Mt. Hood Adventure

 Early this week, Riley whisked away on a whirlwind trip to Portland, Oregon. He needed the break and to meet up with his best buddy, Erik. These two are basically brothers. I can't be certain what happened on this Boys Only vacation, but I can assume a lot of calories were burned, good food was eaten, and plenty extreme sporting happened.

 And it wouldn't be an Erik-Riley reunion without an injury or two.

Back in this Portland, our activities were a little less intense. Hinder had his first swim lesson at the Riverton Rec Center, and we discovered the wading pool at Deering Oaks. 

Simple joys of childhood summer!

Walking the Freedom Trail

 My parents couldn't come all the way to New England and not check out Boston. Riley and I were less enthused because our past experiences in Boston have been chaotic, but in the end I'm so glad we went! It totally changed our minds. It's a beautiful city bustling with a lot of friendly and helpful people. 

This time we started out right by parking outside the city and taking the subway downtown.

 Between the four of us we pushed a pulled the two little ones around the entire city, but Riley bore the brunt of it. Our double stroller is a monster and much too large to take on the subway, up and down stairs, etc. Hinder had to tough it out most of the time and walk, but occasionally he hopped on the back of the stroller to give his legs a break.

 Once we oriented ourselves at the start of the trail, it was a piece of cake. This awesome red line runs the entire length of the trail, so it's impossible to get lost. It's made for directionally-challenged people like myself!

We walked block after block taking in the cool sites and historic feel. I regret not brushing up on my Revolutionary history, I'm sure there are so many things we missed along the way. 

Here's a few things we didn't miss:

State House

 Boston Common and Park Street Church

 Franklin family tomb at the Granary burial ground. Lots of famous historical people were buried here like the victims of the Boston Massacre and Paul Revere.  So cool!

 Here's the site of the first public school in the United States, the Boston Latin School! This is special to me. Free public education is a rare and wonderful thing that gets taken for granted.

 A statue of the democratic party donkey. My mom is standing in opposition to this party. :)

 We made it to the Quincy Market before the kids started really losing patience. Thank goodness for a little wading area that saved the day! Amazing how a little water changed everything. After cooling off, they were ready to keep going for a few more hours.

 Paul Revere's house and the Italian district. What a beautiful place! I could have enjoyed this quiet quaint area for the rest of the day.

 Paul Revere statue at the Old North Church.

 We made it to the USS Constitution site and rested on a grassy hill. It was a hot humid day.

 I can't believe this ship actually sailed in the War of 1812. How cool!

 By this time, it was getting later into the afternoon, we were covered in sweat, and couldn't muster the motivation to walk to the Bunker Hill Monument. We snapped a picture from where we stood and called it good!

 In the end, it was an awesome experience. I was so impressed with how well the kids did considering how long we walked about. It could have been a disaster with all the foot traffic and bustle, and skipping naps, but it worked out well. 

Not until we got in the car did this little girl have a meltdown. It lasted the entire two hours home.

Poor thing. Poor us. 

She desperately wanted me to put this McDonald's key chain shoe on her foot....which was impossible. She was so tired and irrational!

It kind of makes me laugh to think about it now.

Nana and Papa Come for a Visit

 Nana and Papa have been married for thirty years! To celebrate, they planned a trip to New York City. Actually, my dad promised this trip to my mom several Christmases ago. We're so lucky to be near enough to NYC that they worked us into their travel plans for a few days. It was the first time we've seen them in nearly a year. Much too long for my liking! And likewise...their stay was much too short. But we'll take what we can get!

Each day we packed with site-seeing, and even though we repeated some of our favorites, we worked in a few new attractions. The kids were exhausted at the end of each day. The true sign of a busy, happy summer day! 

The first day we checked out the South Portland lighthouses and Willard Beach area. Poor mom and dad were fighting the jet lag, but they were troopers.

 

 We took full advantage of their hotel pool for the entire evening. I think the kids would prefer a hotel pool to any other fun thing we could possibly plan.

The next day we started off at the Portland Observatory. This place did not disappoint. In fact, I was so enthralled, I forgot to take any pictures while we were on top of the observatory. That also could have been due to the fact that Riley and I were on serious suicide watch with these two daredevils. They had no fear of heights.

 

The next stop was Peak's island. The ferry boat ride was fun and relaxing, and the island was touristy and quaint. There was a young kid playing his violin on the corner and groups of sunbathers on the docks. 

 After our return ferry ride, we walked the streets of downtown. It's a happenin' place in the summer! Vendors and tourists everywhere! The Longfellow gardens were in bloom, but we didn't have much chance to enjoy them. Our two littles had enough of the stroller at this point and needed a more open environment. My dad suggested the horse races at Scarborough Downs... who knew?

 I had never been to a race track before, let alone a harness race, but it was surprisingly fun and kid-friendly. We're not much into betting or gambling, but it was still fun to watch the races and watch the odds.

 We ended the day at The Lobster Shack and Two Lights. The view was incredible...the restaurant was a little disappointing after all the hype we've heard. But we ate crab and lobster by the sea, so who can complain!

 Day three we spent in Boston, but that requires a post all it's own. 

The last day we had to say goodbye to Riley, who left on a trip to Oregon. Then we went shopping at the Freeport Outlets. Since my first time in Freeport, I've thought about taking my mom here. She loves a good deal and is so much fun to bargain shop with! My focus was on Hinder (I can't keep clothes in this kids drawer! He's outgrowing everything!) We found lots of summer shirts and shorts and even a new pair of church shoes.

One of these things is not like the others...

