Alice in Wonderland: 3D

Our last and final hoorah was going to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D yesterday. Our review: it was really good. A couple of "kiddish" moments that bugged me but overall great movie, really enjoyed it and was so fun to see in 3D. Thoroughly recommend it. So as usual we popped our own popcorn, purchased cheaper candy and soda at Safeway and then smuggled it all in to the theater in my huge purse.

Pop-

Pop-Pop

Pop-Pop-Pop!

Okay, and then we ofcourse had to take pictures with our 3D glasses on. So, we wait until the majority of people have left the theater during the end credits and snap a quick one, then another quick one and then there is a man running down our isle: "Miss! Miss! We cannot even allow you to have that in here." oops. forgot about that whole people-trying-to-pirate-movies thing. So, that put an end to our 3D glasses photo shoot. aw-well, atleast we got one and might I add: Wes looks pretty awesome.

more blogs to come soon!
Love,
Katie

The ZOO!

On Wednesday morning we went to the zoo! I don't know why, but I have always always always LOVED the zoo. I have been to the sacramento zoo, Denver zoo, and san fransisco zoo and now I can say that I have been to the Oregon zoo. I have gone twice with the girls I nanny which is why I told Wes it was a must do over spring break. Each time I go with the little girls we have a blast but they are both too young to enjoy reading about the animals and taking pictures with the statues etc. :) Wes made for a great zoo buddy! My "zoo-craving" has been filled though I could easily go every other week if given the chance.

Our zoo experience was quite different from the times I had taken the girls. Seeing as how it was spring break, and the warmest day of the year yet the place was packed. Packed i tell you. So packed that it took us an hour to find a parking spot. Now that is dedicated right? We basically had to stalk someone in the parking lot and fight to the death with blinkers clicking and right foot on the ready. So, we parked and then our adventure began.

The great thing about the Oregon zoo is that they have a whole section called "The Great Northwest" which takes you through the animals you'd see in the great northwest. Pretty fun. Then you meander down the long beaten path to the rest of the animals: bats, bears, gorillas, lions, tigers, elephants, tomato frogs, giraffes, lorikeets (that would not pose for a picture with me- sad face), turtles, crocodiles, you name it! Here are some of the pictures we took:



[wes had this crazy idea to try and make it look like these turtle statues were balancing on my head... didn't work out so well]
lunch!

This is a monkey. small head. HUGE body.

Bat. Looking right at me!!

how did you get up there mr. goat?

Queen of Sheeba

Everything is such a blur- I almost forgot that we went to Queen of Sheeba on Monday night. This past week Aunt Tracy was in town which provided a great opportunity to bring all the portland family together.... together, around a big shared plate of Ethiopian cuisine. oh the yumminess... we have gone to Queen of Sheeba with Caleb and Nina when Uncle Richie visited and when Olivia visited and each time we order the same thing. A big, ginormous vegan sampler. Which basically gives you a little taste of everything vegan on the menu. It's all so so yummy... just look at this picture....


I know it all looks like a lot of goop but each little piece has the most amazing of unique flavors. Potatoes, lentils, spinach, veggies, lettuce all accompanied by the Ethiopian bread which is very crepe like... can't remember what its called. Anyway, we enjoyed ourselves thats for sure!

Toro Bravo and The Green Zone...

So many blogs, So little time! It's amazing how a step outside the normal swing of things can produce so many new blogs. It reminds me a lot of when we first moved here and all we had was time to explore, take pictures, and blog them. This spring break has been a taste of those good ol' days. First on the list of things to blog: Date night! woot woot!

For our date night on tuesday night we went to a restaurant called Toro Bravo, where its all about the Tapas. Since we hadn't been to a tapa place since our last visit to Tapa the World in Sacramento we thought this would be a great idea. We are in agreement that we need to give it a second shot. It is always disappointing to go out to dinner for a rare date night only to have a poor waitress who ruins your dining experience. The atmosphere: awesome. Food: not bad, we feel that we would have made better food choices if we were given more guidance by our waitress. For example, you would think that when one orders the Potatoes Bravoes for their first tapa, that you would inform them that the "tortilla" they are ordering as their second tapa is really the same potatoes in a different shape with the same sauce on top...? I'm not bitter or anything... and the atmosphere was good enough to convince us to give it a 2nd chance and ask more questions as to not order the same dishes over again. Anywho... it was still a fun time. The Green Zone was great and we certainly recommend it. Very representational film, documentary-ish and it makes you really think about the war and propaganda relationship. So here are some pictures from our date night. Unfortunately there aren't very many because I could tell I was possibly annoying the table next to us by taking pictures of each of our dishes of food. Next time we have made it our goal to finally thoroughly document a good date night. :) Oh, and I'll have you know that I have found a new favorite drink. It's called a Greyhound: vodka and grapefruit juice. I've always been a Cosmo kind of girl but I think I may have found one that I like even more! Always fun to try new things...



