Insomniac

I'm not sure why I'm awake in the middle of the night, but I'll take the opportunity to write, I suppose.

It's been another busy week, but not super interesting until Friday. Franny's folks came to town, partly to see the Mizz and partly to celebrate birthdays for Franny and her dad, one day apart. What her dad didn't know is that her brother Sam also came out for the festivities. Excellent surprise.

Friday, we went out to eat at Mother's Bistro. They claim to love kids -- how could they not with that name? That said, the Mizz seemed to be really testing that theory. We were wondering if he would be the first kids blacklisted from Mother's. I ended up taking him outside for a walk where we found a bench he could climb in and out of. He wouldn't stop until a couple of girls, maybe three or four years old with face paint from the Rose Festival, saw him through the window and were enthralled by him. He, in turn, did not want to stop watching them. He's got a great story for daycare about the older twin chicks that were checking him out.

Speaking of Rose Festival, I managed to forget about the Starlight Run that I was going to do until it was much too late. I got all sick and travelling and forgot all about it and now it happened Friday evening and I didn't even notice. That's motivation for you. Maybe next year.

This weekend we stayed at a great house at Bella Beach with the inlaws for a couple days. Bella Beach is a neighborhood a little south of Lincoln City on the Oregon Coast. True to Oregon, the weather sucked until we left this morning. Just lots of rain, but we still had fun. The front coming through made for some awesome wave to watch, something Oregon usually only sees much in the winter. The house we rented was fairly baby-proof, so chasing Mizz was still a necessity, but not as difficult as some of the knick-knack laden places we've stayed before.

Franny and I managed to escape for a little while for a pseudo birthday dinner Sunday night while the inlaws watched the baby monitor. From what I heard, it didn't require much, but we were grateful for the time out with just the two of us, something that doesn't happen near enough these days. We ate at Kyllo's in Lincoln City. A decent spot with an excellent view. It's built up on stilts right at the beach and we arrived about an hour before high tide, so the water was about as close as it got. It was situated right at the mouth of the "D" River, which is about 100 yards from the beginning of the "D" River, which, according to the sign, makes it the world's shortest river. We debated what constituted a river versus a creek or stream or whatever, but we just have to assume there's an international governing body that regulates these things.

This evening we had an early birthday dinner for Franny and Phil, since Sam has to leave early on Tuesday. We ate at Higgin's in downtown Portland. The Mizz was not invited on this trip. Most of us had the steak special, which was excellent. Very tender with a wonderful sauce. Highly recommended. One of the fun things about Franny's parents visiting is that we get to eat well. They like to eat at new nice restaurants, so we get to eat at new nice restaurants. Franny and I have actually been to Higgin's before, but not often. Last time, we had the duck. ("Say we grant you a reservation. What would you order?" "Oh, I don't know. How about the duck?" "He cannot have zee duck." "You can't have zee duck." "He can have zee chicken." "You can have zee chicken." "Well, what about my date? I can't tell her what to order." "You can strongly suggest zee chicken." [Probably misquoted, but still one of my favorite movie scenes.])

I really need to get back to sleep. I don't know what my problem is, but I'm wide awake. Maybe some chamomile tea or something...