 

The kids aren't as fond of shopping, so it took a little bit of ice cream-bribery to keep them going. 

 The last stop of Fort Williams and the headlight. It was really beautiful in the evening and all the tourist crowds were gone.

 Best of all was spending time with these two wonderful people. I love them and my family loves them! Thanks for being the best examples.

Happy 30th Anniversary! 

Many more to come.

Discovering Kettle Cove

 It seems like the the trend here in Portland is beautiful weeks and rainy weekends. So when we woke up Saturday to a gorgeous day, no rain clouds in sight, we jumped on the chance to head to a beach!
We didn't have a specific destination in mind, we just headed towards the Crescent Beach area. As we got closer to the shore, we pulled in to a little cove that was perfect! A serious hidden gem. There were just a few patrons, the beach was enclosed but large enough to run, shallow, and encompassed by a trees and brush with a walking path. It was paradise for the kiddos.

 After a few hours of sunning, we checked out the Fort Williams festival and enjoyed the music and people watching. I taught Hinder how to make a clover necklace even though I haven't attempted one since I was a girl. He preferred it become a crown. And after the thirty minutes it took to construct, it lasted 15 seconds. Just like I remember from my childhood. :)

 We ended the day with a backyard barbecue. The hammock made a welcome appearance. I think we have this same hammock photo from every summer of our marriage. I wonder how many children will be piled on this hammock in 10 years?

 After a busy day, this diva demanded a sink bath. After the bath, the kitchen needed a cleaning. No very effective, but she loves it so much.

 I can't refuse this face.

Summertime Preschool

  Since we moved here, Hinder and I have been involved in a preschool co-op with a few other stay-at-home moms in our area. We both enjoyed our little class so much, but it recently came to a close for the year.I feel like we had the best experience, and it ended with a fun little picnic at Fort Williams playground.

 (Vyla with her best little friend at our end of the year picnic)

Since this is Hinder's last year of preschool before kindergarten, I feel like I need to work with him more on some basic skills. Not just to get him ready for kindergarten academically, but because I'll really miss the chance to have one on one time with him once our lives get transformed by becoming a part of the public school system. (I can't even think about it too much or I start hyperventilating. How did this happen? Didn't we just have him in a swaddle like...last week?!!) And I can't really trust myself to be on top of it this fall, with a new baby and everything...so it's now or never!

***Warning- this post is mostly for recording purposes, and as a way for me to be accountable to myself to complete this little program we've started. It might be a tad dry.

(insert ultra-boring-to-the-maximum)***

 

So a few months ago I complied a little summer home school preschool program that we've been working through for about 3 weeks now. I'm amazed how much he loves it. After breakfast, it's the first thing he wants to do everyday. I'm so grateful, because if I had to fight him to be motivated it would really ruin the experience.

My basic plan is pretty simple. Each week we have a little theme that we follow. Everyday we do a phonics/phonemic awareness exercise, read books that follow the theme, and usually a math activity. Then we do either an art project, science experiment, cooking project, field trip, or humanities activity. Just depends on what I have on hand or planned for that day. 

Here's what we've done so far:

Week One our theme was about plants. There are so many fun plant/garden books! The highlights of the week were taking a nature walk around our neighborhood and finding a little meadow full of plant-life...

... And then planting our own potted garden. I was a little nervous that we wouldn't get anything to grow and H would be majorly disappointed. (He checked on them just about ever hour the first few days) I can't believe how quickly things sprouted here. That's a major difference from the Eastern Idaho desert. We've since transplanted our little sprouts into bigger containers. He planted green beans, lima beans, a tomato plant, and some squash.

 Week Two's theme was Rainy Day. Our topics included the water cycle and the letter "U" for umbrella. Ironically, most of the week was, in fact, rainy, so I couldn't have planned that better. 

One activity was to cut pictures out that start with the /u/ sound and place them under the umbrella. H does great with initial sounds...and not so great with coloring.  He could really care less about staying in the lines at this point.

We did a little math work with money this week. I love this worksheet. He filled in the blanks with what costs a little or a lot of money, $1.00 or $100. It's always adorable to find out what's going on in a 4 year old head! Cute little illustrations, too.

(In case you can't read it, the boxes say "This costs a little money. It is an umbrella","This costs a lot of money. It is dragon pet", "What can I buy with $1.00? Toy Shark", "What can I buy with $100.00? Pogo Stick)

 Week 3 was all about dinosaurs. Of course, it was a big hit since the boy is border-line obsessed with anything prehistoric. We made fossil imprints with play dough and reenacted a prehistoric mudslide with dino fruit snacks, Oreo bits, and pudding. H especially loved the baking soda volcano. He and his little playmate covered these dinosaur shapes with pasta scales. I love preschool because it's so easy to throw together a project from stuff I have laying around.

 Hinder was so motivated during dinosaur week, we finished all the material before Friday, so I taught him how to make loop-de-loop art. Did you ever do this as a kid? Ya know, when you make a giant squiggle all throughout a paper and  I used to do this all the time! 

Here's my example:

 And here is Hinder's first attempt:

 Pretty darn good!

We just started Week 4, and our theme is Occupations and Transportation. I'm excited for this one because I feel like it's something Hinder doesn't know much about. At the end of today's lesson, I let him make a little construction zone with his matchbox tractors in a pan of cornmeal.

 It was a wretched mess, but look at that silly smile! Highly recommend this for any little boy!

 So far, so good. Having the themes and lessons already outlined makes a huge difference  in my consistency. I can already see some strides that he's making with reading and higher number, but more importantly an increased excitement for learning that I hope never diminishes.