West of Portland

Saturday morning we went west to a friends farm. He has chickens and cows and a water pump. Yes, a water pump. The water flows from the Porch area of the barn down some tubes that connected in a maze-like fashion to the roof of the overhang to the gutters and down into the cows drinking bathtub. THis was the highlight of the day. Sam (the farmer, not our sam) built it so that the kids that come over can "water" the cows. Our Sam couldn't stop pumping water. He could have done it for hours. He sent ping pong balls down the tubes to see where they would go. He sent peanuts down the tubes....and any other thing available.
We spent the morning with friends and ate delicious scones from my friends new step mother decorated with my yummy jam. The first picture is of the 2 sams. The second is of Sam taken from the house. He didn't know we were watching him and we was seriously working that water pump. It was like a huge live model of his connecting tubes that Gma Dody got him. It was fun to see him so fascinated.
Next, we were off to the beach. We drove to Astoria on an impulse decision and got a recommendation for lunch from the guy who pumped our gas........1st mistake......
Now, I am sure Astoria is delightful, but we turned around and went back to Fort Stevens State Park. We played on the beach by the shipwreck and then headed home in the evening. The kids were pooped and so were we.

The Rose Gardens in Full Bloom

The Rose Gardens are smelling delicious. Note the "diamond" earring in Carson's lobes......Grandma Judy was here and we took her for ear piercing.

STRAWBERRY

Spent the day with the kids and friend Meredith. Went to Sauvie Island Farms to pick strawberries and got carried away. 23 pounds of carried away! We made 20 jars of strawberry jam, made some strawberry sangria to drink, two rhubarb strawberry pies and still had about 8 pounds left over. Mer took half of the berries, a pie, and about 5 jars of jam home and left me a tummyache. We took photos of the jam making and Mer kept sneaking her head in the photos which was really funny since we were drinking all that sangria!

Gramma Judy was here for the celebration.

Gramma Judy came all the way across the country for Sam's Birthday Party. WAHOO! The weather cleared up for just enough time to celebrate Sam's 4th with a B-earth-day party. The earth cake was hilarious. It was a joint project with mom, me, and Carson. Sharon stayed far away from it. Although she did hold it on her lap in the car and keep it from rolling away. The kids planted little Trees in a Box, cracked their own geodes and did leaf rubbings. Carson was in charge of the "activities" and did a great job with the 8 four-year-olds. She said, "mom, they aren't listening......I should talk louder". And with that........she was large and in charge. We skipped the Rose Festival Parade and went to the Columbia Gorge instead to see Multnomah Falls. Carson and Sam were so glad to show Gramma a banana slug they found and then we went to the Bonneville Dam to see the fish ladder.

Happy Birthday SAM!

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The scars to prove it!

Pedal bumps. Ouch. Now that is some determination.

After a long day

CARSON RIDING A TWO WHEELER

So, it took her one day to learn and now she is really going. She was really mad that I was videoing her and said I was making her mess up.

What makes a good mom a super mom?

Ritz crackers, peanut butter, and marshmallows. (Norma, I hear you never served this snack. Could that be true?) When I was little, I ate Twinkies, Hostess hohos, gummy coke bottles, Soda pop and slurpies (thanks to the 7-11 down the street), fireballs by the dozen, and those yummy hand pies that come in the wax paper wrapper (lemon and apple only~ you have to have standards). I am the mom that the kids come to when they want to know the ingredients in a Three Musketeer bar or what Fun Dip is.

The Roses

These roses were planted by the mean old lady who grew up in this house (we bought from them). She grew up some "mean" roses and now we get to enjoy them every day. Thanks mean old lady! That second one is a freaky twin rose.

Zoo trip with Grandpa

The kids and I hung out with Grandpa yesterday. Grandpa is getting a taste of the after school "pick up" routine. We took the kids to the zoo and rode the train. Of course, we all got ice cream treats before dinner. The fruit bats were the prefered animal viewing for the day.

The Art Show

The after-school program that Carson goes to presented their Annual Art Show on Wednesday. Here is Carson with her sketch. I call it "Still Life with Sneaker". The next in a bowl was from her friend Claire.

Field Guides

We have the field guides to
Trees in Oregon
Pacific Northwest Insects
Common Birds
and now.....(thanks to the Audubon House Clearance Table)
Identifying Oregon/California Ferns and Common Seashells in North America.

The last time I checked, I said I wasn't going to home school.....but wouldn't it be fun!

Adventures with Sam, the wonderkid

Yesterday Sam and I went to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden and hiked around Reed college. The Rhodies were gorgeous and the weather was better. We saw Canadian geese with new babies and tons of flowers.
Today we went to the Audubon Society and hiked around there (Forest Park). We hung out by a little lake and saw a family of Mallard ducks ~mom, dad, and 9 babies. We thought it was so cute that the babies would hop up onto the Lilly pads and sit when they got tired. Sam loved squishing through the mud and looking for bugs. We went to find bugs, but only really saw a few bumble bees and ducks. We did see an awesome salamander in the pond, too. Sam was completely creeped out by the taxidermy in the Audubon house. They have bald eagles, beavers, bobcats, and lots of various small animals and birds. He wanted to know where there guts were. He kept asking if the eyes were marble replacements then did someone cut out their eyes???? He said that would give him nightmares if he had to cut animal eyes out. He got to lead the way and pick the path which made him quite pleased with himself.

29 years ago

Today is the 29th anniversary of the big eruption of Mt. St. Helens. I was out yesterday on a beautiful spring day and had full view of the mountain. I always get butterflies when I get a glimpse of her on a clear day. It still takes me by surprise that the entire top of a mountain can be blown off. We are hoping to take a road/camping trip there this summer to check it out up close.

The first photo is from http://www.olywa.net/radu/valerie/StHelens.html where you can check out cool photos.

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Sam at the Forestry Center

Sad to say, the Forestry Center Lift is not working due to the economy. I am sure it is expensive to pay the insurance on it and since there was only one other family there the whole time Sam and I were there.........That can't be good. This has been a really good place to go when the weather is bad and OMSI or Children's Museum are packed with every family in town. There are so many fun things to do there. The facility is beautiful and the displays are just about the right size (not to big). We can pretend to ride on a real white water raft with life jackets and all (except for the water), climb on a real tree cutting machine, sit in a real smoke jumper parachute seat and guide it over a virtual landing zone, sit in a real African Safari jeep, ride a pretend train in Russia, sit on a boat in China, and get in a tree cage in South America. Then there is the exhibit side which is ever changing. It would be sad for this museum to go under. Sam had fun there today. I don't think he has ever been there without his big sister to tell him what to do. We did everything at Sam (snail's) speed.