Welcome to the club! VW club

Well for a really good deal Tres found us a VW Van. We have both been wanting a VW Van for a long time. This one finally came to us, and for a price we couldn't pass. The interior and body of the van are in great shape too. As you can see it needs some work. Probably not the best first picture, but the engine needs some work. Which Tres has dove in and is totally going for it. I am so impressed and I have such confidence in him as our mechanic. He is really excited to get this van going. Tres will be sharing his experience on a blog devoted the the T3 VW van. You can take a look at T3VW.blogspot.com    Well an exciting new beginning here at the Tucker house this is going to be fun.

Strawberry Picking

fun car ride. these kids like to rock out in the car too! Spencer is "fake sleeping".

two strawberries...eating one and one on his elbow! that one came from a fall on pavement.

almost full

Strawberry pickers

We took a little day trip to Elmira and picked strawberries at Bush's Farm. Megan got to come with us too. We had a great time, it was nice a warm day and the strawberries are so abundant the kids picked more strawberries than I imagined they would. We left with plenty of berries to make jam, smoothies, muffins...the list goes on.

An evening biking at U of O

amazing new building here next to the new Mckninght Arena

dinner at Caspian. Lots of great people watching here.

sunset on the Willamette River

A ride through cemetery was fun. the kids had so many questions. they both agreed they watch a little too much Scooby Doo since they we a little spooked riding through. One of my favorite parts of campus...a cemetery in the middle of it.

Biking on campus this evening was so much fun. The kids did  amazing on their bikes. I was quite nervous to take them biking in such a busy area. But it turned out to be very quiet on campus, just busy surrounding. We walked our bikes near the traffic, but once we were to Oregon Hall we rode. What a good time. It was fun to share memories with the boys too. Tres and I both attended University of Oregon. We were there at different times and had entirely different experiences. I have always thought the campus was beautiful and spring is my favorite time to visit. We always make a once a year visit, usually a walk through and then a cold beverage near by. This time it was fun to share it with the kids. Hopefully planted an idea seed...two ducks to be! 

Happy Father's Day!

just hanging out at the swing with dad.

Thank you for loving our children the way you do.

Happy Anniversary!

Well this will be my one year anniversary of blogging. It was this week a year ago that I posted our first post and began a series of posts of our family traveling across the country for the summer. The ultimate road trip. We did not plan anything that elaborate this summer. We do however plan to take a few little trips...rock hounding in central and eastern Oregon, hopefully even make it to the San Juan Islands. Ruben really wants to take a ride on a ferry. Most of the summer will be taken up by staying close to home...the garden, beach, lakes, and Siuslaw river. There really is no place like home.

Enjoying the low tide on the Oregon coast.

buckets are always handy when searching the tide pools. never know what you're going to find.

I love seeing all the mussels and barnicles way above head.

I think it is a leather chiton

I just love this beach on a low tide. So many little caves exposed with tons of intertidal organisms just hanging out. We really had a great morning playing here, we saw chitons, anemone, sunflower sea star, eagle, and so much more.

Saturday morning at South Jetty

Ruben on a stand up paddle board, such a little man!

can you see the little mussels this sea star is eating for breakfast? I never get tired of looking at all the intertidal organisms, just so much fun and so beautiful.



Spencer on the board and me spotting and cheering for him!

 Today was an amazing day...the weather was rare, it was hot for us coastal dwellers and we loved it. We decided to head out to the Jetty for a morning of fun in the water and enjoy another low tide. Spencer and I surfed together, I pushed him into a wave and he immediately stood up, boy was I proud. After about 10 waves he was ready to go back to the beach and play in the shallow waters near the jetty and search for "critters". I got to back to the water and catch a few fun little rides. The water was so clear and clean I could see all the way to the bottom, I love that. After returning to the beach a friend came running to tell us there were three orcas in the river. We all ran to the jetty and climbed the rocks in time to see the orcas surfacing. It looked like a juvenile and two adults. Such magnificent animals! What a treat!