Newish in the Portland area, looking for friends for our family

[jewelsvs]

Hello!

My family moved to the Portland area last June, and my focus right now is finding community.  We need some friends!  I have a 6 year old daughter, 4 year old son, and 1 year old daughter.  My husband is a programmer, and I stay home with the kids, and homeschool the oldest.  We go to Village Home for a few classes in Beaverton...anyone here go there?  

So far I've had a hard time plugging into the crunchy (or whatever you want to call it) community here, probably because I've been so shy and distracted and overwhelmed by the move and lots of family issues.  I feel like I'm stuck on the outside.  I'm hoping to find my kids some friends who won't make them feel weird that they don't get to eat food dye and the standard crap everyone seems to eat.  The kids were all born at home and cloth-diapered and breastfed and all that.  I would love to have some like-minded mama friends.  I just feel kind of lost and alone here, and the kids and I especially are missing our friends back home.  Does anyone want to get together?  We're currently in Hillsboro but willing to drive anywhere, and planning to move closer to or into the city this summer.    My husband works in Lake Oswego, so we're also in that area quite a bit.  

Anyway, let me know if anyone would like to meet up!  I'm looking forward to making new friends here!

~Julie

[LivVLW]

Hi there,

We are new to the area too. We are in SW Pdx, and we unschool so we are always up for a playdate. I have 2 boys, one is 9 and the other is 6.

Good luck.

[Momma2DoubleCuties]

Hi! I'm Aimee,  I'm in the Forest Grove area.  We're in the same boat!  I've got 4 boys, 10, 7, 4 and 1.  Homebirthing, organic eating, soon to be homeschooling,  breastfeeding ect.  I've been here most of my life and have trouble finding like minded people!  There is a La Leche League meeting tomorrow in Hillsboro I'm going to go to if you want to meet up!  Its at 168 NE 8th Hillsboro at the Hillsboro Methodist Church, it starts at 10am.  They meet there the 4th Thursday of every month.  I haven't ever been but am anxious to hopefully maybe find some like minded momma friends nearby!  Hope to see you there or we can play a part meet up sometime too!  

[*Christa*]

Check out this group:  http://www.meetup.com/PortlandHomeBirthFamilies/

They also have a FB page.  There are monthly meetups!

[penny's mamma]

My family moved to the Hillsdale/Beaverton area a few months ago & are struggling to find our new people.  I have a 5 year old daughter and a 15 mo old son.  We would love to meet up with any of you for a playdate.  Maybe we can work something out where we all  meet up at a park now that the weather is so unbelievably gorgeous!  

[incorrigible]

Hey there. We're in Gresham. I have a 13 yr old son, and 11yr old daughter. We'd also love to find some respectful, crunchy folks to hang out with. We're LDS, but my husband is a bouncer at a strip club. One of those facts seems to be a deal breaker for just about everyone. When they find out whichever they have a problem with, they stop returning our calls and even pretend not to be home when we stop by. =/ If you don't think either of those things automatically makes my kids bad influences for yours, please pm me. I'm sure we can find some common ground, and would love to get together.

[jrabbit]

We are spending the summer in Troutdale (east of Portland) for the summer, and we are in desperate need of:
- crunchy friends for me and my homeschooled daughters 12, 8, 3
- babysitter so DH and I can have a DATE
- weekend hippie activities for the whole family, vegetarian friendly
- organic farmers market or co-op
- book club or art classes or theatre classes
- Girl Scout activities
- chicken pox

Incorrigible: I have no problems with you, and we would love to meet up!

** We are living full time in our RV. DH is working in Portland for 3-6 months.

[Mommel]

Originally Posted by *Christa* 

Check out this group:  http://www.meetup.com/PortlandHomeBirthFamilies/

They also have a FB page.  There are monthly meetups!

I'll second PDX Home Birth!! Great Meetup!

[SamiPolizzi]

I'm soon to be in the same boat! I'll be moving to Portland in 3 weeks with my boyfriend and my 3 year old son. All of my "crunchy" friends here in IL, I met through LLL, so I'll probably hit that up as soon as I get there. I'd love to meet all of you too! 

[Mommel]

Originally Posted by SamiPolizzi 

I'm soon to be in the same boat! I'll be moving to Portland in 3 weeks with my boyfriend and my 3 year old son. All of my "crunchy" friends here in IL, I met through LLL, so I'll probably hit that up as soon as I get there. I'd love to meet all of you too! 

It's funny (odd)... most of my crunchy friends have never even been to LLL here... there's only one regular meeting way out on the west side... and the crunchiest areas are all on the east side (I live on the west side, so that's not to say we crunchy mamas don't exist on this side of the river - we're just fewer and farther between). However, Zenana Spa in southeast has a weekly breastfeeding support group that I've heard is very crunchy and many of my friends have gone there. We were just talking about this at Home Birth PDX... Portland is just assumed to be crunchy, so we have a surprising lack of the traditional crunchy mama support resources... it's very strange. 

Oh, and welcome home to Portland!! You'll find it's one of the few cities where people who were born and raised here actually still love it and if they go away, they almost invariably return at some point. I've been here for five years and although I'll probably have to leave in a few years, I know I'll miss it terribly.

[sk8boarder15]

I'm moving out to the area next month (SE side) and will be looking for Friends as well (though Sami, above, is my sister). My son is almost 2 and we will be looking for other families with babies - pre-schoolers to hang out with. Older kids too if they are ok with toddler antics (I know some kids love toddlers while others disdain them)! 

We are considering homeschool down the road and would love to hang out with other homeschool families too as it would help us to get an idea of what that looks like day to day! Feel free to Add me on Facebook! Search for "Allison Waters" My picture is my son and I on our playset.