So, where did we go on our family vacation? Disney World!

This was Em’s second trip to Disney as we went there last winter with Kacey’s family. This year, we went with our good friends and their three kiddos.

We had such a fantastic time! We met the characters. Rode lots of rides including the tea cups.

We dined at Cinderella’s castle and met all of the princesses.

And we enjoyed a part of a new section they just opened in Fantasyland where’s there are now two Dumbo rides!

This is so great because there was always a long line for Dumbo – one of Em’s favorite rides. This trip, I think we rode it four times!

This weekend we headed back to the Houston Zoo with Em. The last time we took her, she was 14 months old so we were eager to get her over there again. As expected, she loved it! She fed the giraffes with her daddy…

and really enjoyed watching the meerkats.

That’s a snippet of our weekend, how was yours?

Our last morning in Portland, we rose super early and headed out again to try Voodoo Doughnuts. This time, we were in luck! There was no line.

After our tasty sweet treats, we took a shuttle to the airport. From the air we spotted these two mountains peeking through the white cloud blanket.

Bye bye, Portland!

Previously – our itinerary / day one / day two / day three

We started out the day thinking we would grab breakfast around the corner at Voodoo Doughnuts. Unfortunately, so did everyone else! The line was crazy long. We ended up finding a little bakery nearby instead and vowed to try again super early the next day before our flight back home.

After, we walked down to Old Town Chinatown…

and made our way to the Lan Su Chinese Garden which was a lovely oasis that seemed out of place in the middle of modern day Portland.

There, we stopped in The Teahouse and enjoyed dumplings and Gongfu style tea.

After, headed to the the river to get a glimpse of Portland’s famous White Stag Sign. It was larger that I expected it to be!

We made our way through Portland Saturday Market and stopped by our hotel for a little down time.

That night, we enjoyed dinner at Little Bird. With the bill, they gave us mini macaroons that were about the size of a quarter! Such a sweet + unexpected treat.

Previously – our itinerary / day one / day two

We started our second day in Portland at the Japanese Garden. It was lush and peaceful and beautiful.

The Japanese Garden, the International Rose Test Garden and the Oregon Zoo are all in the same area. After our time at the Japanese Garden, we were hungry for lunch but not sure if there were any food options around. Turns out, yes! Cascade Grill at the Oregon Zoo is what we found. Bonus? We didn’t have to pay zoo admission to get a bite to eat at the grill.

Afterwards, we headed to the International Rose Test Garden. It was more beautiful than I imagined! The roses were huge and very abundant. We listened in on a tour for a while and learned that they clip their roses a specific way to produce lots of blooms.

Following the Rose Garden, we stumbled upon Saint Cupcake and tried drinking chocolate at Cocoa. The picture below is a little deceiving. The cups are actually demitasse cups and therefore really tiny. The drinking chocolate was pure bliss. Rich + decadent.

Next, we headed to Powell’s Books where we found this Good Night Oregon book which was the perfect souvenir to bring back for Em.

Before dinner, we stopped by the food trucks near our hotel. I found their arrangement pretty smart. In Austin, ordering typically happens from the side of the trucks. In Portland, they park side by side and the ordering happens at the back end of the trucks which all face outwards, thus allowing more trucks to fit into the lot.

Previously – our itinerary / day one 

Our first day started out with a drive to Multnomah Falls. Because Portland has great public transportation options, this was the only day we rented a car. The falls were about a 30 minute drive from the city. I expected the falls to be in a really rural area with lots of walking trough the forrest to get to but that wasn’t the case. The falls were right off the highway. We parked the car in the median of the highway, walked underneath the road via a tunnel and there they were!

There was a walking trail that led to the bridge. The day we went, they were actually filming a movie on the bridge. However, we were still able to walk across the bridge and marvel at the falls. I highly recommend going. It was so worth the drive and definitely a highlight of our trip.

After the falls, we drove to The Grotto.

A life-size marble replica of Michelangelo’s Pietà is displayed in The Grotto.

After, we headed to Pok Pok for lunch. We tried Ike’s Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings [shown left] and Sii Khrong Muu Yanng [baby back ribs shown right] and a noodle dish [not shown].

Then, we drove to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden which was bit of a let down. Because of the time of year we went, we missed out on all of the colorful blooms. So, it just looked like a green + lush park [which we paid to get into].

Next, we headed to the Ariel Tram which gave us very pretty views of Portland and the mountains.

We ended our day with dinner at The Original which was connected to our hotel.

Previously – our itinerary

Day One -

The Original [breakfast]
Multnomah Falls
The Grotto
Pok Pok [lunch]
Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden
Ariel Tram
The Original [dinner]

Day Two -

The Original [breakfast]
Japanese Garden
Cascade Grill at the Oregon Zoo [lunch]
International Rose Test Garden
Saint Cupcakes
Cocoa
Powell’s Books
Dr. Martens
Portland Schnitzer Sign
Saucebox [dinner]

Day Three -

Voodoo Doughnuts
Blue Collar Baking Company [breakfast]
Old Town Chinatown
Lan Su Chinese Garden
Portland White Stag Sign
Portland Saturday Market
Joe’s Burgers [lunch]
Made In Oregon Store at Pioneer Place
Little Bird [dinner]

PS – We didn’t really research + plan our food options ahead of time. However, this list ended up being a big help as did the dining guide that we picked up at our hotel. The brochure had a map with the restaurant locations which was extremely helpful since we usually wanted to eat at a place near where we were when we got hungry. Something else to note, lots of food options didn’t have regular hours. Many times we’d decide on a place only to find out it is only open for lunch, only open during the week, or only open for dinner. Lastly, you’ll notice we ate several meals at The Original. The food was good, however, it was the location that was really in our favor. It was the restaurant connected to our hotel.

On the fifth day of our wine country trip, we had just enough time to stop by Viansa,

and see more beautiful vineyards…

eat lunch at The Fremont Diner…

and see more beautiful vineyards before it was time to board our plane and head back home to Austin.

If I had to sum up wine country in one word, it would be rich. Rich landscape. Rich colors. Rich food.

Read more from our wine country trip –
day one / day two, part one / day two, part two / day three / day four