Miracita and Cessie La Loca

Since Mr. Weaver's homeroom class in 7th grade, Cessie and I have been dear friends, and we still share everything and make each other laugh like we we're twelve, often at inappropriate times. I'm thankful to Cessie's brother for having a baby and living in central Washington so Cessie and her mom have another good reason to come west from Michigan. It's hard to compete with a cute 4-month-old, so I'm happy to have made it as a stop on the tour. It was so fun to have Cessie and Cindy at our place and have them experience a bit of our life in Cornelius and to just hang out. I sure miss living in the same town as my second family. There is something so special about being with people who have known you almost your whole life.

Waiting *patiently* for me to take the picture so we could eat Eric's special pancakes:


One of my favorite drinks in one of my favorite mugs from Barn Happy, Eric's cousin's family's store in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Big tree on Pacific University campus:

After lunch and a ginormous cinnamin roll at Maggie's Buns, we wandered around McMenamins Grand Lodge, which is a former Masons retirement home and orphanage and is full of cool, funky, sometime freaky artwork.

One of the freakiest paintings/descriptions in the whole place. Click on this to read the words painted on the wall and see the strange expressions on some of the faces--including the doll.

Cessie and I in 40 years:

That evening, Cindy headed to Tualatin to visit old friends and Cessie and went to Oaks Park, a tiny amusement park along the Willamette River in Portland with my Little Sis, Alondra, Alondra's cousin, and Eliser, who turned 28 that day!

Though I loved riding all the carnival rides as a kid and could spin and twist twirl for hours never get sick, my amusement park experiences as an adult have included dizziness, nausea and even a little bit of upchuck, so I was a little nervous. But we had the best time! Our bracelets allowed us unlimited rides but I only had to request a break once before getting back in line. And at one point we sat down at ate a nutritious dinner of nachos and ice cream before immediately lining up for the craziest (and best) ride at Oaks Park: the Screaming Eagle. Amazingly, not only did I feel fine afterward but I couldn't stop smiling.

At the end of the night, the kids, happy and a little woozy, conked out almost immediately in the car (there was even a bit of snoring) and Cessie and I got to talk the whole way home. Yay for lifelong friends.