Hiking and a bit of "culture"

When did these boys get so tall?



Quick stop for lunch.



Amazing scenery

In addition to a yummy lunch, there were free Ruby Jewel ice cream sandwiches

The installation on the wall is made entirely of bike helmets

The performing bicycle troupe called the Sprockettes....burlesque on bikes!

One of our favorite places to hike is the Columbia River Gorge. About 45 minutes from Portland, it has amazing hikes for all ability levels and spectacular views. Plus, if you travel a bit further down, you end up in Hood River which is a very unique, vibrant little town filled with windsurfers and cute cafes and shops. Oh-and great ice cream at Mike's Ice Cream. We also recently went to a block party at the Portland Art Museum in honor of their recent Cyclopedia exhibit. The exhibit features the private bike collection of Michael Embacher, who loaned out 40 of his amazing bicycles from his collection in Vienna.  The exhibit itself is stunning and in addition there have been all kinds of bike-related workshops and events. The block party featured some BMX performers doing daredevil tricks on bikes, a fun band, great food and also the Sprockettes...a group of ladies doing a different kind of bike performance. Kind of like Cirque de Soleil meets roller derby. Entertaining for sure but maybe not a good fit for the family crowd!! I tried to explain to the boys that culture comes in many different forms but they were definitely more interested in watching the BMX bikers and eating ice cream sandwiches.

We went camping

We made great campfires, enjoyed smores, saw bats, went fishing, hiked around Smith Rock, rode horses and in general had an amazing time exploring Central Oregon. It's a great place to be in summer! It's safe to say more camping is in our future.

Summer berry picking

Places we love....

Camp!

I went to a mother/child camp with the boys and some friends about 2 weeks ago and it was truly the highlight of summer so far. A spectacular setting, tons of options for activities but also always the option of just sitting and reading. The camp had organized kid-only activities in the morning and during that time the moms could kayak, do an organized hike or just sit on a bench reading a book. In the afternoon, there were activities for everyone and amazing babysitters available if everyone wanted to do something different. Some days we all went to the beach, other days Sean went to archery, Jackson went to the beach and I sat outside reading a book. Another day we all sat in the "art palace" working on projects while listening to music. Meals were held communal style and we all had tables assigned by cabin name. There were also evening campfires or talent shows. Our cabin held 10 people and the furnishings were bare. But in a setting like this, all you need is a sleeping bag, pillow and a bunk bed. We spent all our time outside, or in the lodge or the art studio. The kids were all so tired at night , it was surprisingly quiet. It was so fun to share in the camp experience and it's good I got a chance to go with them. Next year they've both told me they are ready to try a week on their own!

Scenes from our summer...

House Cleaning 101



"Oh, that's a mop!"

Not knowing about the ins and outs of operating the TV remote is one thing, but lack of knowledge about basic household cleaning items is cause for alarm. I was doing a quick upstairs clean up the other day and recruited the boys to help since it was their bathroom that needed the most work.  I asked for someone (Jackson) to go get the mop and the reply was "What is a mop?". Needless to say, we will spend lots of time this summer getting acquainted with the basics of cleaning a house!  



Hot summer days in Oregon

If it's above 80 degrees in Oregon, it is HOT. And-hoo boy-when it gets over 90 degrees , people get crazy. And people complain. We wait all year for the splendor of summer, so the complaining is just nuts. Really all you need to do is find water and jump in. Which is what we did yesterday, along with a boat load full of rowdy, mostly well-behaved children.   Later there were much needed mojitos for the adults. A perfect ending to an early summer day. Cheers to summer!

"How do I do this?"

That's what Jackson said to me last night when I told him it was okay to watch TV. And, then I realized how infrequently he (or Sean) watch TV. I've never been a big TV fan. Well, maybe I was back in the days of Love Boat and Fantasy Island...you know, back when there was "good" TV to watch (HA). But in the last few years, we don't watch much TV at all. During the school year, the boys are busy with activities or homework on weekdays and on weekends we are busy with sports and often end up going out for dinner in the evening. Sometimes the boys will end up watching a movie with friends. If given the choice, the boys will most likely play a Wii game or a game on the ipad or a iphone. No American Idol, no So You Think You Can Dance, no reality TV. It's an interesting shift and I wasn't fully aware of it till last night when Jackson didn't know how to use the remote. So, maybe this summer we will actually watch more TV just to see what's out there.  And the beauty of summer is that we will actually have the downtime to partake in a little bit of mindless entertainment.

Scenes from last week

Photo 1: Creative clutter. I really don't mind the art supplies strewn all over he kitchen table. Mail clutter? Leftover newspapers? Dirty dishes? I can't relax unless those kinds of things are tidied up. But seeing a bunch of paint brushes and a canvas and other miscellaneous art supplies makes me happy. I still have hope that we will figure out a way to have a small dedicated arts corner in our house. For now, we've relocated everything to the dining room table so Jackson can paint when he wants to. Sean hasn't started anything yet but I'm hoping he'll get inspired soon.
Photo 2: The Reader. We've already been to the library twice so there's tons of new reading material floating around. The sight of Sean reading on the roof of the tree house made me laugh.
Photo 3: The Chef. He makes amazing breakfast burritos almost every morning. And, at night he's usually in the kitchen asking to help make dinner. I love that cooking is something we do as a family and that more often than not, we can sit together and eat dinner.
Photo 4: Cool evening sky. I need to get better about taking photos outside. I had my camera with me everywhere in New Zealand and I've gotten out of the habit. But there are beautiful sights all around, especially this time of year.