A litte coloring and drawing.

I am not sure what it is about a large space for kids to color on, but they loved this large piece of cardboard. The boys had such a good time making a neighborhood. Tres joined in too, to make our home in the neighborhood. I just love watching the family come together to do such simple and creative things. The conversations and good times just keep coming. Blessed be.

Having fun in the new kitchen.

I am so excited to have this beautiful kitchen. I am inspired to cook, bake, and create in here! I am already making a list of all the preserving I plan to do this summer, all in this wonderful space. What I have here is a batch of chicken broth, and my first try at homemade yogurt made from fresh raw milk. Oh this is so fun. I hope the yogurt turns out, it will a process in learning what works just right for us. I am using the toaster oven to incubate. I'll let you know the results. I am was inspired by Amanda Blake at soulemama.com she has an amazing blog that I love. I found this yogurt recipe there. I look forward to sharing more creations from the kitchen.

The view...

I got to have a little girl time the other night, with two dear friends. We took a soak in a hot tub, visited, and laughed, all with this view in front of us. What a lovely evening. Oh so beautiful, the Oregon Coast. I love it here!

A little bored...set up a tent!

Our new tent poles arrived the other day. Following their arrival we were blessed with the sun shining. I thought this would be a good day to try the poles out, air the tent out, and create a new play place for the day. The tent inspired a whole new set of games, and toys to play with, and mostly imagination time. Pancho played  too, he liked being in the tent(whether he liked it or not, he was along for the game). I realized the tent had not been set up since Wyoming last summer. I got in with the boys and we just talked about all of the memories that came to mind from our adventures last summer. It was so nice, and inspiring for the upcoming season.

Whale spouting Tres got on video. Looks like mother and calf. Near Heceta Head

Field trip day for Ruben



Ruben and Camp building a model of dune topography





Mr. Perry giving a lesson on how the dunes got here.  How bout that view for a classroom!



Wildlife Biologist Cindy Burns gives Ruben's class a lesson on animals in the dune area.

This was such a fun day and I feel so lucky to have been here with Ruben and all of his classmates. This is what I call a real day of learning. All children were engaged with every single activity and were exercised and energized at each station too.  Right up our alley...the school of the outdoors, now that is what I am talking about!

Some time with the big brother

Jake stayed home with Spencer and I today. He had a little trouble with a toenail, so Dr. helped him out. Then Spencer and I got to have some quality one on one with the big brother. A puzzle was just one of the little moments these two had together, along with uno, go fish, a movie, and music. Jake was just Spencer's age when Tres and I met. Time just flies, especially when you are having such a good time!

Soap carving...good work!

Yes this is Spencer our soon to be five year old boy with a pocket knife. I always thought they would be 8 or 9 before they had a knife but, this little guy is way ahead of his time. I guess that is what happens when you are the youngest of 3 three brothers. He is exceptionally skilled at his age, the bike riding with 21 gears still blows my mind! So Tres set him up in the garage, with a place to sit, a bar of soap, and a little lesson in knife safety, covered his still baby soft skin on his lap(he was wearing shorts!), and he proceeded with his good work. This kept his attention for quite sometime and not long after he started Ruben was hoovering for his turn.

A beautiful sunny day.

 It was so nice to lay in the sun, read a book, relax and let nature entertain the boys for the morning.

Surfrider Spring River Clean-up

We went by kayak, up the Siuslaw River. It was a lot of fun to get the kids in the yaks for the first time this year! Ruben was confident and paddled his own, while spencer rode with Tres in the 2 person kayak. The more mobile trash pickers cleaned the path we took, so we found a pretty clean beach. All together there was 1500lbs of trash retrieved from the river that morning, with only a few hours work and a short area. We had a great time at the after party too. We met at Wakonda Tasting Room for live music, food, and fun.  Good times were had by all.