We spent a long weekend visiting family and friends in Portland recently, stuffing a variety of activities in just a few days. The biggest draw was our 4-year-old granddaughter’s participation in her preschool’s spring “dinner theater” and silent auction fundraiser on Friday night. We had seen this same group of 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds perform in a December Reindeer Games variety show and were impressed with the performances (singing and dancing and dialogue) the children’s teachers pulled out of them, and we’d been told that the spring show was an even bigger extravaganza. It turned out to be true.

The basic theme of the event was fairy tales, and family groups were encouraged to come dressed up as their favorite fairy tale characters. We zeroed in on a modern-day fairy tale, The Princess Bride, with dad Josh as the Dread Pirate Roberts, mom Jenny as Princess Buttercup, my husband, Harry, as the Boy’s Grandpa (toting a copy of the book); and me as Miracle Max’s wife, Valerie (complete with the bellows used to pump air into the sort-of-dead Westley). The preschool is located within a neighborhood recreation center, so the performance and dinner (families brought their own dinners to eat, with drinks provided) were held in the gymnasium, with a large, elevated stage complete with lights, curtain and backdrops on one side. The entire space was decorated, and lively bidding on the auction items continued until just before the lights dimmed for the performance. The kids performed a number of songs and skits, with lots of laughs and impressive choreography. I’m convinced we’ll see some of these youngsters on the stage and screen some day! Granddaughter June was presented with a bouquet of pink roses at the end of the night for her outstanding work at stealing our hearts yet again.

Saturday we watched June take her swimming class at one of the park and rec district‘s pools (at the high school I attended; talk about a trip down memory lane!) before hitting the Beaverton Farmers Market for some goodies and then a quick visit to the adjacent Beaverton City Library to choose a pile of books to take home. That evening Harry and I got together with our long-time group of friends to enjoy dinner, wine and good company at one of their homes. We always come away from such events enormously grateful for our history together and the love and laughter we’ve shared for more than 40 years.

The weekend wasn’t done yet, though, as we had tickets to visit the Oregon Zoo on Sunday. We arrived before 10 a.m. on a brisk but nearly sunny morning, eager to catch glimpses of some of the newer residents there. Two young orphaned bear cubs, found wandering separately in Alaska, arrived in December and have been getting accustomed to their new home. We first spotted Timber and Thorn (named for Portland’s men’s and women’s professional soccer teams) in their enclosure in the Great Northwest section of the zoo, a woodsy ravine which also houses river otters, fish, bald eagles and other Northwest wildlife. The path meanders to the bottom of the hill, with a small stream crossing it several times, drowning out the noises of the outside world.  Later, as we were preparing to leave the zoo, we noticed a crowd of people looking up in the air. Following their gaze, we soon spotted the two cubs,  who had scaled one of the 60-plus-foot-tall Douglas fir trees in their habitat to munch on the sweet new growth near the top. It was remarkable to see them so high up there (I doubt there’s another zoo anywhere that can provide that kind of entertainment for their bears … or patrons!); you can watch a video of their tree-climbing talents here.

We had also hoped to see the new baby rhino, born on the same day in December as our newest grandbaby. Unfortunately, little Tamu was not outside, but we did see his sizable daddy, King. We also got a kick out of seeing just-turned-2 Jolene playing with her mama, Kitra, a Bornean orangutan. Kitra seemed to like that green towel; she kept draping it over her head and shoulders as she moved about.

The zoo’s habitats are designed to provide a natural and stimulating environment for their occupants, and visitors have opportunities to observe the animals at a fairly close range through viewing ports and windows. On this cool, sunny day, many of them were out sunning themselves and being quite active, which made for a fun visit for us.

Besides the many animals here, I also appreciate the art scattered everywhere throughout the zoo. Large bronze statues of many different critters can be found, clearly inviting kids to climb on and around them . . . and they do, with wild abandon. There are whimsical depictions of animals, too, and lovely pieces that serve an educational purpose as well, such as this mosaic medallion which depicts the life cycle of salmon. Even structural supports, such as these pillars near the polar bear exhibit, are etched with depictions of creatures and their environments.

After such a busy few days, we enjoyed a quiet afternoon and evening at home, but we certainly stored up a whole new batch of memories on this trip.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor