Pumpkin Derby

The rain continued throughout the weekend but that didn't stop any of the pre-Halloween activities. This was our first year competing in the pumpkin derby, which is held in a nearby neighborhood. There was lots of planning and several trips to Home Depot and a few last minute adjustments...but we made it though the preliminary, semi-finals....and WON the event!! Go Team Davitt and the Silver Bullet!

Truly Oregon kids

It was about 49 degrees, pouring rain, and they were happy as can be, playing outside. Yes, they are Oregon children!!!

Bridge Field Trip

Jackson's class took a tour of the downtown Portland bridges last week. It was awesome! The highlight was getting to lay down in the middle of the Morrison Bridge as it opened up. Cars were lined up behind the safety barrier, but all the kids got to stay inside the barrier so they had a front row seat as the two sections opened. Did you know Portland has the oldest vertical lift bridge in the US? (The Hawthorne Bridge). Also, The Steel Bridge is the only double decker vertical lift bridge in the world! So many interesting bridge facts were shared by our tour guide, Nathan. It was a memorable filed trip!

Over the weekend...

The past weekend consisted of soccer, a backyard party at the house of some friends from the boy's school, dinner at Park Kitchen, ice cream at Salt and Straw, a bike ride with an unsuccessful attempt at riding steep trails and a birthday dinner at our house for a friend and her family. The birthday girl arrived with these beautiful tomatoes , so I made the recipe below with them. Delicious!!! Note: the recipe is from a blog called Tea for Six and the blogger is from Australia so the oven temperature is listed as Celsius. It needs to be 395 degrees. 


ricotta and tomato tart


375g block frozen puff pastry, thawed

1 egg, lightly beaten

200g ricotta

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/3 cup of pesto

1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 big handfuls of baby rocket and spinach

a few basil leaves, roughly torn

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line a large baking tray.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to form a 30cm x 22 cm rectangle and place on the baking tray. Prick the base all over with a fork then brush with the lightly beaten egg. Bake for 20 minutes or until puffed, golden and cooked through. Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

In a bowl mix together the ricotta, garlic and 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice. Spread this over the cooked pastry and then top with the halved tomatoes and dollop over the pesto. Season with salt and pepper then return to the oven for another 5 minutes or until the tomatoes have collapsed slightly. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a bowl whisk together the remaining lemon juice, olive oil and season to taste. Toss with the baby rocket, spinach and basil leaves and place on top of the tart just before serving.

Walk + Bike to School Day

This is a great little event at our school that I've been in charge of the last few years. It really isn't that far for us to ride bikes to school from our house....every year we say we're going to do this more often! I think we've been amazingly lucky because our weather has been perfect. The boys are already talking about riding bikes again on Friday. I am so glad I got my camera out while we were riding. As awkward as it was, I love the quick photos I took of Sean and Jackson with his friend, Erik.

Nature's playground

Logs, rocks and a river...that's really all they need to play for hours. Maybe add a couple of amazing waterfalls and some cool bridges...better than any playground!
This is from the hike to Triple Falls we did yesterday. Another amazing sunny fall day in the Columbia River Gorge. I wish we could set aside a few of these days to bring out in April when it's 50 degrees and drizzling rain!