Fun Oregon Activities

portlandThere is always so much to do in Portland, Oregon, especially in the summer.  I’m so glad my kids will be growing up with memories of really fun summers!

This year at Hillsboro Airport – as a tribute to the Pearl Harbor attacks 75 years ago – the Air Show featured military planes, stunt planes as well as a 300 mph jet truck!  The kids (well really I should say the boys!) enjoyed it so much and truthfully I got a kick out of watching all my boys be, well boys!

A couple of days later we enjoyed the Pikathon at Pendarvis Farm.  Filled with comedy, spry thrillers, improve acts, music and more, it really made our summer special.

And then just a couple of weeks ago we enjoyed the Odysseo extension – the horse circus show was so much fun at Zidell Yards.  Really, Portland just is the place to be in the summer!

For more things to do this weekend and into next week, click on the categories below to jump to lists for each. And have yourself some fun.

Outdoor Summer Happenings

parkIt seems like there’s something for everyone in Portland this summer. As always.  Yes indeed I really do feel like Portland is the place to be every single summer. It is so much fun and the variety of activities can satisfy even the most demanding customer!

For me personally it’s the outdoorsy stuff that I love so much. And Portland is sure not short on offers of those!  From outdoor movies to spectacular Farmers Markets, pool parties and choreographed fountain at malls, everything is just screaming out “Summer’s Here!”

Some of the outdoor movies coming up that appeal to me include: Flicks on the Bricks (that started last week but runs until August 10) whereby you can enjoy free movies at dusk on Fridays; Cartopia Sunday Night Movies (again for free, right by the food cart pod at Southeast 12th Avenue)  and Portland Parks and Recreation (where they are showing 41 outdoor movie at parks around the city until September 10).

And then of course on Wednesdays there is my all-time favorite Shemanski Park Farmers Market where you can just get so much great stuff!!!

Did I mention how much I love summer in Portland?

 

2016 Portland Rose Festival

orange-roseYes it finally happened!  I love roses (and I keep telling that to Daniel but somehow he’s not getting the hint) so I took my husband along.  It was with the vain hope that perhaps he would then realize just how beautiful these flowers were, how stunning I am and how incredible the two would look together.  Not sure it worked though as I still haven’t gotten any roses from him.

Anyway, the Grand Floral Parade that takes place every year in our city is the main attraction of the annual civic pride celebration. You can tell the night before that something beautifully spectacular is about to happen as people actually camp out from Eastside through downtown overnight to get the best spot.

Along with roses visitors on to the festival that took place on June 11 were able to enjoy fantastic marching bands, horses, colorful floats and more.  The parade started at Memorial Coliseum (of course in the obvious place of the Rose Quarter) and then made its way downtown through Burnside Bridge. Just look at the amazing photos from the event!

So for any guys reading this, go today and get your loved one some roses.  And if anyone sees Daniel hanging around, a quick reminder that orange roses are my favorite flowers wouldn’t go amiss!

Getting Nostalgic

tattooDon’t you love those evenings when you get together with old friends and watch shows you used to watch in your youth?  You know, those days when you were still single and desperately trying to impress the latest guy you had just met? Well, that’s what Daniel and I started doing a couple of weeks ago with good friends Sam and Tracy.  We’ve known them since college but what with kids and work and stuff like that we just don’t get together that much anymore.

That was until a few weeks ago.   Sam came across an episode of Jeff Bowler’s ‘Inked’ recently at work as him and a bunch of friends were skimming through old shows.  “That’s fabulous; we have to start watching it again,” he told Tracy when he got home.  The word spread to me and the rest, as they say is history.

Now, every Wednesday at 8 ‘o’ clock no matter what’s going on, we go over to their house to enjoy an episode of Inked.  Jeff Bowler wrote two seasons (20 episodes) of this show that takes place in a tattoo parlor and, when the time comes, I might even get my kids to watch it.  I think as teenagers they may just be put off getting a tattoo, without me having to lecture them about it!

Anyway, here’s to many more Inked Wednesdays at 8!