Portland Heat Wave

We are at the tail end of a heat wave here in the Northwest. Three days of high temperatures over 100 degrees!! While that may not be impressive to the Texans reading this, it is hot for the Northwest. So, since we are stuck inside today here are some recent photos:

Summer arrives - blog suffers!

Sorry for the lack of new posts on the blog, but we have 2 very good excuses. First, Ami and I are finally on our own with Priya. Grandmaman Wallace left on July 23rd. It was hard at first not having anyone to hand Priya off to when you were tired or wanted to update your blog. But, we have adjusted nicely. The main reason though is that summer has finally arrived in the Pacific NW and the weather has been fantastic. We had 24 straight days without rain!!!

We have been out and about and crazy busy with trips to Eugene, weekly concerts at our neighborhood park, BBQ's, multiple beer festivals, and my favorite - berry picking. I think we are closing in on 100 pounds of total berries picked and consumed. It is all berries all the time around here: berries with breakfast, berry lemonade, homemade berry ice cream etc...It started with strawberries, then raspberries, marionberries, boysenberries, blueberries and blackberries. All within 10 miles and with views of Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Adams while you pick.

Anyway, you didn't visit the site to hear me fluff the berry industry. On to the pictures of Priya: Here she is at the zoo visiting with the seals.



Ami, Priya and a hippo.

Grandmama and Priya at the Lucky Lab brewery.

At a park in Eugene (home of University of Oregon).

I will put up a new slideshow of recent pictures and try to get a new video up soon. Now, where did I put those berries....

Happy Birthday Nani!

It's Ami's mom's birthday and Priya has a surprise for her in the video below:

Happy Birthday Nani. We miss you.

The Wallaces' Turn

We bid a tearful goodbye to Ami's mom last Tuesday. We were sad to see her go and Priya misses her the most. But, we didn't have too long to mourn as the Wallace clan arrived on Wednesday, with Grandmama and Pappy flying in from Colorado. My brother Chris took the train in from Seattle on Thursday morning. Here Grandmama tries to save Priya as she is attached by chicks.


Pappy ran a marathon on Sauvie Island on the Fourth and Priya was there to cheer him on at the finish line.

All the activity wore me and Priya out as you can see below.

But we all managed to make it into the Pearl District for a family portrait.

Record Heat Wave? Escape to the beach!!

Portland is in the middle of a record heat wave - 102 degrees dowtown yesterday. So, we decided to escape to the beach on Saturday. It looked like we might not make it after getting stuck behind two major accidents (30 minute delay each). But, we finally made it to Cannon Beach, OR which is our favorite beach on the Oregon coast. We grabbed lunch and walked around the town. Then we headed to the beach, which has a famous rock just offshore called the haystack (see first picture). After frolicking on the beach and letting Sona go for a swim, we grabbed a nice dinner outside (see second picture) and headed home. When we got home it was 95 degrees upstairs!! Ami and I had to sleep in the nursery it was so hot. It is supposed to cool down today, only 96!

Priya Sitting and Smiling (with video!)

We propped Priya up in bed last night and she loved it. She was playing and smiling. She had just had a bath so her hair is super stylin. Enjoy the picture and video below (if you play the video a second time after it runs through a first time, it will go smoother).

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's day to all the fathers out there!! I am stuck working on call today, so hopefully you are having a better Father's Day. It hurts even more because it is a beautiful weekend here in Portland. But, we did get out on Friday for some strawberry picking (12 pounds!!) and a quick wakeboarding session. The picture above is of me, Priya, and Sona on the MacLeay Park trail. The picture below is of Priya's feet inside my favorite outfit - her Little Green Dragon sleeper.

Big Pappy!!!

Unfortunate accidents often breed good opportunities. My brother Chris was T-boned on his bicycle by some dillweed on a cell phone driving his car who ran a red light last week. Fortunately, all Chris suffered was a broken patella (kneecap). But that led to a full leg cast which means he can't bend his leg. My parents cancelled a trip to Canada for my cousin's wedding and flew to Seattle to help out my brother.

This led to the opportunity for my dad (Pappy) to take the train from Seattle to Portland to visit his new granddaughter. He was very sweet with her (a side not seen too often), but truly wonderful. You could tell he was instantly in love with an 8 lb young lady. He even carried her in the Baby Bjorn on a hike.

Priya pictures

Nothing much to say today. Just wanted to post some pictures of Priya. Enjoy.

Wakeboarding and shrinkage!

We have been catching up on our sleep here in Portland, which is explains the lack of posts on the blog. On Shrayen's last full day in town, the weather cooperated and the sun was shining. Aaron and Ella invited us out to there houseboat on the Multnomah channel which connects the Willamette and Columbia rivers. We went out on Aaron's boat and it was beautiful. Aaron and I also managed to do a little wakeboarding. The water was freezing but it was a blast. Even Ami took a turn driving the boat.