Yesterday we had a very Portland sort of day. We checked out a cultural pass at our library that let us get into the Lan Su Chinese Garden downtown for free. Then I found a Chinook Book coupon for one free tea at their tea place there, and we rode public transportation so we didn't have to pay for parking (and potentially get a ticket like Nana did when she went there last).
Isaac and Sonia really liked it. They don't look like they do in these pictures, but they had lots of fun looking at the koi in the pond and walking around and exploring. I think it's worth a second trip. With the cultural pass, of course.
Isaac found one of those calligraphy with water boards at the very end and was very concentrated on copying the Chinese characters. I felt bad pulling him away from it but we had to get on the bus to go back to turn the cultural pass in on time. My pair of Keens, which I have had for almost exactly 10 years, and have traveled to Europe and Africa with me, came apart yesterday as we were at the garden, so I was worried about that slowing us down too. Of course, they are so well built that it's just that the bottom and top came apart, so my foot was still enclosed in a shoe. I'll try to Shoe Goo them back together. Still, 10 years was a good run. Why is it that shoes always come apart in the most inconvenient places? I guess you have to be walking for them to come apart. I've had two different pairs come apart when visiting Seattle. Ironically, the first pair I bought in Seattle to replace the broken pair, broke on another trip to Seattle. It's just odd. Why can't they break when you're at the park down the road or something? I digress.
Little Sonia fell asleep on the bus ride there so she was a little grumpy when she woke up, but she soon became her old self.
When we went into the tea place there, Sonia got her own little teapot of tea and she was just enchanted by pouring the tea into her little tea cup. She did it over and over and over again. She ended up not liking the tea flavor she chose, so she would pour a cup, take a sip, then tell me she didn't like it and could I please drink it? Then she would pour herself another cup and take another sip. I found a little tea set I bought in Japan and maybe she can play with it today. Maybe we can even make real tea in it. Ooh.
Very fun! I went to the Chinese garden with my girlfriend Sheri about a year and a half ago. She takes lots of photos there...like a pro....everyone knew her there. When I got back to my car lo and behold was a parking ticket!! I had actually been real not smart and instead of putting it in my windshield, put it in my pocket! Well, I ended up having to pay a $60 fine, and sent in paperwork to prove that I had actually paid for parking. A year later, after I had forgotten about it, I received a refund in the mail. If they put the person writing tickets out in the office half and half time out in the field, maybe it would have been a little more timely?? LOL
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