"It was like coming home, only to no home I'd ever known"

I suppose I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus haven't I? I blogged our first week in Portland, and then just threw my hands up in the air and decided to make it a full blown vacation... no distractions the rest of the trip. Originally, I planned on the kids and I staying for two weeks, but we didn't want the fun to end and extended our trip an extra week!

Being back in Portland and Lake Oswego (the town where I grew up) is a bit funny. I remember 18 year old Carris absolutely DYING to get the heck out of Oregon! I was a small town girl with big city dreams and had envisioned myself living in LA ever since I was little.

I remember on my first flight back to Portland (it took about a year or two for me to even want to visit), it appeared to be yet another cloudy day in the Northwest...until I overheard some passengers commenting on how beautiful it was even with the gloomy weather, and as I stared out the window my perception started to change. I began to look at Oregon from a whole new point of view. It was beautiful... rain clouds and all.

It's been 9 years since I've lived in Oregon and every time I visit I find myself more and more in love with it. Portland is such a unique, progressive city. Even my hometown of Lake Oswego has grown and changed, it's practically a resort town!

Each time we visit it becomes harder and harder to leave, even more so now seeing that my babes love it too. This time around, I visited with some girlfriends that had children this year as well and it was lovely, as I've been a bit of a lone ranger having Elodie relatively young.

We explored the heck out of Portland this visit! The babes and I drove, scootered and walked all around town, over the river and through the woods, checking out all the cute neighborhoods, and visiting with wonderful family and friends.

 I already miss it, and think more and more about seeing beautiful Portland again very soon!