Medicine for a weary soul.....

After a couple of particularly hard days last week I talked the kids into going on an adventure. I just needed to get out of the city and get some nature therapy. To hopefully help myself destress and process a few things. No matter how rough it gets I am so thankful for my children and this beautiful place we live. I try to tell them how lucky they are to live somewhere so magical. Unlike the city nature does not discriminate based on how much money you have, as long as you have few bucks to put in the ole gas tank to get out there. We all deserve beauty like this.

This waterfall was a new find for us, hidden up a switchback trail behind the last waterfall on the old Columbia River Highway. Past Multnomah falls with its ridiculous summer crowds and impossible parking. We managed even to have this place all to ourselves for a while.

Deep in the heart of summer....

We have been really enjoying the fountains and water features in Portland parks this summer. I think we hit up five different places during one of the hottest week.

 

 We enjoyed a parade just blocks from our house...

and visited a small town art festival...

The town is filled with gorgeous murals like this ...

 and this

And we got lost in a little oasis of nature in the heart of the City ...

 

 

July was full of camps and classes for the kids and a lot of running around and schedules.

We are hoping to have a more relaxing free flowing August, with a visit from Nana and hopefully a little vacation of our own.

I hope you are enjoying your summer!

Goobie got bangs!

 After dealing with hair in her eyes constantly and trying to catch her long enough to giver her a ponytail or endlessly remaking hair clips that she rips out and throws as soon as I put them in,I can finally see her sweet little face and I have been giggling ever since, what a doll. Now she looks like she is 15 and she gets away with lots of naughty stuff cause she is our baby and is so dang cute. 

I cut them myself which was terrifying for many reasons, they are less than perfect but she can pull it off for sure.

I have to get a picture of her hair from the back, this is an epic mullet. I should find a baby picture of Sophie's and we can have a  sister mullet contest. If only I had more time for things like that.

I LOVE her!

Yarn Along

I am still working on my scrappy scarf. So far it is the perfect knitting project for the summer. I am able to work on it in small chunks without getting too mixed up. I think it is all I can handle at the moment with all my kids being home for summer and wild and screaming all the time(literally, I kid you not). Not the best for concentration.

And I finally got Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingslover from the library. After waiting months and months with it on reserve, so I have put all other reading aside to finish this book before I have to return it. I am finding my life is very similar to that of the main character so it has been easy to relate.

Joining along with Ginny for the Yarn Along. Stop by and share what you are knitting and reading.

Pick me a blueberry....

We spent last Saturday morning picking blueberries and adoring baby pigs(can it really get any better than that?) on an organic farm out on Sauvie Island. Followed by an aimless joy ride farther into the woods and the discovery of the thrift store of my dreams, it was a good day indeed.

Sandboarding Adventure

These photos are from our little ocean trip last weekend.  I took so many pictures at the fair and the beach that I had to break them up. Who knew a two day trip would require so many photos? 

 Sand boarding in Florence, Oregon. Super  fun and super affordable! The sand boards are about 10$  each  to rent for the entire day. You can take your board anywhere you want but we like the dunes close behind the rental place...you know them if you have been to Florence, they are huge and about to swallow the Fred Meyer. There is also a parking area so whatever parent is on baby duty can hang out in the car and watch. No bathrooms though, so chugging a 16oz coffee before hand is not recommended.
 A few years ago I won a travel package that included sand boarding but I was 5 months pregnant so I sat out last time. It was fun to have Nalah on the outside so I could give it a try this time...I suck really, really bad. But the fun thing is everyone out there sucks so you don't have to feel bad. It was fun, and running up and down the dunes was a workout.
Sophie was really good at it, she is our little athlete. Solomon liked waxing his board and riding it down like a sled.
Even Nalah gave it a whirl this time too.

 

 

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!