Down the Hobbit Trails.....

Since we were in Eugene for the Country Fair this past weekend we decided to make a trip to Florence on the coast to visit one of our favorite places, the Hobbit Trails. Ben and I visited the Hobbit Trails on a road trip from Wisconsin when we were still teenagers, after hearing about it from a friend. It is a very special place for us because it was also here that we discovered we were going to be parents for the first time. This was all 13 years ago!!(seems like yesterday)

The Hobbit trails lead you down through a twisted and slightly spooky forest into thick low shrubs that form a roof over tunnels worn into the sand, after you follow one of the dark tunnels you arrive at a beautiful beach, Hobbit Beach. 

The first time we visited there were not many cars parked in the small turn off of the Highway but things have changed over the past decade and the lot was full and there was a line of cars parked along the Highway. It was a Saturday so that might have a lot to do with it,but I saw that the Hobbit Trails were written about in a travel magazine a few years ago. But Lucky for us there were other folks around when we needed a jump since I left the headlights on(from driving through tunnels) and when we got back to the van we found our car battery quite dead. We found people to help immediately, yay,crisis averted!

Anyways it is a special place, if you find yourself in this area of the country it is well worth the stop!

Wildwood....

Oh how I needed to escape this city. With Ben's job and my lack of desire to travel alone with three kids I have been sticking close to home  and trying to keep my eldest occupied with classes and daycamp. I am not a city person I was going nuts. We had to cancel our plans to go to the coast a few weeks ago and I was so badly in need of some nature.

So on Saturday we spent the day at Wildwood up near Mt Hood along the Salmon River for some hiking and a picnic.

Far enough away for now.......

 
 

ahhhhh, that'll do.

12th Anniversary Hike...

 

 Ben and I have a tradition of hiking around the many waterfalls in Oregon on our Anniversaries. One of the best Anniversaries we had was our 5th,when we got to hike the Eagle Creek trail to Punchbowl Falls in the Columbia River Gorge, just the two of us. Ben's parents were visiting and took care of Sophie for the day and the following night. In our 12 years of marriage we have gone on only a handful of dates so when we do it is really a big deal to us.

This year we took our little tribe to the Silver Falls State Park to do some hiking and have a picnic lunch. The picnic didn't go so well with the two littlest kids refusing to eat anything, despite my warnings of a long hike ahead ,but they were troopers on the hike and we had a good time. It was a good hike for the kids and me too actually with a 25lb baby on my back the whole time and a pretty steep hill to climb up at the end of the loop. We found a bench to rest at in the middle of the hike and took a nursing and diaper change break, we met another family with a babe Nalah's size who was walking alongside her parents who had no backpack carrier for her along with them and they were going another 4 miles! Oh my goodness, that is hardcore!! Living in the city my kids can't handle that kind of hardcore hiking, not even my 12 year old who complained most of the way back. Me,I was happy as a clam I need to find a way to get out more. I am determined to find a local hiking group I can join this summer so I can do some real hiking on a regular basis without dragging the kids along or having to brave it alone. 

I am so grateful to live in this beautiful state. Being very  limited on our travels since flying a family of five anywhere is so ridiculously outside our budget, I think we are very fortunate to be "stuck" here.

 

Another Spring Weekend in Portland...

We have been walking around a lot lately. Through the neighborhood on into other less familiar neighborhoods. That is one really fun thing about the city of Portland, each neighborhood is like a smaller town of it's own. I don't own a home, so I like to walk around and look at houses and yards and get ideas for the future, for the someday when hopefully we can have a home of our own, where we can sink roots and feel grounded. 

We have several really hard years financially with several lay offs and lack of work, I wonder if we will ever catch up enough to make a comfortable living here, yet I don't want to have to start over again either. Here is to hoping for good things in the future and for a rainbow after the storm.

We were able to do a little hiking this weekend. Too little for my taste, anyone need a hiking buddy out there?

