Sauvie Island

We went blueberry and raspberry picking this morning at our favorite farm on Sauvie Island, Columbia Farms. The blueberries were perfect and abundant - huge bunches of ripe ones falling into our baskets. It felt almost too much, making me feel worried for the farm's income. The raspberries were not quite as ripe, so we'll have to return for more raspberries as well as marionberries.

Spot the blueberry flying through the air toward Liesl's mouth! :)

After that, we drove farther out onto Sauvie island to the Oak Island wildlife park, an area we hadn't previously explored. There was a grassy 2.5 mile loop trail running under old oaks, and access to Sturgeon Lake. The lake itself was gorgeous and clear, with views of Mt St Helens, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Adams across the expanse. Jasper was in heaven, jumping into the water immediately and then swimming to fetch the sticks that Seb threw. We walked along the trail for a while but got too hot (and couldn't find another good swimming hole), so eventually turned around to head back to the car. It was a good morning adventure.

Cannon Beach

We escaped Portland today and made a break for the ocean. We packed up the car last night and hit the road at 8 am, bound for Cannon Beach and our usual favorite activities and places. It was just gorgeous when we arrived, warm and clear skies, and we immediately ran into the water.

Jasper loves the beach - loves fetching balls and sticks thrown into the water, loves digging in the sand, loves chasing us around everywhere and meeting other doggos.

We ran from our usual spot near the dunes along the beach toward Haystack Rock, taking turns throwing the football and running to catch it.

Next up: digging a giant hole. A Jasper-sized hole.

And then we took a break for lunch - as always, Tom's Fish and Chips and saltwater taffy at Bruce's Candy Kitchen. When we returned to the beach, we played Seb and Jasper's favorite: beach baseball! Jasper is the best outfielder.

Seb made us a disc-golf course, complete with numbers, tee boxes, targets (the shovel planted in the sand), and arrows pointing to the next hole.

At 2, the wind died down, and it was finally warm enough for Liesl to go into the water and dunk herself.

And then it was 3 pm, and we were tired and sunburned and happy, so we packed up and drove home. It was great to have an adventure, to go somewhere else, to spend the day with the kids playing together and not all on our separate screens.

St Johns bridge

Third graders in PPS learn about the city of Portland, with a particular emphasis on the city's bridges. There are 14 bridges over the Willamette, some for cars and some pedestrians, and many of them move up and down, so it's a fun unit of study. (Usually there's a field trip to go see some bridges, but not this year. ) For a final project, kids at our school build a bridge out of household materials, and Liesl's teacher assigned it to the class for a home project. Liesl and I had so much fun building the St. John's bridge together, and then Steve came in to help paint the background.

Here's a video of Liesl narrating the construction of the bridge and some fun facts about it..

https://flipgrid.com/s/b5aa823d7b8a

crafting/building

This is where I've been sitting to take my morning calls and answer emails -- I'm really happy with my new outdoor space.

We hung a birdfeeder in the corner and have seen so many different kinds of birds visiting - robins, chickadees, towhees, sparrows, juncos, and goldfinches. It's a lovely display, and I was not aware that there were so many little birds around here.

Liesl got an American Girl doll for her birthday (or Christmas?) last year - her doll's character is Joss, a California surfer. AG sells a lot of very expensive add-ons, including a surfboard for Joss, but I balked at buying it for Liesl given her history with dolls (they mostly lie around in boxes) and the expense. So yesterday, Liesl got out cardboard, the box cutter, sharpies and paint, and some assorted other things, and made a surfboard for her doll, complete with loops for her feet and an ankle strap. I was so impressed.

And finally, just for fun: here's what it looks like when I go grocery shopping for 2 weeks worth of food for our family. Eeep!

tetherball

Liesl loves playing tetherball, but the balls at our school are taken down at the end of every day and stored inside the PE closet. So there hasn't been any chance to play tetherball since March, sadly. Liesl and I decided to take matters into our own hands and make a tetherball out of an old soccer ball (we cut a hole in it with an exacto knife) and an old dog leash, and some staples and tape. We took it over, hung it up, and it worked! We had a great time playing and were so impressed with our ingenuity (because let's be honest, I'm no Kim).