Hillsboro Air Show!

Since Michael's birthday was on a Monday this year, we decided we should do something to celebrate over the weekend. Michael had talked about wanting to go to the Hillsboro Air Show, but hadn't quite decided if it was what he wanted to do. When our friend John said that he wanted to go too, the plan was set. John brought his son Kaiden, and the four of us set off for a day watching all kinds of planes zooming overhead.

My favorite were the jets, and also the "pirate plane" with the 24 year-old wing walker. The plane was a bi-plane and the wing walker climbed onto the top wing, leaning only against a metal frame while her pilot husband made the plane do loops and fly upside down. Her shoes must have been clipped in (somewhat like clips on a bicycle), and Michael said she had a safety harness, but even so, I could not imagine doing what she was doing. It goes without saying that you can't have a fear of heights to be a good wing walker! ;)

There were some activities for kids at the air show, including a huge LEGO area made up of 3 or 4 tents and Kaiden and I had fun building an ice cream truck--complete with trailer and not one but 2 ladders! The trailer held blocks of chocolate ice cream and the ladders were positioned so that customers could climb into the truck to get it (I think). Anyway, Kaiden was pleased with the result, and looked very proud as we placed our ice cream truck with the other LEGO creations in the "city" that was being assembled that day.

I enjoyed the air show more than I thought I would. It was fun just to be out of the house and doing something. I think the boys had fun too. Who knows--the Hillsboro Air Show may just become a yearly tradition. :)

Camping in Florence

We quickly followed up our first camping trip of the year with our second. I think this is the first time ever that Michael and I have gone camping two weekends in a row, and I'm not sure if we will do it again. It was fun, but tiring and I got even more behind on housework than I usually am! ;)

Our friends, John & Amy invited us to camp with them at an "off highway vehicle riding area" campground seven miles south of Florence, OR, called Driftwood Campground. What the "off highway vehicle riding area" part means is that we were able to take our ATV and Michael's dirt bike to ride in the dunes. In the past we've gone either to Brownscamp which is on the way to Tillamook, or to Sand Lake which is very close to Tillamook. Michael has dreamed of riding the dunes ever since he heard about them. Besides that, he had not had a chance to ride in a couple of years, so you can imagine how much he was looking forward to the trip.

The Hays met us at our house the morning of the 9th, and we finished loading their van and our truck and trailer with 2 kids, 1 dog, 4 adults, 1 ATV & 1 dirt bike plus a mountain of supplies to get us through the next 3 days. We spent the next few hours traveling down I-5 South, stopping at a park in Corvallis for a quick lunch before hitting the road again.

When we pulled into the campground, it was clear we had left the warm sun behind us--the skies were overcast and it was definitely cool outside. I was glad I'd brought lots of warm layers! Our campsite was right between two other sites and it was mostly just sand . . . the kind that sinks up to the ankles and always makes me feel like I'm walking around in a giant ashtray. :)

We spent the next couple of days lounging around the campfire or in our tents or taking rides out in the rolling dunes. John and Connor got to ride with Michael and experience the thrill that comes with speeding through the sand on a machine with no seatbelts.

I always love watching Michael when he rides--he comes back with flushed cheeks and shining eyes, reminding me of a small boy at Christmas. Maybe someday we'll have a house in the country with enough property that he can go riding anytime he wants and I can see that look all the time. But for now, we'll take what we can get.

More pictures from the trip:

Camping in Skamokawa

My parents wanted to get out of Vancouver over the Fourth of July weekend because their little dog, Sadie, always gets so freaked out at the noise of the fireworks in their neighborhood. They found a campground in Skamokawa, WA, and invited us to rent a yurt and join them for a couple of days of r n' r. I have wanted to try a yurt for a long time, and I had to laugh when mom told me that the yurts in this campground had heat and electricity. I teased her that that was not "real" camping, as the last few times I have been in the woods, I was backpacking, which means I was filtering drinking water from a creek and peeing behind a log. :) All kidding aside, I thought it would be fun not to have to haul everything I would need for a few days in a pack on my back and I knew that we would eat really well with my dad acting as the primary chef for the weekend.

