I really suck at summer blogging. Intentions are there and stories swirl in my mind, yet sitting in front of a computer will always be trumped by playing outdoors, laughing with friends, roughhousing with the dozens of kids that run through the house, or enjoying another adventure. I realized early on that this summer was not to be any different than the past, so I made an internal compromise - enjoy the summer and create a blog post that shows the broad swipe of summer.
Reminiscent of my year end list, I have compiled the ABCs of summer.
AFIRE
The west was burning; its smoke and haze descending into the topographical nooks and crannies throughout the summer. There were days that smelled like a perpetual campfire and the sunsets were spectacular.
BILTMORE
In the early 1990s, my mom and I were completely fascinated by a TV program titled America's Castles. To this day, I can vividly remember homes highlighted on the program and have actually visited a couple in my travels because of the show. A couple of weeks prior to my stateside visit, I stumbled across a news article which mentioned the top twelve castles within America. The Biltmore made the list, to which I promptly noticed that it was in Asheville, North Carolina. I texted mom, "Have you been to the Biltmore?"
"No, I want to go," she typed in return.
"Did you know it is in Asheville, NC, a mere four hours from Fripp Island?" I typed.
"Let's go!"
CHILDREN, LOTS OF CHILDREN
Summers are not quiet for us. We leave our refuge of solitude for squeals of delight, giggly laughter, whines, cries, bumps, bruises, snotty noses, drooly mouths, fantastic hugs, games of Hide-n-seek, water fights, and perpetual questioning. It is so much fun being cool aunt and uncle, and we do spend our first days back in China perplexed as to why there is not a child crawling on us.
DISAPPEARING BAGS
Our summer travels were mired with disappearing bags. In all of our travels, we had only experienced one delayed bag scenario, so this was new territory. Mine took a detour to Atlanta before being delivered to my sister's wedding reception, Zach's ended up in Portland when it was tagged for Vancouver, and, upon our return to China, Zach's bag was once again hanging out on the carousel of wherever land. Mine had been so brutalized between Portland and Guangzhou that it no longer had a ticket on it, so if I had not rescued it in Guangzhou, it would have definitely disappeared into the land of lost luggage.
EATING
Tortilla chips are always a summer staple, but this year I craved bagels and Greek yogurt. Zach also feasted on bagels, but his second love was gallons of apple cider.
FLUGTAG
The day I arrived in Portland, I saw a billboard toting this event and immediately vowed to attend. How could I not get excited about humans flinging themselves and man-made crafts off of a 28 foot ramp? Zach, Kaden, and I joined the masses in laughing, oohing, aahing, and groaning with every team that entertained by smack talk, antics and, ultimately, plunging into the Willamette. Sadly, the event planners grossly misjudged attendance, by land and sea, and the event had to end early due to boats clogging the shipping lane. It was a crappy way to end, but the thirty teams we were able to see fly and fall had been everything I had hoped for in the event.
GERTY
Thanks to Robert and our mutual quest to plop into local waterways as frequently as possible, Gerty and I spent a lot of time together. A good chunk of that time was watching Robert testing the newest boats to the fleet, SS Greenboat II and SS Gimpy Goldfish.
HIKES - CAPE HORN and TRYON CREEK
Classic Northwest weather met Sarah and me at the trailhead. For seven and a half miles, we slogged in pouring rain only to reach vistas encased with fog. Towards the end, the rain relented and the clouds shifted to give us a glimpse of the majestic Colombia Gorge.
A few weeks later, Zach and I forged the trails of Tryon with Kaden and Addysen in tow. Hiking with kids is so different, yet so funny. We never knew what the next question would be or what would garner their attention around the next bend of trail.
ICE CREAM
Zach ate a lot of ice cream. Kaden and Addysen were so excited when Zach got to Portland because they knew the freezer would be well stocked with their favorite food.
JUST GIRLS
We plotted for months, so the forty-eight hours enjoying the Oregon Garden, a hot tub, happy hour, and a day beside a lake was the perfect scenario for Melissa and I to catch up on life and celebrate our ten year friendaversary.
KEEPING PORTLAND WEIRD
Willamette Week published an article outlining the birth and death of old Portland, with death arriving at the production of Portlandia. This summer was our ten year anniversary of falling in love with the wacky and weird of Portland. While cities do evolve, for better or worse, it was interesting to observe that developers are running a bit rampant, Voodoo Doughnuts is the epitome of tourist trap, and the hip area title has shifted once again. Nonetheless, there is still enough weirdness to make us chuckle from our strolls through various street fairs to Last Thursday on Alberta to Darth Vadar riding a unicyle with bagpipes in front of the Portland Art Museum.
LETTERS
Full disclosure: I cried when I read the first one. Letter writing was a bond that Nanny and I shared, so when mom pulled a "surprise, look what I found!" moment on me, I was not prepared to face the cursive script I knew all too well. Once I calmed myself and mom and I had a hearty laugh about my emotional outburst, we delved into the pile of letters from long ago.
