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What's Happening in PDX 6/13-6/14

June 11, 2009

School's out---for summer! (Cue Alice Cooper guitar riff here) I don't know about your kids, but my just-finished-with-kindergartener is ready for long summer days with friends, afternoons at the park, and the Summer Reading Program through Multnomah County Library. The Portland Metro area has a ton going on this weekend, enjoy!

 

Saturday, June 13th

 

$5 Booster Seats 10:00am until 1:00pm

Booster Seats are available to families in the Portland Safer Routes to School Program for $5.00 (Retail cost $13.99 for no back boosters and $29.99 for high back boosters). Please print this page to take advantage of this offer. Children must be present and should weigh over 40 pounds.
Families must bring their car and have lap and shoulder belts in the back seat. Supply is limited so first come, first served. Limit one booster seat per child.

Burlington Coat Factory Janzen Beach, 1718 Jantzen Beach Center    ACTS Oregon Child Safety Seat Resource Center, 503-643-5620.

 

 

Dig In! at the Oregon Food Bank's Learning Garden  9:00am-noon

Help feed Portland! Volunteers of all ages and garden experience levels are needed to help maintain the gardens. Tasks often include digging, planting, weeding, thinning, harvesting, composting. No prior experience is necessary; training will be provided. The garden is open rain or shine, so please be sure to dress for the weather. All ages are welcome to participate in this project, but children under the age of 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Volunteers under age 18 will need to bring a waiver signed by a Parent/Guardian.

Visit www.handsonportland.org to sign up and receive location information.

 

 

Cirque du Cycling noon-7pm

Schedule of Events:

Grand Central Fun Zone for Kids (714 N. Fremont) 12-3:00pm
Family Ride Registration + Bike Safety Activities
Family Ride Departs 1:30pm
Art Bike Parade 3:00pm-3:30pm
Live Performances 4:30pm
Two-Way Street Racing 5:00pm -7:00pm

Cirque du Cycling takes place on Mississippi Avenue between Shaver and Fremont. The street will be closed to traffic.

 

$5 Bike Helmet Sale 10:00-2:00pm

All bike helmets are only $5! Helmet fitting and adjustments available. Helmet sizes: Toddler to Adult. Bring your old helmet to be recycled.

Two locations:

  • Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center Healthy Kids Fair
    2211 NE 139th St – Vancouver, WA
  • Sunset Community Bike Safety Fair
    14986 NW Cornell Rd – Portland, OR 

 

Metro's 2009 Gardens of Natural Delights Tour noon-4pm (Gresham area)

Check out fantastic flowers, edibles, a manicured lawn and naturescapes; enjoy short seminars on growing native plants and composting.

To register, call the Metro Recycling Information hotline at 503-234-3000. For more information about this year’s tour program or the new lineup of workshops and hands-on natural-gardening activities at Metro’s demonstration gardens in the Portland metropolitan area, visit www.oregonmetro.gov/garden.

 

Safety Saturday at Belmont Fire Station 10:00am-3:00pm

All ages can tour the firehouse, visit with firefighters, learn about safety, and sit in a real firetruck! Free.

900 SE 35th Ave Portland  503-823-3615

 

 

 

Sunday, June 14th

 

Lent's Bike Boulevard Ride  9:00am-noon (pre-ride activities begin at 9am, ride at 10am)

Join families and neighbors on a Bike Boulevard Ride to the opening day of the Lents International Farmers Market!

Activities are free and include: Bike Gallery bike repair station, BTA helmet fitting station (limited free helmets), Portland Bike Master Plan update, BTA Kids Safety Class & Ride for youth ages 8-12 years (bikes required). Bike parking will be provided at the Farmers Market. Raffle for fun prizes! Please contact Laura Bouma for more information: LAURA_KQB@YAHOO.COM

Kelly Elementary, 9030 SE Cooper, Portland


Pets On Parade 2 pm (Registration starts at 1pm)

"Don't miss this delightfully fun event! Everyone is welcome to dress up and show off their favorite pet (stuffed animals okay too). Winner categories include: "Dressed to Impress," "Entertainers" (tricks), "Me & My Shadow" (owner and pet look-alikes), and "It's a Small World" (small pets). Music entertainment presented by the Petropolitan Jazz Band."