Michael and I both got off of work in the early afternoon on Friday and raced to get ready for the trip. We loaded the trunk of our car with more stuff than it's ever seen before, installed Flynn in the backseat and hit the road about 5pm. Traffic was understandably not that good with everyone and their dog (including us!) trying to leave town for the weekend. We only stopped once to give Flynn a potty break and rolled into the Skamakowa Vista Park campground at 7:30pm.

When I talked to Mom about the trip before we left, I thought she had said it was on the coast. What I discovered when we arrived is that it is near the coast (not far from Astoria), but is actually perched on the edge of the Columbia River. Still, I had packed lots of warm clothes because anything near the water in Oregon is likely to mean overcast skies and colder weather and I was glad I did!

Mom and Dad had a lovely chicken dinner with roasted red potatoes and garlic bread ready and waiting for us when we arrived and it was SO nice not to have to cook dinner or figure out what to eat. I was so happy! We chatted for awhile, and went for a short walk near the water, then turned in for the night. Flynn finally settled down on his bed (he had been a bit stressed out by riding in the car) and Michael and I made our bed on the lower bunk of the bunk bed in our yurt. There was also a futon-type couch that could make into a bed. Our yurt was a 20' circular building made of poles and heavy-duty canvas. It had 3 "windows" built into its sides, a window in the door and an octogon-shaped window in the roof. I liked being able to see the sky and the treetops from my bed.

Michael slept like a log Friday night (poor guy was tired!) but I had no such luck. There were 4 or 5 other neighboring yurts and some of their occupants did not seem aware of the posted quiet hours from 10pm to 9:00am. To say that I did not get much sleep is a massive understatement. I finally knocked on the door of one of the yurts to ask them if they would please go to bed soon. I tried to sleep but mostly got angrier and angrier as I watched the sky brighten through the little window in the roof. I was also worried about Flynn having an accident in the yurt, so I kept waking up when I heard him moving or sighing. I let him out at 5:30am and then I think the most I slept was an hour or two before waking up at 8:00am to let him out again. Michael felt bad when he woke up and saw how grumpy I was from not getting any sleep--mostly I think he felt bad that he slept through all the racket and I was like the Princess and the Pea. :)

I felt better after having a special breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns and toast courtesy of Chef Dad. The sun made an appearance and I felt even better! We played a few hands of UNO and snacked on chips and homemade salsa. Then it was time for an afternoon siesta of snoozing in our lawn chairs and listening to the birds tweet all around us.

Dinner was chicken skewers thanks to my local New Season's meat counter--we had both teriyaki & thai peanut skewers. I thought they were great because they were already prepped and seasoned and ready to be thrown on the grill. I had made a quinoa salad with corn, tomatoes, black beans & red peppers and Dad had prepared his famous macaroni salad. For this weekend, I was definitely off of my special diet. :) There was no way I was passing up Dad's macaroni salad if I could help it.

Later that night we enjoyed a campfire and made s'mores before heading to bed. I was really hoping for a quieter night so I could get some sleep and I got my wish. It was quiet and I slept until Flynn got up around 5:30am wanting to go out. Then I went back to sleep until 8:00am--heaven.

We had a lighter breakfast Sunday morning--bagels for the men and oatmeal w/fresh blueberries for Mom and me. Michael and I cleaned up our little yurt and checked out at noon, then spent a few more hours hanging out with Mom and Dad at their campsite and playing a few more rounds of UNO. We had hot dogs for lunch with more of Dad's salsa and chips (and macaroni salad!). Then everyone sang to me and we ate chocolate cake to celebrate my birthday.

The trip home was much faster than the way there because there was a lot less traffic. Flynn seemed calmer on the way back home too. I guess after spending the weekend camping with us, he realized he was not going to the vet or the kennel. :) He was, however, in dire need of a bath after spending so much time lounging in the dirt!

All in all, it was a fun weekend and I was glad to spend some relaxing hours with some of the people (and animals!) I love.