Page after page, Nanny regaled her mother with tales of university. She begged for food as the university fare was horrid; "Please send fried chicken and potato salad" were common phrases. She loved to shop. Suitors were in abundance as it seemed my Nanny courted no less that three boys at a time, though her wording of meeting her husband-to-be was precious.
Page after page, I caught a glimpse of a woman that I loved dearly from a day when she had no idea what the years would hold, including a feisty granddaughter who she would trade letters with for years.
MACBETH IN A CEMETERY
A sinister Shakespearean play portrayed against the backdrop of an old pioneer cemetery was not something I was going to miss. Armed with a picnic and chairs, Sarah and I spent a wonderful Portland evening trying to remember the story line of MacBeth.
NEW BRIDGE: TILLIKUM CROSSING
Trimet must have known that we were sad to miss the grand opening in September, so they deemed the afternoon after Bridge Pedal as a sneak peek. We took full advantage of this chance to traipse across the newest addition to Portland's riverscape.
OLE, OLE, OLE, PORTLAND TIMBERS AND THORNS
We screamed. We raised our fists in irritation. We chanted. We groaned. We clapped and sang for victory.
We supported our boys in green and gold and our girls in red.
All was right with the world.
PHRASES RARELY HEARD
Heat advisory
Bless her heart
Gas prices are...
Do you want Mexican or Thai food?
Towels go in the dryer...
I don't mean to be racist, but...
QUINTESSENTIALLY AMERICA
Road trips, buying a house, DIY projects were among the things I saw or experienced this summer that reminded me what really is quintessentially American. Of course, houses are bought around the world, but the process and product being purchased looks completely different. However, many in the world will never experience the luxury of riding in a car for joy or creating something for their own enjoyment.
REUNIONS
This year marks the fortieth anniversary for a mass exit of Vietnamese to America. Since we are intertwined within this community, we have heard stories of boat journeys, long treks, fears, and dreams of what was to come in a new country. Since this was a milestone year, there were many reunions for this community. One evening, I had the privilege to join one such reunion with the sponsors of Lisa's family. It was an honor to meet this family who had so graciously given sanctuary to an unknown man and woman, who were expecting their first child. It was fun to hear about the early days of language barriers and how Lisa's mom went into labor disrupting anniversary plans.
SIX WEEK MARRIAGE SABBATICAL
Yes, Zach and I spent six weeks apart in the course of the summer adventures. It was the longest we had been apart in years, plus a good lump of that time was solo traveling. While we enjoyed our separate journeys, we definitely like being partners in crime in the same location.
THANKSGIVING, aka FRIENDSGIVING
It started as a joke, but ended up coming to fruition. Friends from far and wide came together our last weekend to celebrate a holiday that we have not enjoyed for four years. I teased Zach that instead of a birthday party this year, he got his favorite holiday in America. It was so much fun that Lisa and I plotted that we should do a different holiday every summer going forward.
UNDERWATER FUN
Wilson Pool became a second home this summer. Mornings were spent lap swimming and the afternoons spent navigating the splishy-splashiness with kids. By summer's end, Kaden had graduated from having to wear an under-48 inches bracelet and Addysen was flugtaging herself off of any elevated surface.
VANCOUVER - WOMEN'S WORLD CUP
The kick-off to summer when the family converged for three epic days. Zach and I bought tickets the moment sales began, not caring who was in the finals. As we watched the cup progress, our excitement mounted as the US team was ever closer to the final.
To stand by the stadium, watching the thousands of American fans parade down the street chanting, "I believe that we will win" is not something so easily forgotten. Four goals in fifteen minutes was completely insane. Screaming and dancing to celebrate a final score of 5-2 was priceless.
Plus, there was this woman who kept screaming, "Let's go Japan!" while banging a child size drum behind us...
WEI WEI ART
I took advantage of a free day at the Portland Art Museum. Months earlier, I had read about the art collection named "Gods and Heroes," which they were hosting. However, walking into the building, I faced an exhibit I had not anticipated featuring Chinese artist, Ai WeiWei. He is an artist who has been loved and rejected by China, all within the span of ten years. He was instrumental in the construction of the Bird's Nest, but is now under house arrest because being an artist equates troublemaker. It was a treat to see his work up close, not in China, but in Portland.
XTRA TIDBITS
My dad wrangled a five foot cow snake on the back porch. He also knocked down a tree with a tractor. He is my hero.
Zach drank his yearly quota of Ale 8 while in Kentucky. I think many of those were while lounging by the pool.
Books were a theme of the summer. I vowed to not touch my Nook and take complete advantage of the local library. It was blissful to read actual paper books. I spent a lot of time not only reading my selections, but tomes of Pinkalicious, Magic Treehouse and soccer books out loud.
Zach attended a Louisville USL game while in Kentucky.
The Banker clan spent a day at Holiday World, giving Shawn his first taste of rollercoasters.
YEARLY EVENT
Addysen fell asleep on Zach.
ZOO DAY
It had been a while since my last venture to the Oregon Zoo, but I was intrigued to see the makings of the new Elephant Land, as well as enjoy time with the Miller clan. Animal antics are always entertaining, for better or worse. Addysen and I were elated with the energetic hippos and Josef became the most animated while riding the zoo train.
