Let Freedom Ring

So we had our first official visitor over the 4th of July holiday weekend- my Mom! She couldn't have caught us at a better time. The weather has been AMAZING!

She arrived Thursday night and we spent the night catching up and eating some dinner. Friday we toured the big towns of Beaverton and Hillsboro and then made our way out to Forest Grove for one of the quintessential Oregon experiences: dinner at a winery. This one was at Apolloni Winery. They make great wine. They paired each course with one of their stellar wines- first course caprese salad served in parmesan cups with their Pinot Grigio.  Second an amazingly fresh salad with gnocchi paired with their Chardonnay. Third course was Italian sausage with their Sangeovese. The final course was a series of mini desserts served with their Vigonere. (apologies for the spelling mistakes). This was mom's first experience at a winery and we were so lucky to have a wonderfully cool night .

Our next stop was the PSU Farmer's Market downtown on Saturday morning. The fresh produce was so alluring that we just had to buy some to make for dinner. We couldn't get over the beautiful berries, giant tomatoes, and incredible greens. We bought heirloom tomatoes, asparagus, zucchini, pork steaks, bacon ends, a present for my sister, beautiful flowers, and an excellent cup of coffee. We even snacked on a few cookies from 2 Tarts Bakery. 

After the farmers market we headed to one of PDX's most famous markets: The Saturday Market. It's more arts and crafts fair than market but it is spellbinding all the same. So many interesting and talented artists. Mom got 2 skirts that wrap around and are super cute. We bought a Portland t-shirt for Jacob and another for Bailey. We even got to see the long line of people snaked around Voodoo Doughnut.

From the Saturday Market we stopped at Elephants Deli for some lunch and forged ahead to Washington Park. Since it was such an exceptionally beautiful day we climbed our way up to the Rose Garden. The roses were in full bloom and the entire place smelled so sweet.

After all of that running around we came home to put our food in the fridge and take a nap.

This morning we got up and went to St. Michael the Archangel's Catholic church on SW Mill St. It was a cute little church in an older brick building. From there we headed out to brunch. PDX-er's love their brunch so it was a bit of a challenge to find a place that didn't have a line out the door because we were too hungry to wait. But we stopped at Wild Abandon on Belmont. Stomachs full we headed back to Hillsboro because I forgot we had to pay rent. But first we stopped at Pioneer Square downtown.

So far we have covered a lot of ground. We are going to grill some hamburgers and see some fireworks tonight. Tomorrow- the Gorge!