Father's Day Dinner

Michael and I headed downtown on Saturday afternoon to meet my parents for an early Father's Day dinner celebration. There's a little Chinese restaurant called Ling Garden that we all love and it's conveniently located about halfway for everyone. Mom and Dad got there first and got things rolling by ordering some appetizers--pork w/dipping sauce and shrimp egg rolls. I added to that by ordering some veggie egg rolls and then we got down to the serious business. :) Dad got the Kung Pao chicken (he loves the hot stuff!) and Mom ordered chicken chow mein. Yum. Michael had beef broccoli and I got my favorite cashew chicken dish. Needless to say, everyone ate VERY well. Dad opened his Father's Day gift and we all ooohed and aaahed over it. It was a candy box sampler from our recent trip to Spokane and our visit to the Davenport Hotel. Michael and I each bought a box of the decadent goodness for our respective dads. My dad looked pretty darn happy about it!

We took some pictures before heading home for the evening . . .


It was fun spending time together!

Our Garden, Part II

The weekend after we returned from Spokane, our friend John and his little boy Kaiden came over to help us get rid of some of the dirt in our backyard. We accumulated quite a large pile of it when Michael was putting in the French drain, and there was just too much of it to spread around the yard. Besides that, the dirt is really more like clay and isn't any good for gardening.

The boys got to work with shovels and worked up a sweat filling our wheelbarrow, then emptying it into the trailer that Michael and his dad built years ago. Michael and John had spent a previous weekend reusing old boards from our deck to build sides for the trailer, so the clay-dirt was well contained and ready for a trip to the dump.

Kaiden had fun helping me water the garden and running back and forth along the boards that were the improvised wheelbarrow ramp.

When the boys came back from the dump, they said they'd been surprised to learn exactly how heavy the load was--5,000 pounds or over two tons of dirt!! They were, in fact, 1,000 pounds over the recommended limit for the trailer, but didn't find that out until the truck was weighed at the dump. They both attributed the extra weight to water trapped in the clay-dirt.

It was nice to see the yard without the huge pile of dirt. Now on to building the new deck!

Kristine's Graduation / Spokane Road Trip

One of my half-sisters, Kristine, graduated from high school on Friday, June 11. It would have taken something extreme for Michael and I to miss such an important event, so we packed up the car, left Flynn in the hands of a quality kennel, and took off for my birthplace: Spokane, Washington.

Kristine, and another of my half-sisters, Madison, have lived their whole lives in Spokane, but I left at an early age. I think I was about two years old when my mom and I moved from Spokane to Salem to be near my grandparents. I have only been there a handful of times as an adult and it had been about four years since my last visit. Kristine, Madison and I were all born at Deaconess Hospital and it was one of the first things Michael and I saw after we cruised into town.

We were cutting it close in terms of making it to Kristine's graduation, but decided we had enough time to grab a bite to eat at Carl's Jr (thankfully, they have salads!). As we pulled into the parking lot, I was remarking to Michael "I was born here, you know," meaning the city of Spokane, when I looked up and saw Deaconess Hospital looming large on the hill right in front of us. I started laughing and pointing, saying, "That's where I was born--right there!!" It took Michael a moment to put together what I was saying and then he laughed too. We both thought how funny it was that we happened to see the hospital at the exact moment I was talking about being born in Spokane. Too funny.

The graduation was being held at a large auditorium not far from the Carl's Jr. and we made it just in time. I ended up changing my clothes in the car, since we didn't have time to check in to our motel before the ceremony, but I think I did a pretty good job of it--hopefully not too many passersby got an eyefull! ;)

This trip was important not only because we would see Kristine graduate from high school (a huge accomplishment in its own right, and made even more so by the fact that she has overcome some pretty tough times in her personal life), but because my extended family on my father's side would be there to commemorate her achievement as well. My aunt Bev flew in from Denver, CO, and my aunt Betty from her home in Salem, OR. Another of my aunts lives close by in Spokane Valley and she would be there as well. Madison would be there too, with her mom and her sister, Marion. And Kristine would have her brother Casey there, as well as many friends wishing her well. All together we would make quite a cheering section!

We didn't get to talk to Kristine until after the ceremony, but everyone pointed her out to us as the girl with the long, platinum blond hair. Once I saw her in the crowd of her classmates, it was pretty easy to find her again. Her hair was blond--almost white! I thought it looked nice on her and admired her for her bravery . . . I have never been so daring.

