You Don't See That Every Day

This birthday was unlike any other. I usually get to pick where we go for my birthday - and I usually head to the beach.  We did make it to the sand on Friday night. We had dinner at the restaurant, and then got a short time to walk on the beach. Little K was not feeling well, and I didn't want to stay out too late because I had plans for the next morning. Beautiful weather, delicious food, good company. It was a great start to my birthday weekend.    Early Saturday morning I got up to run a 5K to raise money for a pregnancy center. I love babies, and what better way to celebrate MY birth-day than to help others get to their birth-day! I had a great run - coming in under 30 minutes... which I haven't done in a long, long, long time. I even placed first in my age group. A BIG thank you to all of you who sponsored me - you gave the best birthday gifts of all! Right after that I hurried drove home ever so slowly and cautiously, to clean-up and head out with the f...

Halfway through summer! Here are some of the adventures we've had so far McDowell Creek hike with the whole crew:  And a sweet treat at the end of the trail - Silver Creek Falls - The Boy has to work now, so he doesn't always get to go with us: And no summer is complete without swim lessons: We also had a mini-golf day, but the competition was fierce so we didn't get any photos. We've got loads more planned for the second half of the summer, but I'm afraid we might run out of time before we get it all done. Which means, we'll just have to extend our summer into September .. at least those of us at home can!

The Mr's niece came to visit us this past holiday weekend. What a great excuse to get out and explore! For some reason when I think of places to go, the beach is always the first to come to mind. For my husband, the mountains are first on his mind. This time we compromised. We went to a sort-of mountain on the coast. Cascade Head is a wonderful hike through the forest and then up - way up - over a beach. You can see the ocean for miles. The Beginning So the 8 of us headed out with plenty of food, water, and energy. Within the first half hour I realized how out of shape I am. It has been 2 years (!) since I ran a marathon, and now I can run only 3 miles; but the stair-climbing hiking was what terrorized my legs. Ouch. Thankfully the path leveled out now and then, with breathtaking vistas where we could rest for a minute. Our Little K did wonderfully, most of the time. Towards the end she was pretty tired and hungry, but we were able to cajole her onward. At one of the res...

I have a chalkboard in the hallway where I leave messages for our kids.  A couple of weeks back some words from a Sunday sermon struck me and so I wrote on there,  "every moment, every life, #cherish" Over and over again this past week these words have run through my mind. Many of you know what happened to my husband last Friday, the 25th. (If not message me, and I will send you the link to the newspaper story). It was a traumatic day for us, not knowing whether that rock he was standing on was going to hold him up or crumble down the mountain. He made it - obviously - or I wouldn't be here right now, writing this. He got his side of the story told in the paper and to others who have asked throughout the week. Meanwhile, I have been processing and thinking, because that's how I roll. It takes awhile sometimes for the words to make their way through my dense brain. I don't believe in coincidences. And especially not after this day. 1. The Mr put his pho...

We are feeling the crunch of time, as our kids get older; their free time (without having to report to a job/boss) is shrinking and we want to get in as much family time this summer as we can. So we decided to go camping. We took 3 days and headed to central Oregon to Tumalo State Park. It was the first time we have camped here, and we might try it again. When we first arrived we didn't know if our tent would even fit in the space. The campsites were a little cozier that we were used to. We've had too many family group camps! which are roomier, and set away from the other campers.  But we fit the tent in; we had green grass for the kids to frolic on, and we had plenty of room for all 7 of us to eat, sleep, and play games. The smoke and haze from the forest fires was a grim reminder of what was happening in other parts of the state. We couldn't have a campfire, but we still had marshmallows and chocolate striped cookies for dessert. We decided to do some s...

We've had some adventures these past few summers ( 1, 2, 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ) We're trying to soak up the precious remaining time with our kids. In 2 years the oldest could be out of the house. Not that I see it happening that soon, but it could. Gulp. So we decided to get an early start this year. The sunshine beckoned, and despite the cooler temps, we packed up and headed out to the woods. This trip we drove out to Opal Creek. What I thought was going to be an easy afternoon hike, say, 3 miles or so, actually ended up being 8 miles. Yowsa. And the kids were such troopers through it all! Especially the youngest. She walked most of it, with four of us taking turns carrying her occasionally. We walked along a rough road/trail that had plenty to see next to it. We saw waterfalls of different sizes, a creek, plenty of forest, bridges to cross (both scary and not-so-scary kinds). There is an old mining area there that has equipment laying around, parts that once be...

The third installment. Because we didn't get enough this summer. We headed out early Saturday morning to catch the beautiful sun on the other side of the mountains, since we've had so much fog here lately. My husband did some research and came up with this neat little place to visit. It was a fair drive over and back, but I think it was worth it; and the family time is always worthwhile. We were near Sisters, OR and it was so clear we could see a number of the Cascade mountains. Here are two of the Sisters, we also got to see Hood, Washington, 3-Fingered Jack and Jefferson, along with some other bumps and cinder cones. All were so gorgeous. But the destination was Dee Wright Observatory. I had never heard of it, but my siblings had. We decided to take my sister along too - well, rather, she agreed to come along and share the driving. This place is pretty fun to explore. It is a stone structure made by the CCC back in the 1930s, built out of the lava rocks.  ...