New Van, Nike Employee Store, and a Fun Weekend in Portland

It was a very eventful weekend for the Riley family.  Friday kicked it off with John unexpectedly being able to turn in our leased van (it was due this month) and getting a new one for me.  He was very concerned after checking the rates for us online as to how much more we'd be spending, but Travis came through for us in a HUGE way to help us get the deal of the century, that literally only took John 20 minutes to complete on his lunch hour.  I despise dealing with car purchases/exchanges etc...this was a HUGE gift to me. 

Because Mikayla had a tournament in Portland on Sunday, we opted to head up there for the full weekend.  On Saturday, we had the first-time experience at the Nike Employee Store.  You need to "know someone" to get in, as each adult's entrance requires a one time guest pass.  We've never had the opportunity to go before, but one of John's co-workers pulled off a shopping miracle for us, and secured passes.

The place is a sportswear dream come true as it has all of Nike's latest fashion releases at 50% off.  Jackets, shoes, accessories....they've got it all.  We spent way too much money there, but went away very happy.  =)

For lunch, we hit the Black Bear Diner.  Clearly, my preference wasn't "lunch" cuisine....I'm definitely a "breakfast all day" person.  And, for the record, this was even better than it looks!

Back at the hotel, I spent a lot of time on this....trying to get caught up on all of the blog posts that I'm still so far behind on.

The kids had a good time at the pool together.  It's amazing how capable they are of being "pals" when it's advantageous to both of them. 

Finally, Sunday brought us across the border in to Washington to this amazing high school in Vancouver.  It was a "non-counting" tournament for the team (every other tournament's results are kept track of for a monthly ranking) - so it was a little more relaxed.  They were about 50-50 in their wins/losses and performance.  On a good note, because their losses occurred late in the day, we were able to get out of there by about 3:30 - which is definitely the earliest tourney exit we've had.

We drove through Portland around 4pm - views of the skyscrapers from the bridge - impressive compared to Eugene, but no where near the views of San Francisco.  I am really thankful I do not live in a big city.

 

All in all, it was a great family weekend- in fact, so much so, that it was hard to reconcile we'd already hit the end of Sunday night.  Monday morning came way too fast.