After our wasp attack Wednesday we decided to play it safe on Thursday and spent most of the day indoors. We went to Slappy Cakes for breakfast, and the kids had a marvelous time making pancakes. Mary always ends up with chocolate all over her mouth and is in her element whenever she gets to make a mess. All of the kids loved, loved, loved it. Ammon kept making the same shape over and over: an “egg.” He never quite got the hang of making anything other than a blob with his squeezy bottle, but he prolifically produced “eggs” one after the other.
After Slappy Cakes, we headed over the the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Candace and I both got in for free because we already had memberships to the museum’s affiliated group. That was great. Then we explored one small section, discovered the indoor playground…and let the kids play for three or four hours until dinner. We got to sit around and chat, which is my favorite part of the trip–getting to talk with my friend!
The playground was fun because it had a sand pit in the middle and a guard at the entrance. It was nice to know that should Ammon attempt to escape, there was at least a guard on duty whose job was to not let such an attempt succeed. Clarissa also loved the chance to crawl around and explore. She spent so much of the trip strapped into a car seat or the Boba that this was a real treat.
All of the rest of the kids were beautifully entertained and content for those hours and hours in the playroom. There were enough things for them to do that they never appeared to get bored.
After the museum closed, we went to dinner at the Bollywood Theater, right next to the Eb and Bean. It was the BEST Indian food I had ever eaten in my life! Everything was fresh and delicious. I love Indian food generally, but this was so different than anything I had experienced before. It must have been from a different region or something. But I would go back to Portland just to eat more meals there!
Then we headed next door to the Eb and Bean for dessert. The frozen yogurt was incredible, and I especially loved my topping of the Tom Bumble crumble. The portions were stingy though. I had to go back for seconds since Clarissa ate most of my first cone. She LOVED it.
After that we drove home and put the kids to bed. While I put Clarissa down, Ammon decided to escape to the forest on the edge of the property. While Candace relaxed on the porch outside, she saw this figure running toward her in the dark. She was startled because it looked like an animal in the dark, but it was too big for a dog…and as it got nearer and nearer, it turns out the animal was Ammon running full speed at her from the woods! That boy.
Also, Mary was thrilled to be able to sleep on the top bunk again. She had been talking all day about sleeping up there again, but I told her not to count on it because the original plan was to let everyone have turns sleeping in all the different beds, but it turns out people just went to the beds they’d chosen from before, and she got to be right where she wanted.
After the kids were in bed, Candace and I hung out outside looking at the view and chatting for hours. I love Candace. She is a perfect friend. I love talking to her about church stuff because we see eye to eye on so much. She has solved her issues by leaving, which is not my choice, but I completely and totally respect her for hers.