Day Trip to Portland

Yesterday we made an early trip to Portland, Oregon.  The drive is about 2 and a half hours for us.  I found a conference that I wanted to attend featuring Robert Probst, a literature and response guru that we studied in college.  He works with Kylene Beers, another guru who helps teachers understand struggling readers.  Since the conference was during spring break, we got up early and left the house at the unthinkable hour of 5:45 am.

Katie and Robby and Arnie went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).  They had an incredible time.  They played with lasers, built bridges, learned about space...on the ride home, the stories and anecdotes about the museum came fast and furiously until they all blurred together.

Katie the laser Jedi.

Their stories always had a "and then Dad..." component to them.  I think the day would have been great no matter what since it was just Dad and the kids.  Here's every mother's story.  The kids went shopping with Dad and here's what he bought them:

Mom added the rules:  Inside only in Robby's room where there are no breakable items.

My conference was great.  I think the ideas discussed are motivating to students, creating a passion for reading rather than a need for reading.  I want kids to love what they read and believe that analyzing and discussing material is the way to get them engaged and then loving what they read.

On the way home, we checked out this great fish shack that Arnie's boss recommended.  The Pacific Northwest Best Fish Company.  Wow.

Here's the cafe.  The outdoor seating is in the covered area.  Indoor seating is in the fish market.

The fish market is the large building on the right.

This enormous fish scale is on the porch of the market, so of course we had to find out how heavy our family is.

Almost 600 pounds!  Eeeek.

Katie had a quesadilla.

Salmon taco and wonderful french fries.  A glass of Merlot from East Fork Cellars.

Robby's deep-fried shrimp basket.

It is in a beautiful suburbia outside Vancouver called Ridgefield, Washington.  It was great.  Quaint, unassuming exterior that is a cafe on one side and a fish market on the other.  Indoor and outdoor seating.  I ate a salmon taco and delicious skinny fries.  Robby had a deep-fried shrimp basket and Katie ate a quesadilla.  Arnie tried the clam chowder - a must at any great seafood restaurant.  He said it was one of the best he's had.  He also had a shrimp and crab cocktail salad.  Fresh and tasty.

Next door to the cafe is a winery.  Of course, the cafe carries the winery's brand, so I had a delicious glass of Merlot.  Rich and full-bodied.  It rolled around on my tongue and left the tannins making my mouth water.  So, I went next door and bought a bottle.

The day was full and exhausting.  The kids got a little crazy, singing loudly and laughing a lot.  All in an effort to stay awake and lengthen the day.  Even Arnie and I sang "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" when they tried and got the tune all wrong.  They thought we were pretty funny.