Millennium Plaza Park 200 First Street, Lake Oswego



Portland Pride Parade  11am

The parade starts in the North Park Blocks and winds its way towards Waterfront Park. Bring your family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 

 

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Making Tracks: Best places to watch trains

June 09, 2009

 

My daughter is a few years past her train obsession (she won't even admit that she used to insist her grandparents refer to her as "Thomas" and scoffs at me when I suggest going with her younger cousin to ride Thomas--Thomas? Who's that?) but I still know where to find a train on short notice in the Portland area.

--Holgate overpass that overlooks the Brooklyn Yards
You can get a nice glimpse of parked rail-cars, Amtrak and Union Pacific trains, retired engines, and there's a small engine shop where you can see some vintage trains. This is a great place for watching loading/unloading of containers of freight. If you drive by s-l-o-w-l-y, you can catch trains in action, or better yet, walk or ride bikes over the bridge.

--Eastbank Esplanade close to Steel Bridge
This is another destination that is bike, pedestrian, and stroller friendly. You can watch Amtrak trains cross over the Steel Bridge into downtown.

--Highway 84 East (towards Hood River
This is a great route for some prime train-watching out your little one's car window. The tracks are close to the road and continue along parallel for much of the drive.

--Highway 30 towards Linnton
Heading NW, there will be a large classification yard on your right-hand side. This is a good place for seeing a ton of trains!

--Oregon Zoo
Ride the Zoo train over to Forest Park and play on their awesome playground for awhile. (You could even take the MAX train to Washington Park first for an additional train bonanza!) The MAX station for Washington Park is especially interesting because it is 260 feet underground and is the deepest transit station in North America.

--Union Station (downtown Portland)
Even if you're not waiting to pick up incoming relatives, the Amtrak Train Station is a great place to visit with children! You can see the trains arriving/departing and take in the beauty of the historical architecture. The station was built in 1895 and is a nice, open area for little ones to stretch their legs.

--Portland Streetcars
Hop on the streetcar by Portland State University and continue down to the Main branch of the library. Make an afternoon of it by continuing on to Powell's books and Whole Foods for lunch.

--Ochoco Street by the Goodwill Bins
You can often catch sight of an engine or two if you camp out in the Goodwill Bins' parking lot in the late afternoon. My daughter was delighted to see an engineer relatively close up and hear thetrain's whistle. 1740 SE Ochoco St (near McLoughlin Blvd)

--Thomas the Tank @ Mt. Hood Railroad
As much as my six year old would like to deny it, she had the thrill of her life watching Thomas, the real Thomas! coming down the tracks! Buy tickets online for the next two weekends here.

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Keep them busy (and happy!) on road trips this summer

May 19, 2009



I am an only child, so long road trips usually meant that I would be engrossed in a book, listening to AM talk radio with my dad, or crashed out trying to sleep away the endless hours of traveling. I loved hearing the stories of my aunt and uncle, traveling with their vagabond bunch of four children from Oregon to see us in California. Each kiddo would get to choose some horrifyingly sweet treat for the road (an entire box of Poptarts, or a Sara Lee frozen cheesecake) and then they would get to paint with and consume gobs of Cool Whip. Ok, so this was the 1970s and my relatives usually travelled in an old school bus, but this idea could be adaptable for your next travel venture with the fam. When my daughter was really small, we packed up pasta in ziploc bags so she could smoosh it around without making a total mess and then later, eat it. Instead, of shaving cream, why not pack along a book of 200 stickers, and let your little go crazy covering themselves (but not the car windows!). Here are ten other ideas for your next trip to Grandma's house:

1. Post-its (I can't think of Post-Its without thinking of pronouncing it like Romy in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion) can save your life. Kids can draw on them, practice writing letters on them, make flip-books with them, and then proceed to stick them willy-nilly all over your car. For an added fun bonus, look for them in fun shapes or with your child's favorite animal on them. 

