Thursday, August 15, 2024

Adventures with D

 Laika (animation) Studio is celebrating the 15th anniversary of their first stop motion film, Coraline, by decorating Portland with cats from the film. They made 31 cats and invited artists to decorate them. About a week ago they were placed all over Portland. D, my "live-in gardener" and I decided to looks for them. So far we have found 8 cats. They will be in Portland until October and then auctioned off for a charity fund raiser.

This one is "Thrive don't just Survive" and is across the street from one of the largest bookstores west of the Mississippi.  We stopped at Powell's Bookstore too, where D got a Pokemon Cookbook.

This is Mizton and she sits by one of the oldest fountains in Portland, Skidmore Fountain.

The name of this one was missing, but it sits along the downtown river front.

OK, we had to stop at Lan Su Chinese Gardens and have tea and lunch. Just outside the garden stood Dream Come True cat.

Made of Hug stood just outside OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). If you ever come to Portland this museum is a great place to take kids.


Then we stopped at Washington Park to walk through the rose gardens. Rumor had it there was a cat there.

We found her at the back of the garden. Tricky placement; so we had to walk through the roses. I'm not complaining, as I love roses. There was a little smelling and stopping to admire them.

 
There were beautiful flowers at Pittock Mansion too.
 
And one more cat was found at the mansion overlooking downtown Portland. It was a bit smokey from forest fires, but then we were there for the cat named, Classic Cat.
Well I showed you 7 cats. We saw one more from the car; so no picture. More adventures needed to find 22 more.
Along the way we also stopped to see the Thomas Dambo Troll and the Nordic Center.
 
I have shared him before, but D hadn't seen him yet.

Even though D enjoyed seeing the Troll I think he liked the Swedish meatball lunch in the Nordic restaurant more. I had never seen him eat with such gusto.

The cats and the troll have made for fun adventures with D this summer and we are at the same time enjoying the sights of Portland. This adventure was done on two different days. Since D's mom has gone to work I am trying to come up with adventures with my one and only grandson.

Hoping you are also finding adventures and time to play along the way.

Sending love,
Marilyn

2 comments:

Jeanie said...

These are just super cool! I love them all -- and the troll, too!

Red Rose Alley said...

The cats are delightful, and so creative, but I especially like that Troll, its HUGE! It makes the three of you and that house look so tiny. aahh, I can smell the roses from here at the Rose Garden. What fun you had with your dear grandson, Marilyn.

~Sheri