Portland in September (Do you love ikea?)

As some of you know my dear peanut-butter-packing friend and I just went to Portland for three very fun days with four very fun kids. We had a great time, our trip consisted of the following;

1. A brief but so fun visit to see a dear friend who's recently moved. Got to smooch on her babes and see the FABULOUS job she's done getting moved in and settled, in spite of being in a smaller place.
2. A wonderful, but too short, visit with my sweet sister and my too-sweet-curly-cute-headed-nephew at the park.
   We got to walk, chat and watch the boys play together.
   




3. A fun stay at a hotel was in store next. The boys just loved being at the hotel, playing legos, jumping around, eating doughnuts at the breakfast bar....
4. A trip to the Portland Zoo, way too much walking for these feet of mine. Highlights were the bat exhibit (we've been reading The Magic School Bus' The Truth About Bats). the ginormous salmon and sturgeon
   swimming in a huge tank,
   the giraffe and of course the huge and somehow cute hippos.
   If you asked my boys their favorite part, they'll tell you it was the ice cream. Kids and candy...what're gonna do?
5. After the zoo, because we weren't tired enough, I accidentally drained the battery in the Pilot, leaving us high and dry in the parking lot at Fred Meyer. Fortunately, there was a nice sale where we both picked up some spoils and snacks. Mr. AAA came to our rescue and fixed that battery problem, and we were back to the hotel for a little r&r.
   
6. Friday we got up, cleared out and headed to Ikea for our big shop. My boys were all tucked in at the play land while Karyn, Aspen and I shopped to our hearts' content for an hour (not long enough) when I picked up the boys and then quickly finished my shopping. It was great fun, and I'm working on organizing a day trip back to Ikea for grown-up-girls-only...A saturday in November christmas/household shopping trip for a woman's delight. Sign up in the comment box. You need not be local...we can all meet!