Kid Date Night

Erin and Brian went to the Daughter Dance at her school:

Robin and I went to the Hofbrau for some corned beef and hot dogs. 

Fun was had by all. 

The Steel Anniversary

B and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary (two days early) true McMiller style:  fancy pizza, good beer, and a documentary movie about sushi.  Does it get any more romantic?

My parents took the girls out to a healthy dinner, and we came home to find the kids bouncing on their beds.  They crashed out soon after and in the morning retold many stories of the fun they had the night before.  Truly though, we were grateful for the outing.  Happy 11 years, Mr. B.

Sushi Date Night!

Grammy and Papa graciously came over to take the girls and Brian and I went out on a date!  Woot!  We went to a local sushi place, Blue Ginko, for some excellent raw treats.

Dinner was over very quickly.  Sushi doesn't take very long. My parents had taken the girls to Fentons, and we didn't want to get home before they did. So we went to Metro for a cocktail.  Then to Loard's for an ice cream cone.

Totally bursting at the seams, we went back home.  The girls were taking a bath, energetic and happy.  Very energetic.  Apparently Robin ate half her body weight in ice cream.  She was up until 10:45, long after we normally go to bed.  But she snuggled and watched my favorite show with me.

A great date night!

Babysitters!

Just to report: the girls have had their first official non-family, non-friend babysitter experience.  Twice.  In two nights.  Both nights went well, with the first night resulting in two sleeping children, and the second night a little sadness just before Mom and Dad returned.  Thank you to the Smithstanzas and the Brinkley's for setting it up!!  We had fun as adults two nights in a row.

The A's Game

So behind on blogging.  It's been a busy summer.

Brian and Erin went to Erin's first baseball game last weekend. They had a blast.  They had just missed getting free jerseys, but the amount of kid-friendly stuff made it a super memorable event.




 Erin was engaged, got to carefully select a treat from the vendors (ice cream, of course), played in the play area, colored pictures, and, by far the coolest, got to run around the bases on the field after the game was over.




Oh, and did I mention Brian got the tickets for free from someone outside the stadium?

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

13 years

Brian and Dr. A celebrated 13 years of dating last night. We did the dinner-and-a-movie, child free. Dinner was at a funky Southern food place that Oakland Dilettante recommended commanded we go. It was delicious, super filling, and just our style. The movie was, well, an adventure. Our ticket stubs were for this movie, which we were bored of within about 12 minutes. So we skipped over to see this one, but Dr. A got too creeped out. We ended up at this movie and enjoyed it. The date was rounded out by two hearty scoops of ice cream, a trip up the glass elevators of the St. Francis hotel, and then... and then... we didn't go home!! That's right. We stayed at a fancy hotel. Erin spent the night at Grammy and Papa's house - her first sleep-over - and Brian and I, for the first time in 2 years, 2 weeks and 6 days, spent the night alone together. Needless to say, we slept. And slept in late! Apparently, so did Erin. She woke up at 7:15. Maybe she should go to sleep-overs more often.

In the morning, we got some pastries and went to the top of Twin Peaks. The day was gorgeous. Somehow these were the only pictures we got:


Yeah, we're grown-ups.

"Happy Days"

Last week Dr. A and I went to Cal Shakes to see a play that was too smart for us: Happy Days by Samuel Beckett. Acting, direction, environment were excellent. Play itself, not so good. The theater is outdoors, and we picnicked there beforehand.

The play is essentially a well-delivered 90-minute monologue given by a woman buried up to her waist (and then her neck) in a 20-foot high pile of dirt.

I guess I'm just not smart enough, Beckett -- is that what you want me to say!? Stupid Nobel laureates. Phttffffttt!!!

Good bird, bad bird

DATE NIGHT!  Last night B and I went on a bona-fide date, thanks to the folks at Big Dutch Baby who watched Erin ate dinner and drank egg nog while Erin slept.  

We started by feeling ultra hip at the Doug Fir then off to a fancy smanchy dinner at a new-ish hot place in town, Le Pigeon.  I'd seen mixed reviews. but we gave it a 9/10 on all counts.  Service was amazing, our meals were delicious and best of all we didn't have to do the dishes. I appreciate this more and more these days. All this and we were in bed by 10:30.

But then 1 am came around.  And so did both of our dinners.  We're now on the 24-hour pre-holiday weight loss plan. Ugh. 

Early Bird Special

The McMiller family went out to dinner last night. Yes, this is such an infrequent occurrence it deserves a blog post. We went to the recently opened Portland extension of the Deschutes Brewery. "Night" must be taken figuratively as we ate at 4:45 pm.

The decor was quite stumptown - cement floor, exposed hewn beams and wood-carved arches. Being a warm afternoon the bay doors were open permitting a lovely breeze to aerate the building. Service was exceptional - our waitress was speedy, attentive, and adaptable to having a 9 month old there. Obviously we weren't the only ones there for the early shift - many other families were enjoying a meal. We split an elk burger with sweet potato fries and spicy mac'n cheese with house salad. Erin nearly ate her weight in sweet potato fries, noodles, and a few pieces of meat. The noise levels and distractions (TVs, other patrons) were plentiful but at an appropriate level to keep a minimally-napped baby entertained for 45 min. Everyone enjoyed the meal and McMiller, Inc. officially recommends this place. Did I mention the beer was delicious too?

Friday Night, Date Night!

Holy crap!  We just had a totally enjoyable evening with Ms. E.

We got take out from Vindalho, who apparently are the same fine people to bring us Lauro, both within walking distance of our house. The Pork Vindalho was, in Ms. A's words "freakin' huge" and quite delicious.  Paired with the moutain of meat was the Saag Paneer Masala.  Yummers.  Really flavorful without the usual, uh, you know, over-richness that you sometimes get with Indian food.   As after every meal, Brian lamely proclaimed, "You know... this really could have been spicier."

Then, we made a fire.  Ms. E loved the fire.  Normally we're scrambling around, trying to find a way to keep our little lady happy until bathtime (7pm).  She's been up for a good part of the day, and like her pappy, gets a little cranky. 

However, with the fire, it was like TV without the commercials, and Ms. A and I know how much our little lady likes TV.  (A lot, that's the unspoken answer, people).  I think that's exactly how I'll explain it to Ms. E.  "You see, sweetie, fire is like TV.  You know TV, right?  Well, it's just like TV without the commercials.  And you can burn yourself, so... careful!"  

Anywho, she was totally entranced, relaxed and happy.  Due to the pleasant heat from the fire, we stripped her down to her diaper -- something we have done maybe three times since she was born. The middle of winter, snow arriving in the hills overnight, and our little baby finally gets to roll around unclothed, feel hands on her skin, and have us feel her skin on ours.

She's currently the total Slobber Queen.  She doesn't need anything even close to her mouth.  Give her four minutes and she'll be totally covered in drool.  Ms. A says (only half in jest) "I think that's why she doesn't pee as much as I think she should."

OK.  Ms. E is bathed, fed, and asleep.  Now it's time for a little mommy and daddy time.  Yup, you know what that means! The new House, M.D.!  Woot!