Just your friendly neighborhood tortoise

One of the most amusing things that happened in Portland happened one afternoon when Tad went to the famous Powell's bookstore on his own and the kids and I stayed behind to hang out at the house.  Coen, Lucy and I went out on the porch to sit in the beautiful sixty-degree weather and wait for the later convergence which would be Tad's return; Jen, Connor, August and Alex's arrival and the Pizza delivery. 

As we sat, I looked over to the left at our neighbors and saw a rather large tortoise just standing on the bottom of the stoop. 
"Look!" I said to my children. "There's a big turtle over there!"
"WHOAH!" Lucy said.
"Isn't that actually a tortoise?" Coen said.

He/She made his/her way over down the path between the houses, right towards us!  We watched as he just ambled right by and marveled at the fact that there would be a tortoise hanging around. 
"Where did it come from, I wonder." I wondered aloud.
Then Coen saw some people across the street.
"Hey! We have a tortoise over here!" he yelled.
"Well, he's not our tortoise!  He just happed by!" I yelled after him.
The people waved, but kept walking.
Then we saw another neighbor with a child around Coen's age. 
"We have a tortoise!" Coen yelled.
They came across the street.
"Didn't you know about the Portland tortoise?"  The neighbor joked.
Turns out it WAS the next door neighbor's tortoise.  He apparently had only gotten out one other time and was found in the middle of busy Halsey road, cars stopping everywhere!
As we talked and looked at the creature who had made his way to our back yard, Jen and her family showed up and two other neighbors came by, finally taking the tortoise back home.

Tad and the pizza arrived shortly thereafter and the children were very excited to tell him all about our adventure.