Growing up, my Uncle's kids, Aislinn and Cara, were some of my best cousins. We had sleepovers all the time at each other's houses and even tagged along with each other going to visit our grandparents in Fort Bragg, CA. Our families did a lot together and I am lucky to have him as an uncle.
Steve couldn't make it that night since he had his own conference to go to that evening to schmooze potential employers (I can't believe I just said that - are we really approaching that part of life?), so I packed up the kids and trekked to good ol' Portland myself. We decided to meet my Uncle at the restaurant and when I finally found it, ended up circling a dozen times around trying to find a parking spot (of course in the city that's impossible!) until I finally saw a sign right in front of the restaurant for $7 valet parking (which was an even better deal than the parking garages I was looking at). I got to pull right up to the place, grab my kids and walk two steps in to the building - way better than pulling out my stroller and hauling them four or five blocks.
The restaurant was called The RingSide Fish House and was on the second floor which ended up being a prime spot with big windows showing a great view of the courthouse and water fountain - not to mention that MAX that would pass by every five minutes. Ross was COMPLETELY entertained the entire time.
My uncle met up with us, and since Ruby is so social usually, I assumed she would have no issues having him hold her right off the bat. Yeah - I was dead wrong. She was quite offended that I would just hand her off like that. For the next five minutes I had to console her from her melt down. (Really Ruby? Really? My ALWAYS happy baby decides to turn all stranger danger - silly girl.) We got seated and Ross and my uncle chatted away, playing cars, coloring, and counting the MAX trains that passed. Ruby hung out in her high chair eating some snacks and chewing on a toy, and then, lo and behold, she suddenly was my Uncle's best friend. By the end of the meal he was holding her and she was smiling at him like they had been friends for years. He's got a way with kids that's for sure. This morning Ross woke up talking about Uncle Grandpa Joe and playing cars with him. We were spoiled rotten since he treated us to his company AND dinner - the Surf and Turf was amazing.
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| Dinner Buddies |
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| Rubes loving some Uncle Joe time and Ross was too engaged in blind cords and outside to look at me the stinker! |
We finished up our meal and chat and parted ways. My mom had requested a couple Mango Tangos from Voodoo Doughnuts, but I didn't have time beforehand to get them for her. Since it was so close I decided to stop by and maybe drop them off at my uncle's hotel on the way back. Again, parking was ridiculous so I pulled into the lot across the street where we've always parked and tried to pay, but EVERY time the machine wouldn't work, so I would sit in the car with the kids while Steve would run in line to get the doughnuts. Assuming this would be the situation again, and seeing the line EXTREMELY short, I grabbed the kids and hoped we could get in and out quick (illegal I know). Don't worry - I got my consequence. Of course, the ONE time I didn't check to see if that darn machine would maybe work for once, I get a ticket! I called Steve with the bad news. He was just glad I wasn't calling to tell him we were in a wreck. I attempted to then call my uncle to drop off the now expensive Mango Tangos (seriously people you HAVE to try them...they're incredible) only to find him unreachable - also my fault. So there I was with two Mango Tangos to deal with and a parking ticket. What did we have left to do but to eat away our remorse and tango with some mango...it was our only consolation. Lesson learned: unless you would like really expensive doughnuts, always check to pay for parking first.
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| It truly was delicious! |
And on another note - here's an adorable father doing his routine reading to the kids before bed (Ruby doesn't always last).
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| I eat them up ALL the time |
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| Yes that's a book about Santa Claus. It's never too early to get kids to behave. ;) |
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| Merry Christmas to all! |
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