2.  Be a shutter-bug! My daughter loves to take photos to remember places she has been. Give your child a hand-me-down digital camera or a disposable one to capture the sights of the road. (they make tough and kid-friendly digital cameras too if you are hesitant to entrust your kids with a breakable camera) Your child can take pictures of roadside attractions, all the meals they eat on the way, or interesting signs/buildings you pass. When you get to your destination, a fun project might be making a book of all their snapsnots (hello easy photo printer!)

3.  Audiobooks, and more audiobooks Check out a pile of books on cd from your local library to help pass the time, or hook up your iPod to the car stereo and make a mix of your child's favorite stories and songs. Also check out Storynory for an awesome assortment of stories (podcast available from iTunes. 

4.  Wrap it up! Make a personalized travel bag for each child. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, hit the dollar store for bubbles, chalk, stickers, and add gum, snacks, and trinkets you find on sale after the holidays. Have specified "opening times" for your child to look forward to. 


5. One word: Bendaroos. These waxy building sticks kept my daughter occupied for hours. Craft creatures, cupcakes, or crazy aliens and then start all over again. A hint: they are much more affordable on eBay than buying directly. Not for children under three years old. 

6. Stop! Use rest-stops or plan out a good diversion every few hours. Use the internet to locate public parks, playgrounds, or even a science museum (you may have privileges from your home museum) to take a break from the hum of the road. Tiring them out =sleeping in the car. 

7. Work it out! Before you leave, make a packet of mazes, coloring sheets, word searches, mad libs, or dot to dots for your little one to do. Having "important work" may buy Mom and Dad a few minutes of quiet in the car. 

8. Where in the world is.....? Laminate a map of your route and let your kids keep track of your travels. Use stickers to mark important memories. 

9. TV Party! When we're traveling, I say most anything goes. Save movies for meltdown times in the car, when you fear you may walk off into the desert never to be seen again if the kids don't stop whining and fighting over who has more Goldfish crackers. If you don't own a portable DVD player, you can rent one easily from an airport if you're flying and driving.  

10. Keep them comfy! Make sure to pack extra clothes, especially emergency shirts because you never know when a puke fest might arise. Consider starting your road trip with your child in pajamas to help them sleep a bit longer. Don't forgot swimsuits in case you're going to stay in motels with pools along the way. 
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Things You Must Do in Portland Before Your Child Grows Up

by Sarah Gilbert

November 04, 2008

I've lived in Portland most of my life, and though I've traveled and lived in many vibrant, wonderful cities I can't imagine raising my children anywhere else. I can't let my kids grow up until I:
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Planes, Trains and Automobiles: Places to Get Your Train Fix On

by Sarah Gilbert

October 23, 2008

Oh, how my boys love trains. At first it was all Thomas, all the time, and we were among the thousands who paid up for overpriced tickets to see the cheeky engine himself in Hood River. But now it's any and all trains that get my boys going. Here are my favorite places to see trains (cheap or free): Ride the MAX over the Steel Bridge. For $2 a ticket for parents and with kids six and under  Read more...

When memory games are a part of the structure of play

by Sarah Gilbert

January 12, 2008

Today, Being Savvy is chatting about our favorite memory games (my favorite: Memory. I'm old school like that). We don't have any memory games in my household, but I still find my three-year-old and 18-month-old have plenty of opportunities to develop their sense of object permanence, their pattern memory, and their ability to match sorts of things. It's all about the bins. A year ago,  Read more...

More of Our Favorite Activities and Things to Do in portland

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Creatures & Critters:
Our Urban Jungle

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Do, Re, Mi! Places to Hear, Sing & Play a Tune

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Artistic Endeavors:
Our Favorite Art Venues

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Room to Run:
Run, Jump & Wiggle Outdoors

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Rainy & Quiet Days:
Cozy & Crazy Indoor Fun

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A Sense of History:
Our City's Stories

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Tot's Science Fair:
Science & Nature Sites

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Splash, Spray, Play! Local Spots to Get Wet

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The Most Fun in Life Is Free!

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The Best of... Our Top Can't-Live-Without Spots

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Oona Baker, Sarah Gilbert

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