Lake County Fair

After church today, I took the boys to the county fair for a few hours. They had fun riding the rides, walking through the livestock pavillions and eating corn dogs with lemonade shake-ups. Even though it was hot, we had a good time!

Oregon Coast

When we arrived in Portland, we rented a van and drove two hours to the Oregon Coast where we met family and enjoyed mild temperature, magnificent scenery and attractions along Pacific Coast Highway for the last week.

We learned about marine life at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

   

We visited Newport's Historic Bayfront and toured Ripley's Believe it or Not!, Wax Works and the Underground Sea Garden at Mariner Square, shopped the quaint shops and, at the pier, watched sea lions and fishermen at work.

We flew kites at a windy Nye Beach.

We climbed the spiral staircase inside of Oregon's tallest lighthouse at Yaquina Head and walked on the nearby black cobble beach.

We visited Oregon's shortest lighthouse and Octopus Tree at Cape Meares.

We patiently waited for the high tide at the mysterious Devil's Punch Bowl.

We walked through the Tillamook Air Museum.

We toured the Tillamook Cheese Factory and enjoyed taste testing cheese and eating ice cream. 

 

We explored the sea life in the tide pools at Cannon Beach's Haystack Rock.

We savored fresh seafood every day and the boys swam in the hotels' pools a few times a day. It was too cold to swim in the ocean!

Aside from not being prepared for such cool weather, we had a great time!   

All aboard!

We left Chicago's Union Station for Portland on Amtrak's Empire Builder two days ago.

We stayed in a superliner bedroom suite in a sleeper car and had access to the snack, sightseer and dining cars.  

Along the way, we enjoyed the views of the Wisconsin Dells, Mississippi River, Rocky Mountains, Glacier National Park, Gateway to Mount Rainier, Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood.

After 2257 miles, 47 hours and three times zones, we finally made it to Portland's Union Station.

What an experience!

Kidz BLAST

It's been a busy week of Vacation Bible School at our church!

The boys and over 500 other kids had fun at Kidz BLAST where they learned to Believe, Love, Adore, Serve and Trust. This fun-filled week included worship, Bible stories, games, crafts, snacks and a missions project that raised over $3100 for Living Water International, an organization that helps poverty-stricken countries acquire clean water.

I served on the 5th and 6th grade crafts team which was a fun and enjoyable change of pace for me.

We had a blast!

Our camper is home!

After being gone for a week, J and other 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th graders from our church came home today from Twin Lakes Camp where they kept busy with creek walks, a water zip line, swimming, boating, archery, crafts and, of course, chapel, devotions and prayer. One of J's favorite activities was the mud pit. He's such a boy! Aside from being cold at night and a little homesick, he had a great time in God's great outdoors. We're glad he's home though, because we missed him!

Blueberry Pickin'

E and N had fun picking blueberries at Zylstra's Blueberry Farm today. It was really hot and humid and there were lots of mosquitoes, but we still picked 10 pounds. We're looking forward to making and eating blueberry coffee cake, pancakes, jam, smoothies and popsicles.

Half-Way Home

We didn't caravan home from Nebraska with anyone, so we stopped half-way in Iowa to visit my sister and her family. The boys had fun with their cousins splashing around at their small town's pool. We were even able to watch their church's Vacation Bible School program. It was a short but fun visit!

The Farm

We've been in Nebraska at my in-laws' farm with lots of family for the last week where the boys have had fun traipsing around with grandpa looking for work to be done. They've become really good at spotting and digging up musk thistles (or carduus nutans), an invasive weed, in the pastures. J can even drive everyone around on the Polaris Ranger for this task. The boys had fun taking a break from farm work to play with their first, second and third cousins but, as usual, were anxious to return to the farm for their favorite pastime of riding and driving tractors. J even learned how to drive the '62 Ford 2000 which is a nostalgic tractor at this family farm.

It's Belle's first time at the farm and she has had fun here too. She likes jumping in and out of the cattle tank to cool down . . . well, except when the cattle are in the corral. She keeps her distance from them and barks a lot. Most of all though, she likes the fresh air and wide open space.

She has been just as tuckered out as the boys at the end of each day!

A Famous Couple of Tractors

Three of the family tractors were in a 4th of July parade today. In line with the Famous Couples theme, our entry was A Famous Couple of Tractors: Henry Ford and Minnie Moline, so my nephew drove the the '51 8N Ford and my father-in-law drove the '57 Minneapolis Moline 335.

I led them with the '58 MM 5 Star pulling a wagon full of family which won first place!



This is the third year in a row we've been in this parade. It's a lot of fun!

Let's hit the road!

Our truck is tuned up, gased up and packed up for a roadtrip. Nebraska, here we come!

My All-Stars

We went to a picnic hosted by our town's little league organization today where the boys received their trophies for this season. My boys aren't old enough for All-Stars yet, but they're my all-stars! Great job, boys!

Kent's .22 Rifle

J and his cousin had fun shooting Kent's .22 at our church's annual rifle shoot this morning. It's been eight months since J shot this gun, but he remembered how to load, aim and shoot it. Kent would be so proud of him!

Pickin' Strawberries

The boys and their cousin had fun picking strawberries at Johnson's Strawberry Farm this morning. Even though it's their third and final week for U-Pick this season, we picked and filled four buckets full of red ripe ones. We're looking forward to making and eating homemade strawberry jam and/or jelly, pie and ice cream.

A Fun Fishin' Hole

This lil' fisherman caught this Bluegill with a grown-up rod and reel from my dad's pond today. The boys and my dad caught lots of Bass and even a Catfish, but N was the only one to catch a Bluegill . . . twice!

Let summer vacation begin!

The boys have spent a lot of their first week of summer vacation in this 12 x 36 Intex Easy Set Pool. I'm killing some grass in the back yard that Kent worked so hard on to look nice, but it's keeping us at home and cool. I can even get in it. Now, we just have to keep Belle out of it!