[we were a little disappointed that everything we ordered had a sauce on it. We are hoping that if we do go again we will find some things a little less heavy.]

Blogs to come!

Spring break has been good to us. As I sit here late on friday (Thank.goodness.its.friday), I am feeling every minute of the lack of sleep I got this week due to late night movies, and early morning work days. We have accomplished the majority of our Spring Break To-Do list, but most importantly we are refreshed. Relaxing and enjoying ourselves was the first priority and we definitely have. From Powells Books to date nights, to the movies, to the zoo, to having time together, to taking naps, to getting coffee for the fun of it, to good weather, to bowling (and then not bowling)... oh boy it has all been so good!!!! And we have pictures to prove it. This weekend I will be posting all of our documentation. Its all a big blur as of the moment ... but we have been rediscovering Portland. It's always a good feeling when you feel like you have been on a vacation while still falling asleep in your own bed at the end of the day. Pretty darn good. Can't wait to fill you in. The last, most fun-est thing that I am looking forward to: Alice in Wonderland in 3D. Wes got "his" movie now I am getting "mine." We both wanted to see the Green Zone (which was great!) and Alice but I was just nice enough to let us see the Green Zone first. :) Anyway,
pictures and blogs will be posted this weekend. Then monday: duh-duh-duh da: spring quarter starts. Here's to the last two days of freedom!

An experiment with vegan living leads to new way of eating

Hello,

It's Wesley. I generally am not the one to generate new blogs but I thought I would give it a go today. Honestly, I am not really writing a blog, rather I wanted to share an article I read this morning in the Oregonian. Lately Katie and I have been talking to some of you about food, especially vegetarianism and veganism, and I thought this article would be useful. Check out some of the links to vegan recipes if you like. Enjoy!

Click here: An experiment with vegan living leads to new way of eating

Friday Night

Friday night: the eve of my 3 day weekend and the end to a long hard day of work which consisted of: 3 year old poking 5 month old in her clogged-tear-duct-eye, which led to normally calm baby crying all day long ... you get the picture. (and 5 month old is ok now, so no worries) Needless to say, a relaxing friday night dinner with the husband was in order. So we got some wine:



Some Gorgonzola and caramelized pear ravioli:


With homemade red wine marinara sauce:

Some homemade bruschetta (toppings off to the side in that green bowl):

and some squash and mushrooms on the side.



equals === Delicious.

But the best part of all was...


The Ice cream sundae (served in the perfect little ice cream bowls given to us at Christmas) that I ate while watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix (Wes had to go to work and miss out on this part). Yes, we are enjoying ourselves.

And speaking of amazing food. We have recently given the tofurkey craze the boot after 1) getting sick of it and 2) realizing that soy in large quantities is not normal and nothing about tofurkey is normal. 3) Why eat meat replicas when there are perfectly delicious vegetarian sandwiches out there with all natural ingredients, like:

~ sliced pears, brie cheese, spinach, and a walnut pate' on a crusty baguette. <--which we made yesterday!

~ sliced hard boiled egg, black olives, tomatoes, lettuce, and mustard on whole wheat bread.
~ sliced figs, walnuts, sprouts melted together with a blue-cheese spread on whole wheat bread.

We have been craving interesting sandwiches. So when going to Powells the other day we did some recipe investigating and found some great ideas for fillings and spreads of all sorts. These were a few of my favorites.
So yesterday, we made a homemade walnut pate': onions, carrots, celery, walnuts, bread crumbs, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper all chopped up together to spread onto a crusty baguette alongside this amazing goat-brie cheese:

sliced pears and spinach. Again, Delicious. So, now that you have heard about our latest food adventures I'm sure I have made you quite hungry! Sorry about that, but come on over and eat a sandwich with us! :) miss you all,

Love,
Katie

PS: There was recently an error discovered on the black bean burger recipe after Ashley tried making them last night. Error to be noted: I forgot to include the breadcrumbs. Blast! I promise I will be more careful in the future and that you can trust I will give you error-free recipes from now on. I corrected the mistake on the b-b burger blog and the black-bean burgers are now normal and better tasting than ever! ;)