Our trip to Portland, day three

 Friday morning started with this cute little guy eating his breakfast and posing for a picture, after which Jeremy and I walked him to school.

After both kids were off to school, we four adults went on a “field trip.”  First of all we went to North Portland to pick up some tile for the kitchen, then we crossed the historic St. James Suspension Bridge.  The Gothic structures were so beautiful!

Then we headed south to wine country.  Our destination was a winery of which Jeremy and Mike are members.  What an absolutely gorgeous setting for lunch and wine tasting!  

We sat indoors for lunch, but the glass walls made it feel like we were outside.  I stepped outside to take some pictures, and if you look closely on this first one you can see the guys sitting at the table in the corner.  

We had such a good time. Dick and I know very little about wine and all that goes into making good wine, but we learned some really interesting things.  

From there we drove through some interesting “farm” country.  Look at this field of pumpkins!

Also a hazelnut orchard!  So that’s where my favorite candy comes from!

Back at home we had some time to relax on the porch till the kids came home from school. I enjoyed some scrumptious tomatoes fresh from the garden.  Watson liked napping behind Dick’s head. 

For dinner Tasha and I made sloppy Joe’s and creamy dill dip for veggies and chips.

After dinner Dick played with Brennan.  He absolutely loves Grandpa!

Jeremy enjoyed cleaning up the kitchen as more and more things were coming together.  Plywood is substituting for the counter tops until the real thing arrives.  There is still painting to do and other things. But having a functioning sink and dishwasher was a huge improvement that evening! And how about those light fixtures and that vaulted ceiling?

We finished the day with a raucous game of Sorry.  Brennan was just too funny as his true competitive nature was on full display.  We had so many good laughs.  Watson was Jeremy’s baby during the game, lol!!

There were some very sobering things in the midst of our good day.  My brother Dick and his wife Nancy have been battling COVID for two weeks.  Nancy has been very, very slowly getting better at home.  Dick, however, had to go to the hospital the other Saturday.  While we were driving to the vineyard on this lovely day I got a message that Dick was being moved to the ICU and would be put on a ventilator.  I burst into tears.  Please pray for my precious brother!  Two days later nothing has changed.  We are such a close sibling group and this is really, really hard.  

Also on that day I was keenly aware that it was the 12-year anniversary of our dad’s “home-going.”  What a bittersweet experience that was!