We also got out to the park. The kids have been kind of sick the past few weeks and it was nice to see them get their energy back. Funny how as parents we get annoyed with our kids when they are hyper and bouncing off the walls,but as soon as they are ill an are lacking in energy we want nothing more than for them to be able to run around like wild animals again.

 

And we did some urban fishing too...

 

Day hiking with the family...

I have a problem. I live in a city and I am NOT a city person. Therefore I am often plauged with wanderlust for the good outdoors. Living in such a beautiful part of the country there is not shortage of mountains and rivers and lakes and even the ocean but traveling costs money and burning a ton of gas for a day trip isn't always within budget.
Lately I have been looking closer to the city to get my nature fix and have been happy to discover a few little hidden gems.

 I recently discovered that there are some great hiking spots around the City that we have never been too. I thought we have exhausted all of our semi urban hiking spots in the last 10 years of living in Portland but there are several spots SW of the city that are quite charming for a family day hike. I think we have avoided that area because it is  not fun to get to..located off of a spiderweb of interstate and highways..kind of stressful and not my idea of a relaxing day, but once you get through all that these spots are really worth it.

The first hike in pictures above is Cooper Mountain Nature Park. My family really enjoyed this park. The trails are the perfect distance for families with small children, they all loop and you can chose between a smaller loop and a larger loop depending on the mood of your little tribe. I love loop trails for hiking with children, I think it encourages them to keep going rather than to want to stop and turn back. My kids always start off really enthusiastic and end up burning out quickly. This park also has a neat play area for kids right off the parking area which is a bonus because some times my idea of going to a park and my four year old's idea of a park are quite different, so this is a perfect compromise. I was hoping we would see the resident bobcat, no such luck but we did find little poop piles he left behind.

Another really beautiful spot lies in the middle of a pretty congested suburban area so I was reluctant to visit. Tualatin Hills Nature Park is quite large and quiet with diverse habitats and beautiful trails going through swamps, towering trees and meadows. There are several raised wooden pathways that go right through wetland areas so you can easily spot wildlife. We saw several varieties of frogs and I was excited. Frogs are everywhere in Wisconsin here I grew up, but I have only seen and heard a few living in Oregon. I am sure that is because in live in the middle of the city, not because Oregon doesn't have frogs. We didn't get a chance to explore this entire park in one morning so I look forward to going back again to see more. There are some smaller trails that are better for foot travel but most of the park is paved paths that would be perfect for bringing a stroller if not to push your kid but to carry all your snacks and baby/kid paraphernalia.
Here are a few photos from our day at Tualatin Hills Nature Park:

41 weeks pregnant and snow...

Well, I am doing all the things I had promised not to do at the end of my pregnancy such as trying to hike the baby out every day, eating tons of pineapple ( which is just wonderful when you have awful heartburn,btw) and making a last minute belly cast when I have yet to paint Solomon's from 4 years ago, and I have nowhere to put it.
Sitting around at home waiting is driving me nuts so my family has been dragged out of the house with me in the mornings since I really shouldn't go anywhere alone at this point and our car is not doing well either. My luck would be to get stuck somewhere alone and go into labor...yikes.
Today we ended up at a park near our house during a random snow shower. The kids had a lot of fun. It was short lived and hardly snow at all,but it sure was beautiful, the big flakes falling slowly through the giant trees.

41 weeks pregnant today and hanging in there!

Still waiting....

Well my due date has come and gone and I am still here waiting for baby. Yesterday was my Birthday and I was really hoping I would be holding our baby in my arms by then. I am getting very tired emotionally and physically, although I prepared myself for another past due baby just in case, but it is still kind of hard. My days have been packed with lots of walking and pineapple and knitting baby socks while watching Downton Abbey.
Send me laboring vibes today!
Please come soon baby we are so eager to meet you!


My Midwife Joy drew this on my belly during our appointment this week. Baby looks tatooed with the henna underneath :) Fun! My February sun baby!


A little Birthday hike with my boys :)


Sweet Birthday gifts...and sunshine.