And with that sassiness said its going to be hard leaving Oregon. I really like being an hour from the snowy mountains (not that I have EVER skied or been up to Timberline Lodge- you know where The Shining was filmed) and an hour to the coast (Where mermaids live). But I AM excited for a change. I can't promise I won't get me a pair of boots right away and wear button-up blouses with a jean jacket and always have straw hanging out my mouth ;) but I CAN promise I will NEVER switch to country music. SICK.
Oregonian Bucket List:
Visit OMSI
Visit Portland Zoo
Visit Silver Creek Falls
Visit Beach
Visit Mt. Hood
Visit Crater Lake
OMSI: On Friday night after Tom got off work from Apple we went to his RVKuhn's Christmas party. This marked our first time going out without Ben in 13 months. However, I do NOT count it as a date. Sitting with Tom's co-workers he barely even knows himself and trying to have conversation when all I really want is to have a quiet dinner with JUST my husband. So Friday was NOT a date! However, the Christmas party WAS at OMSI so we can count it towards our bucket list.
FYI: OMSI's exhibit is a Sherlock Holmes thing and well...it was lame. I guess you would like it if you were completely not analytical which is EXTREMELY ironic! The whole thing is you are shown a crime scene and you have stations where you try and "solve" the case from absolutely non essential crime scenes clues or false clues more like. But me being such an analytical person I was asking a thousand questions to the OMSI guides and personal helper who had already gone through it and knew the answers. Why am I even bring this up? It really bothered me! EVERY question I asked HAD everything to do with the answers/motive and ZERO of the "clues" had anything to do with the actual crime thus it makes me mad that the whole scenario is set up to make people challenge their observation skills when the reality is the scenario is TRULY set up to make people feel stupid by tricking them that they could "solve" a fake crime with zero information.
Portland Zoo: Tuesday night was buy one get one at the zoo so we went as soon as Tom got off work. Like most of U.S. Oregon has been super cold, way colder than we normally experience: highs in the teens and lows in the single digits. So we bundled up as close to A Christmas Story younger brother bundled while still being able to move. Every year the zoo does a fantastic display of "Zoo Lights" and this was the first time we've ever gone, heck, first time any of us has been to a zoo is years and years. My skepticism about the experience was pretty spot on. The actual zoo lights? Impressive. Actually seeing animals AT NIGHT and out in super cold weather when they are suppose to be in tropical/desert climates....let down. Most animals were "put away" for the night so they wouldn't DIE. We thought we saw the polar bear asleep way off but other than a white blur I can't be sure...it could have been a ghost. The elephant exhibit (MY FAVORITE ANIMAL) was closed but we could put our faces against the glass doors and see where they were kept. They were turned away from us so all you could make out was the little legs of the baby elephant under the big momma and her cute big bum. Animals we DID see???...HUGE fish, a coiled up anaconda (barely), bats, and a very depressing looking monkey.
For the record, and this might be a SHOCKER to some. I'm not PRO-zoo's. Call it my liberal side or whatever but I don't like it! There is no way any of those animals are happy is a space so small and living in an environment nothing like their natural. It always reminds me of Jurassic Park when the T-Rex doesn't want to be fed, he/she wants to hunt!
By the time we hurried through the park it was late and Ben's hands were so red and cold even with wearing gloves. So he got a hot bath when we got home.
As the the rest of the bucket list, we will hit what we can when we can. And as for a REAL DATE- that is coming next Thursday when its my birthday and you better believe Lacey will be watching Benny-Boop and we're going out!
In other news: Things are going well here. Tom changed to full time on November 25th and because he rarely used his vacation days he had over 3 weeks built up so technically he's on vacation with RVK since November 23rd and then he'll go back on Monday for one day and it will be his last. Tom is liking working at Apple full though he hasn't gotten use to working retail and being on his feet all day. It was kinda funny during Thanksgiving dinner we went around saying what we were thankful for and Tom said he was thankful to be going down to just full time. lol. Here, here.
I wish I had REMEMBERED to take photos at Thanksgiving! ahhh Well here's a week before at Baskin Robbins! Ya they still exist!
This is his "Ben, smile!" face.
We went down town PDX last week and this was Ben's first time on a train! He loved it!
This is Ben saying LET ME IN ITS FREEZING OUT HERE!
Yep, that's a leash.
Tom laid on the floor and Ben went right over and this is how he wanted to snuggle =)
Ben was kinda weary about the bear
