I apologize up front for all the Natty quotes I've been posting lately. I just can't help it though. She is going through a phase where everything out of her mouth cracks me up. Today's top picks:
To me (after holding the bathroom door open for her at school): "Why thank you, my darling."
To Chad: "Our love will make a bridge"
To Mikey: "I'm actually really glad I don't live in Hawaii. They don't have any beds or houses and coconuts are their only drinks. I don't think they've even invented clothes yet." (apparently her knowledge of Hawaii all stems from reruns of Gilligan's Island)
Seriously? December already? How and when did that happen? I wish there was some way to slow this time of year down just a little. I love the holiday season so much and there is never enough time to enjoy it all! I vote for an extra month of Christmas this year!!!
The week of Thanksgiving, we decided to head out to Portland with Mac & Ange and do some tourist-ing. We've driven through Portland several times, but never actually stopped there. We found a killer deal on the only five star hotel in the city (called The Nines). It was a super swanky hotel in the heart of the city. There was a sexy little restaurant in the middle of the hotel and all the rooms had windows looking into it. It was always dimly lit, with candle light and the whole nine yards. In a few spots there were balconies on the upper floors that overlooked the restaurant so that you could stand there and listen in to the hustle and bustle. It was on such a balcony that Natty leaned over and announced for all the diners to hear: "Hey--I just farted!!!" Also, the Bulls just happened to stay there the same night we did. I don't know anything about basketball at all, but we rode in an elevator with someone on the team and we watched them load up their tour bus/trailer. It was pretty cool.
While we were there we visited a couple neat Portland places. First, we hit up Voodoo Donuts. We learned about the place on a Food Network show called Man vs. Food. I think it was also on Donut Paradise. Anyway, it's a totally cheesy bakery that specializes in weird donuts. They used to make donuts with things like peptobismol in them, but they got in trouble for that, so now they stick to ingredients like Tang and Fruitloops. Their claim to fame are little voodoo doll shaped donuts filled with raspberry jelly and served with a pretzel stick (so you can jab the doll and make the jelly ooze, of course). The donuts were really, really good. And just plain fun.
We then headed over to Fabric Depot--perhaps the largest fabric store in the nation. It was seriously huge. Chad patiently let me mill around for awhile and gawk at all the patterns and fabrics. I picked up a super cute pattern for baby girl dresses. Now I just have to get ambitious enough to make one. After the fabric store we jetted over to Powell's--the largest book store in the nation. Powell's made Fabric Depot look like a coffee shop! It was literally the size of an entire city block. And it was full of the coolest new & used books ever. We found some old choose your own adventure books (remember those?) and I got a book on making cute stuffed animals out of socks. So fun. Finally, we headed over to Ground Kontrol, an old school arcade where all the games were either 25 or 50 cents. They had all the classics like PacMan and Bubble Bobble. And the ultimate highlight of the trip for me--I got to play Paperboy (my favorite game in the world) with bike handle controls. Oh so fun!
(Swanky restaurant in hotel)
(Mikey eating a Voodoo Donut)
(Natty doing a happy dance at Ground Kontrol)
Overall, it was a really fun trip. We were super curious about Portland because we'd heard from so many that it was a cooler, hipper, more artsy Seattle. We love Seattle, so if there was a chance there was somewhere better out there, well, we just had to give it a try. But, poor Portland doesn't hold a candle to our beloved Emerald City. There is just something so magical about the Puget Sound. I can't imagine a better city existing anywhere!
After exploring Portland, we hurried home and cooked up a Thanksgiving Feast. We cooked all the traditional dishes on our own this year. It was delicious and it was all done at the same time. I was very happy with myself. However, in typical Perkins fashion, we over did it by a tad. Suffice it to say, it took us two days to clean up and a week to eat all the leftovers.
And, a few of my favorite kid moments from November:
Mikey to Natty: "Well, I'm a very temperate man."
Natty to mom: "You're the bestest mom in all of history. Even China" me: "Really? You think so?" Natty (shrugging): "I don't know"
Natty to Mikey: (in a very confident tone) "Oh no. It's a very delicate pen...(shouting now) Mom! Whats delicate mean?"
Natty: "Sometimes when people talk about love it makes tears in my eyes"
It seems like lately I've spent more time at the dr's office than I have at home. Between routine visits and sick visits, I've been there nearly every week for the past few months. At least that's what it feels like. So, today when Natty woke up her left eye was pink and swollen shut. Which meant another trip out to Valley Medical. Natty is fine. It is just eczema on her eyelid, so she's not contagious and doesn't need any medication. Just ice packs and unscented lotion. I'm glad she's not sick, but I always feel like a chump when I sit at the office for hours only to be prescribed ice and lotion (both things I had at home already, thank you very much). Today's trip was worth it though, for the cute conversation Natty had with the doctor.
Doctor: "Okay Natty. I want you to look at this chart. There are ten faces on here. This face (pointing to the far left of the chart) is smiling. It isn't feeling any pain. This one (pointing to the far right) isn't happy. It doesn't feel good. Point to the face that shows me how you feel."
Natty points to the far left smiley face.
Doctor: (looking at Natty's very swollen eye) "You mean your eye doesn't hurt at all? It looks like your eye must hurt a little. Look, this face is happy."
Natty: "Mom, did you know in the '80's they didn't even have toothbrushes? They had to make their own out of wood. That would be hard to live in the '80's, huh?"
Me: "Wow. That sounds tough. How long ago was the '80's?"
Natty: "A real long time."
Me: "Was it before or after the dinosaurs?"
Natty: "Before. Before the dinosaurs. It was a real long time ago."
Natalie: "Mom, I'm bored and hungry." [we were sitting in a piano store waiting for Chad and Mikey to pick out some Christmas sheet music] "Can you give me a million dollar bill or something to love?"
My folks came out to visit this last weekend. It was sooo much fun that I didn't even notice my itching for a few days!!! They came out Thursday and stayed through the weekend. We had a blast with them! We played toys with the kids, ate at Red Mill in Seattle, visited the Future of Flight Museum in Mukilteo, and went to Kids Quest. Oh, and Friday night we conquered a "Vermonster" at the Southcenter mall. We also played a few hands of uno and a whole lot of Disney Scene It!
Thanks so much to my mom and dad for coming out and to Chad for taking all that time off. We all loved hanging out with you. You guys are the best!!!
*Blogger isn't letting me post any pictures right now. D'oh! Once it does I will post some pictures of their visit!
