Vacations

Last Wednesday, Mom and I went up to Portland for a little vacation.  We had lunch at Andina, a Peruvian place in Northwest Portland.   We got beef hearts with a tasty salsa, scallops baked with parmesan and lime, and seafood ceviche, and it was all fantastic.

 I apologize if the pictures are completely out of whack; I can't figure out how to get them to behave.

Then we went to Papa Haydn, an oasis of desserts.  They're not cheap by any means, but they're oh so pretty and delicious.  We got a meringue layer cake with whipped cream, fruit, and chocolate.  It was enormous and I ended up finishing it off the next day:

Oh, the deliciousness!  One dessert that I found beautiful that we didn't get was the Scharffenberger Bombe, which, as far as I could tell, was a chocolate dome with mousse inside and a macaroon on top.  I'm hopeful all the food I eat in Germany will be as delicious.

This past weekend the whole family went to Belknap hot springs and stayed in a house there.  It's up the McKenzie in a beautiful wooded setting.  Everything's so green and lovely.  We went for walks, when we weren't sleeping and eating and floating in the gigantic hot tubs.

 Uncomfortably third-wheeling a bestial relationship between McKenna and the bear, post-hot springs.

 Beautiful forest in beautiful Oregon.

 Mom and me on a bridge along the path.

 Me inside a burnt-out, but still living, tree.  

We all got together to celebrate Kevin's graduation from high school, and my 21st birthday, since I'll be in Israel on the actual day.  It was also the only chance we'll all get to be together this summer, which is sad for me.  Everyone else gets to go to Steelhead for cheese fries after Kev's graduation, but I'll be fast asleep in Germany.  Le sigh.

Mom got me an awesome flashing birthday tiara (too small for my head, as it was evidently designed for a 7-year-old), which I wore with great pride:

 The strawberry-blueberry pie with a cream cheese-whipped cream base had to be made with California strawberries since Oregon strawberries aren't in season yet, as they are at the end of July.  In spite of this shortcoming, the Nana-made pie was delicious.

Kevin's headed off to OSU (Oregon State) this fall for college, and McKenna's going in to her sophomore year at Linfield, so we all wore our college paraphernalia for a picture:

So this was a completely self-indulgent post.  Hopefully everyone found something redeeming in it, but don't fear, after tomorrow, I will have more travel-related tales to tell.  Until then, keep f***ing those chickens.