Madeline Rose: Jon Visits Portland and Tulips Galore

Last weekend we had the honor of my brother Jon visiting Portland (he was in town for a work meeting) and staying with us. Uncle Jon and Maddy got along swimmingly and had lots of fun playing together. On Friday I met Jon for happy hour at Portland City Grill in my work building, then we headed to ChildRoots to pick up Maddy. For about two minutes, Maddy was shy with her Uncle Jon...that's IT. And then...buddies for the rest of the weekend! Jon, Steve, Maddy and I all went to East Glisan Pizza Lounge for dinner and had a yummy dinner and lots of laughs, as Maddy was in one of her super goofy moods (showing off for her uncle, no doubt!

Saturday we had breakfast out, then off to the Columbia River Gorge to drive the waterfall loop. Jon was impressed by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and I tried to convince him to move his family out here...we'd sure love to have them closer! We saw lots of waterfalls and snapped some great photos on the way. That night Steve and I cooked up some salmon and quinoa and had a nice family dinner.

Sunday our family had a professional photography session at our house, which went well (Maddy's a ham, maybe she should be a model!?!!) with Jon on standby as our "fluffer" if needed (he wasn't needed, but he had a Maddy-made monster puppet on hand just in case). As soon as that was done, we hopped in the car and headed to Woodburn, OR for a Tulip Festival. The weather was beautiful and we had an excellent time. The tulips were gorgeous, there were bouncy houses, a trampoline jumper and a cow train for Maddy (and REAL ponies, which she wanted nothing to do with...) and yummy treats too. We got lots of great photos and then Steve had the great idea that Jon and I should do the "Stunt Jump" as brother/sister bonding time. HA!!!! Okay, so Jon jumped (see photo below), no problem. I freaked. I hesitated...the crowd Ooooohed. I almost jumped, the crowd Aaaaahed. How embarrassing. Then I did it! I jumped, scared silly. I was shaking so bad for the next 15 minutes I could barely walk...but I did it. (And won't likely do it again).

....and so we had a fantastic weekend together! Thanks for visiting, Jon! You're welcome any time!