You Don't See That Every Day

Dear Mom , Sorry we haven't been out to see you in a while... we've being taking advantage of the sunny afternoons to play while we can. Let me catch you up on what we've been doing. I took the home school girls out to Dallas Park for an impromptu picnic and exploration. This park has some of the fun 'vintage' play equipment that the kids love - like swings, merry-go-rounds, and teeter totters! You're never too old for a teeter totter.  There were plenty of leaves to crunch through too. We went across the bridge and explored the arboretum that is there. I had never walked through it, but I'm planning to go back in the spring when everything should be blooming. We saw plenty of new plants and trees (thankfully with signs to identify them) and I think it would be pretty to see when they are blooming. The creek was still low, so we went down and threw rocks in it, and saw the tiny fish that are there. Little K even discovered a crawdad (alth...

Not wanting to sit around all day again one Sunday we heeded the well known advice offered by our forefathers. Go west , they said; and so we did. We rounded up our troops, loaded them in our truck and my sister's car, and drove out to explore a new-to-us park, Fort Yamhill. The website I looked at made it sound like there would be some sort of physical evidence of buildings that once were at the fort. Only one remained. There were signs for everything and how the fort was arranged There was plenty of historical information. But no old ruins, no evidence that there was actually a fort there once upon a time. And there were no trees, until the very last part of the walk. All in all, it was a nice enough outing, but not one that I would highly urge my guests to visit unless they were researching for a book.     I had to throw this one in there because they actually stood still, without silly faces, long enough to snap a picture.

Our summer time adventures have already begun, even though it is still technically spring. This is the one thing we don't procrastinate about! In May I took the two younger girls to a nearby park. Since everyone else was in school we had the place to ourselves. After a special treat of lunch from fast-food, we headed to the playground. We had to throw rocks in the river:  And there were new toys to play on:  And then the tunnel - it's always a hit  And then off to the slides and climbing structures.  Some of the favorite things about this park - they have the old time play toys still - a merry-go-round, and teeter-totters! The kids love to play on these. Our next adventure was this past week; we went to an Heirloom Rose Garden with my newly-retired sister. We spent quite a long time stopping and smelling the roses. There were so many varities and so many good smelling roses!  I could have spent longer there, but the girls were ready for l...

Things get a little crazy here in Oregon when the sun comes out.  It's like gold to us and we stream outside to partake of the riches. My daughter drags out her shorts and tank tops and tries to sneak past me to the outside. (But even though it IS warmer, I still make her wear pants and socks and shoes and t-shirts.) I haven't gotten in the habit of taking my camera everywhere but you'll have to trust me that we had a beautiful walk on Sunday out in the sunshine. My sister and I took the younger girls to the park while the boys stayed home and watched a football game. The older girls finished up their homework and then watched their dad , er, I mean, Peyton Manning play football. (Side note to those not on Facebook: my husband has been told numerous times, often from complete strangers, that he looks just like Peyton.) So we walked on the park trails, and then we drove to another park, rode the carousel, and let the girls play on the playground. As the sun went down,...

Back to school days for us around here. The older two are off to the bus each morning now. They barely stood still long enough this morning for me to catch them on their way out.  Doesn't the Boy look happy? He was running late and didn't want to stop for me. Oh and notice the new door?? Yes! We got that installed last month (forgot ot mention it in the previous post)  I wasn't going to start homeschool with the younger three this week, but they were constantly asking, and our previously planned week had gone awry, so we had a half day at home today.  The rest of the day - we played. It was wonderful. Thankfully the day flew by and before I knew it, my older two were home again.

The sun comes out in Oregon occasionally. And we all drink it with relish. Until it beats down upon us and we natives begin to complain about the heat. But today was beautiful and I was able to convince my husband to take a walk as a family. We headed to a park and loaded up the little one. She loves the pack - and it's a great workout for me! The kids enjoyed it too. I am so thankful my kids like to be outside with us and do things together as a family; throw a few rocks, gather a few sticks, look around at the gorgeous world God made .... What I love about this picture - they are enjoying each other! I watched as they walked and talked, actually getting along nicely :   And this ... this is what you get when you give a girl a camera. She takes silly pictures of her sister.     Yeah I'd be looking at her strangely too. Actually this statues' eyes looked a little creepy to me. Most statues don't have much 'life' in their fac...

Even though I had plenty to do at home, I met up with a friend at anew-to-us park in our town. Our kids played together there for a little while and then were ready to go. There was a tall slide; a smallish climbing structure with a slide; swings! and monkey bars; and, what I didn't get pictured, was the splash pad. I think if it had been warmer, and if we had had towels, and if I had let the kids play in the water fountain, then the park rating would have been higher than 6.5; as it was, we'll have to try this neighborhood park again on a hot day when we can play in the water. Thankfully there were plenty of picnic tables, and a drinking fountain and bathrooms! - three items on my own personal criteria list.