to wind down and Edith was clearly ready for a nap. We drove home with the intentions of settling in and getting a couple of things done around the house. However, Edith was deep in sleep when we were almost home, so we decided to extend the drive a bit and explore the area. We followed a back road into Portland that we had been told about. It was a great drive out past some beautiful farm land and through some windy, hilly roads that cut through Forest Park in Portland. I definitely took a mental note on all of trail heads along the road in hopes of finally getting to do some “urban hiking”.

After our drive brought us in to Portland, we realized we were getting hungry and decided to try Pok Pok Noi. The Pok Pok restaurants are a group of restaurants in Portland and NYC run by Andy Ricker with the main Pok Pok being named the #8 most important restaurant in America by Bon Appetit. Pok Pok has been on my list of Portland restaurants to eat at since well before we moved out here. And I will say, that it certainly delivered. We had a delicious soup, mushroom salad and a Rhubarb Blush.

Sunday was a much more relaxed day for us. We took a trip (my first) to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry where Edith played in the babies’ play area, spending time crawling in the mini ball pit and being mesmerized by the fishes in the aquarium. After Edith was done playing, it was my turn to play. Museums are one of my favourite things and I had a great time looking at the various exhibits and thinking about how fun it will be to take Edith as she gets older. OMSI seems to do a great job of having a wide array of exhibits that will appeal to kids of all ages and still keep parents entertained. I particularly enjoyed the exhibits on natural energy and can’t wait to check out the Myth Busters exhibit!

After playtime at OMSI we headed back downtown to get lunch and a sampler of beer to share at Deschutes. We then got our groceries for the week including our first trip to the Asian supermarket in Beaverton. It was fun to wander around the store and see all of the different things we could only get on trips to Boston or New York when we lived in Burlington.

We ended Sunday night with a big bowl of sweet potato mac and cheeze and the Oscar’s. Unfortunately becoming parents hasn’t allowed us a trip to see any of the nominated films but we still enjoyed watching the awards show.

Unfortunately, we only took camera phone shots this weekend and our new android phones take horrible photos compared to out iPhone’s so we didn’t get many good photos.