Saturday, September 23, 2006

Summer Holiday Part I

Ah, Summer holidays! Not what they were of course; nor will they ever be again, probably. But, considering the circumstances, a great deal of fun nonetheless. As is now practice and custom with reporting on my infrequent holidays, I will spin this tale out over as many weeks as possible, as if in an attempt to convince myself that I enjoy a life of leisure.


Ethan (at 2 months) with his cousin Katrina (two years older).

My mum and dad arrived in Portland on September 2nd, fresh from the sleeper car after their 44 hour cross-country journey from Chicago. It was so good to see them again! That said, I half-expected everyone to feel homicidal by day four. Therefore I was very pleasantly surprised to find that, on the contrary, we all got along brilliantly; mum helped out with the night-time feeds and so we all got some rest; and considering the necessity of eight feeds a day and the vast amounts of equipment Ethan apparently requires for even the most insignificant of adventures, we got to take advantage of much of what the region has to offer over a two week period, which seemed to fly by.

Sunday took us first to Lake Oswego, where the whole family was gathered, and thence on a tour of wine-country.


Katrina plays amongst the bocci at a vineyard in Yamhill (dad on the left). Squint a little and you could be in Tuscany.


In the wine cellars.

Back at the lake, Leon organised a speedboat tour whilst Linda prepared cedar-plank salmon for supper.


Ethan being burped by his daddy.


Mum enjoying Leon's speedboat tour of Lake Oswego.


Dad and Leon on Lake O; geese off the starboard bow.

We stopped at the lake overnight, then drove down to Salem on Labor Day for the Oregon State Fair. This annual event is a vast combination of fun-fair, agricultural show and special events; we'd missed the rodeo but made the demolition derby.


Dad takes on Rachel at Whac-a-mole at the State Fair.


Hold on to your hats - it's a demolition derby!


I relax with a giant watermelon flavoured snow-cone, Ethan relaxes with grandma...


...and condescends to a charming smile. No doubt about this one.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Glad to hear it all went smoothly, and good to see more pics of 'Baby Fluffy'.
Did your dad don his 'kerchief to blend in with the natives at the County Fair?

September 26, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mate, those geese look like they are off the port bow ;)

Nice photos, S London isn't quite as nice...

Rick

September 29, 2006  
Blogger Richard Tammar said...

good point, Kitch minor. As ever, I defer to you in all matters nautical (that's rum, sodomy and the lash).

And left and right, apparantly.

September 29, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hmm, I'll take the lead on two of those...

Rick

October 01, 2006  

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