Paloma has been humming a tune for months now, but it wasn’t until a week or two ago that Katie figured out what exactly it was. Fitting for an Oregonian in the middle of winter, she has been singing the Rain, Rain, Go Away nursery rhyme!
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Tags: rain rain go away
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed the Portland fall this year, and here are a few pictures to document.
Katie made a very cute bat costume for Paloma, and no surprise, Paloma enjoyed dressing up in it (once her hallway jailbreak was foiled by mom). Any time she tries on a costume, her first instinct is to run over to the mirror in our hallway to model it, and this time was no exception. Paloma’s vocabulary is increasing a lot these days, and her specialty is mostly with animal sounds. Any time she sees her bat stuffed animal or the Halloween bats around the house, we get an ‘ee ee ee’ out of her. So, of course, mom and dad got a real kick out of their little bat running around for Halloween night at Beeman and Kirsten’s house.
Tags: halloween, Hood River Fruit Loop
We generally like to report good news here at theshrollys, but last week we couldn’t help but be consumed by a bit of bad news.
The developer next door finally got the plans together to commence with installing new sewer lines, in anticipation of 4 new houses, and the first thing they need to do is to cut down some trees that are in the way of development. I don’t know if you’ve ever witnessed a massive fir tree falling, but I don’t think the video does it justice. After the tree bounced on the ground, a ripple coursed through it almost like it was a blade of grass. The whole house shook. We realized later that evening that one of the lights in our kitchen started working again, the wiring probably fixed by the house shaking.
I definitely understand the that encouraging infill helps Portland meet its urban density goals, and I can see the benefits of higher urban densities – it is part of what I already like about Portland. Unfortunately, though, this process has been quite frustrating as it is very clear that our city officials at the Bureau of Development Services are biased towards development, not towards the citizens who actually live in the neighborhood and deal with the development. When you look at the tree preservation code (developers only need to save 35% of the significant trees on-site), with ample mitigation opportunities to reduce that target even further, it is also clear that the city is encouraging development at the expense of the urban tree canopy. It’s a shame, really.
Personally, I think the developers could achieve similar profit levels with less dense building and in doing so actually keep more of the trees on the site. While this might result in just two or three new houses on the site next door, and therefore lower density, it would also have a lower impact on the surrounding neighborhood and maintain much of what drew many of us to this neighborhood in the first place. As it is, they will be cutting down 5 more large trees and then, likely, they will just sell the lots for somebody else to develop. And it is quite possible that the new owners will just buy the land and never develop, which would truly be a shame.
Tags: BDS, bureau of development services, tree preservation, urban density
Three years ago when we had the first 4th of July party at our house, I think there may have been one kid there. This year, the kids were the highlight, and the house was crawling with them… literally! At least 12 kids were in attendance between 3 weeks and 9 years old. And two more are due to arrive in October!
Check out the slideshow. In addition to some really cute photos of the army of babies, by a total stroke of luck, I also managed to get a shot of the grand finale of the fireworks in downtown Portland.
Tags: 4th Of July
We are starting to think that somebody played a plate tectonics trick on us, and Portland has been relocated somewhere in what was previously known as the midwest. How else could you explain all of the cold weather and snow? Undaunted, we decided to take advantage of it last weekend. We got another inch or so of snow last Sunday, and we headed up to the Portland Japanese Gardens to check it out. It was awesome! The place was swarming with photographers (ourselves included), which was kind of amusing. Below is a slideshow of some of the better pictures. View it in full-screen mode for the best effect.
As Katie and I walked through the garden, we kept on hearing a kid screaming in the distance, and we eventually ran into the kid, probably 2 years old, by the pond. His parents kindly took a picture of us, and while they were about to take the picture, the kid lost his balance and slid under the fence, hanging on with legs dangling over the water. Phew! I did not want to go swimming.
Photos
