Catch up part 1

We have had a very busy summer and therefore I have been getting way behind with the blog. Following are a bunch of pictures with limited explanation to show what we have been up to. More to come!
Lauren is enjoying burying her feet in the sand at North Fogarty Beach near Depoe Bay. We enjoyed a couple nights there and found a beach away from the wind that the girls could play on.

Otter Crest as seen from Cape Foulweather. One of our favorite little restaurants is far out on the little bluff: Mo's!

500 feet above the ocean!!

Cape Foulweather - and was it ever windy!

Washing off mom's feet.

Peek!

Hanging out in the pool on a hot summer day

Sunset on Mt. Hood and Trillium Lake. The Palmer snowfield is being groomed to prepare for another day of skiing.

The water isn't still enough to get a great reflection of the mountain.

Alyssa LOVED swimming in the lake despite the other creatures that were in the water with her (snakes, fish, salamanders.....)!

Still some wildflowers blooming in late August.

I have a hard time getting my horizons straight!

Lauren trying to get the duck to swim to hear; Harold and Alyssa in the background swimming.

Splash pad at Blue Lake Park. Alyssa, Lauren and a friend enjoyed an afternoon here.

Portland, Oregon skyline at night. A friend and I went out one evening to capture the lights.

Typical Portland scene: bridges and bikes!

An old bridge near Rowena Crest in the Columbia River Gorge. Very windy here!

A treat for picking peaches!

There are hundreds of these wind turbines in the gorge now, especially East of Biggs Junction.

One of our favorite farms: Gunkels Orchards in Maryhill, Washington.

86 pounds picked and ripening! Will be busy in a few days preparing them for the freezer! They are delicious!!

July Fourth Festivities

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I am way behind on my blog and we have so much to post about. As I can only upload a couple photos at a time and very slowly, for the next few postings I am going to try the scrapbook by smilebox, at least until I am caught up.

On July fourth, we started with the traditional neighborhood parade. All the local kids decorated their bikes, wagons, scooters and strollers for the parade through the neighborhood, marching to patriotic music. Many people set up lawnchairs to watch the very simple parade go by, some throwing out candy, another fun bright necklaces and waving to the children. After three loops around blocks everyone circled around to the coordinators house for ice cream and juice. Alyssa and Lauren had red, white and blue flowers on their bikes/wagons as well as a few flags and some patriotic magnets on the wagon. I can't find the pictures on my laptop, so couldn't post them.

Following the parade, we decided to head up Mt. Hood for a couple hours to cool off in the Salmon River at the Green River Canyon Campground. Brrrrr! Was the mountain stream ever cold!! Harry had the courage to jump right in and float with the current downstream a little ways. Alyssa kept busy building a dam with rocks while Lauren decided to lay out her towel on the rocks and catch some sun rays.

Once we had enough of the water, we headed home for a rest before the big fireworks display in Corbett. We made a yummy American picnic of hot dogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, fruit salad, chips and dip, and peanut butter cookies. We also loaded up with camping chairs, blankets and sleeping bags to keep warm for the show. Unfortunately, the hot dog juice leaked out and managed to soak almost everything. Amazingly, when I took the lid off, their was still a lot of water in the dish. A little spill went a LONG way to getting things wet!

The show was amazing. I tried to get pictures on my tripod, but with Lauren scared with all the KA BOOMS she was wiggling around in my lap trying to hide and watch at the same time. We are definately heading back there next year, as it is close to home and a fantastic display. It took about thirty five minutes to get out of the area as there is basically two ways in and hundreds or more cars trying to get out. By the time we got home, we had two sleeping girls in the back seat, but at least Lauren was already dressed in her pj.'s.

Boy, did they sleep good that night! Looking forward to going back, maybe with a better dish for the dogs. :)