Me, Kristine and Madison

Casey and Kristine

We were pretty tired after the ceremony, and Kristine had an all-night senior party to attend, so Michael and I headed off to find our motel and get a good night's sleep.

The next afternoon, we all met up at a favorite park to have a picnic and celebrate with Kristine.
Casey provided sandwiches, cookies, a couple different salads, beverages and of course, a graduation cake. It was quite a spread!

She looked mighty proud of that diploma--and we were mighty proud of her.

Michael, Bev, Kristine, Betty, Marion & Madison

After the picnic, Michael and I headed to downtown Spokane to check out the Davenport Hotel, which Aunt Bev said boasted a candy shop famous for its soft peanut brittle. We met her, Betty and Madison there and had fun walking through the grand old hotel. I sent my mom a picture text showing the hotel and she wrote back, saying that she had had a job interview there some 30+ years ago to be an elevator operator. This was back before the hotel's renovation. She was offered the job but had already accepted a position with a different company. It was neat to have that little bit of trivia from my mom's history and to associate it with the beautiful hotel we were touring. Michael and I were amazed to discover that a night at the Davenport was only about $30 more than we were paying to stay at the Holiday Inn Express . . . we couldn't believe it, given how luxurious the lobby of the Davenport was compared to our simple room at the Holiday Inn. Needless to say, we definitely know where we will be staying on our next visit to Spokane!

We found the candy shop and Michael and I ended up buying sampler packs for our dads in preparation for Father's Day--ours are both hard to buy for, but both have a sweet tooth, so we figured we would be good with candy samplers. :)

The picture Maddie liked best of the ones I took of her and Bev.

That night we went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant that had been one of my father's favorites. Kristine and Madison both remember him taking them there on many occasions. After our food came, I could see why he liked it--everything was amazingly good! I had my first taste of tempura and Aunt Bev said it was the best she had ever eaten. We spent a wonderful time talking and sharing stories and memories. I listened intently and wished more than one time that I was writing everything down. I don't have many memories of my father and it is always interesting to me (and very bittersweet) when I get together with that side of my family and hear stories about him. The girls learned some things from my aunts about how he was as a child, and my aunts learned more about how he was as an adult, and I learned both! :) It was a good time all around.

Donna, Michael, Madison, Betty, Bev, Kristine

The aunts and the nieces

Before we left the next morning to go home, Michael and I met Betty, Bev and the girls at an IHOP for breakfast. We had one last round of picture-taking and then they were off for a day and a night in Leavenworth, WA, and we were headed back down the highway.

It was so fun to visit with my aunts again and for them to get to know Michael and vice versa. Can't wait to do it again!

It was only the third time I have seen Kristine and Madison, and I was glad to get to know them a little better. I am very proud of the young women they both are and are becoming, and I know our father would be too.

Our Garden Part I

Two years ago, Michael and I planted our first garden. For beginners, we had astounding success. We had no problems with pests wanting to eat the fruits of our labor and everything grew beautifully with only a little organic food here and there, and of course, adequate watering. Last summer we never got around to planting a garden (being the jetsetters we were from April to June, we were not home much) and I sorely missed having veggies fresh from the garden. I especially missed my tomatoes; there is no comparison I have found to tomatoes warm from a day in the sun. Tomatoes I bring home from the grocery store (even store-bought organic tomatoes) lack a certain something--a juicy freshness--that I crave.

So this summer, I started talking early about a garden in order to get Michael prepared for the work he would need to contribute to help bring those tomatoes to our table. :) I started in February or March with some seeds given to us by Kathleen and Matthew when they headed down south last year. There were all kinds of organic, high-quality seeds, but they were intended for planting in 2008 so I wasn't sure if they would grow into strong plants or not two years after their "best by" date.

I got some seedlings started and fussed over them for the next few months, while I waited 1) for the weather to become somewhat spring-like so they would survive in the ground and 2) for them to grow big enough to make it on their own outside.

In May Michael spent a few hours assembling some planter boxes out of some old boards from our deck (we are currently in the middle of a do-it-yourself deck remodel) and when I came back from the retreat, I spent a few more hours lining the boxes with plastic so as to avoid any contamination from old paint or stain left on the wood. The finished products turned out pretty well . . .