Block party 2012

well, every year, we get our one "day" where we get to play all day long outside, ride bikes in the street, and jump in our very own jump house... Our street party is actually beginning to get a bit of a reputation I think because lots of neighbors came to join in the fun from all the nearby blocks too - the more the merrier!!  ... and what better way to top it off then with some smore making around the fire pit..

Soccer season

So, after watching soccer on TV every weekend morning since I was born, I decided to give it a go... :)    Check me out all decked out for "Mighty Mights" practice!!  At first I was a bit skeptical (as I always am with new things...) so I just played with dad my first practice, but now that I'm 3 weeks in, I decided that it's actually pretty fun to play with the group and coaches... go figure!

Pumpkin Patch field trip

Yesterday was our first field trip of the year.. to the pumpkin patch!!   We got to ride a school bus (with no car seats or seat belts!), ride on a tractor, and pick our own perfect pumpkin :)

After much contemplation on which one was the "perfect" pumpkin, I decided to go for a big one  (because I eat lots of spinach and I have big muscles so I can carry heavy things now :).

We also got to learn about how they harvest potatoes from the ground, clean them and pile them up in a big shed.  Did you know they store them in a dark shed because if they have too much light on them they turn green?  I also learned that the yellow ones, red ones and purple one all taste different!  

Adventures on Mt Hood

It's been soooo beautiful here (which I know I've already mentioned, but us Portlander's really appreciate sunny days after Labor day and Sept has been full of them!!)  We decided to get out of town and get a birds eye view on the sunny day from Mt Hood.  We see Mt. Hood driving into work everyday so you can imagine my excitement when mom and dad said we were going up there!

  
We had fun hiking up the trails, jumping off of rocks, looking for chipmunks and checkin' out the views... they are awesome from up there!!

-c

"What's the weather like today..."

So, one thing we do at school every day is look out the windows and determine what the weather is like today.... for the past 4 months the answer has been "sunny"!!  We all know the rain is coming but we've been enjoying a never ending stretch of sunny ones..  yesterday we hit up the farmers market (us being mom, me, Caits and froggy).  One of our favorite things at the market is the music... Caits was really "feelin' it" yesterday - check out her video below!  Our friend Chloe came to check out the market with us too!  We both got to buy a pint of blackberries and tomatoes and they were YUMMY!!

We figured the dogs needed some outdoor fun too so we headed to the river to let them play.. as for Caitlyn and I we collected about 500 shells :)

Gotta love summer!!!

Adventures with Yiayia and Papou

So, while my mom and dad were off playing in Hawaii, Caits and I were having our own fun with Yiayia and Papou...  I'm not sure who was more exhausted, us or them!!  We went swimming every day, hit the zoo, played in fountains, went to concerts, went for a hikes, went to church... the list goes on!!!

Before they left we decided one more "adventure" was in order...  We headed out to the gorge to check out some water falls (we even hiked BEHIND one!), play on some rocks (Oneata gorge), and run through a super cool tunnel!  With all that we were hungry so headed to Hood River to get some food (which mainly consisted of us playing "train" on the patio of the restaurant).

From there it was off to the river for some good fun playing in the water and at the playground... I think we could have played there all day!!!  Oh and what better way to top things off then with some ice cream!!  I'm not sure which was more fun eating the ice cream or climbing into the "free advice" booth :)

We LOVED spending time with Yiayia and Papou and can't wait for them to come back!!!

Berries, flowers, wagons... oh my!

We decided to fit in one more day of berry picking before the season was over.. this time we were going for (thornless) blackberries!!  We went to a farm we haven't been to for a while (Sauvie Island Farms) and loved seeing all the different things they grow - including all sorts of beautiful flowers!!

After getting our fill (and that means full bellies) of blackberries we checked out some blueberries then got picked up for a tractor ride!  We couldn't pass up the awesome fields of flowers so we had to make a stop there too... I even got to pick out a few of my favorite sunflowers to bring home with us!  We just love spending time on farms.... (probably can't tell :)

Oaks Park rocks!

So, we had our first little adventure at Oaks park... and it was SO FUN!!!  We rode so many rides (except the roller coaster.... maybe next time!).  I think my favorite was the carousel with the slide, ferris wheel, motorcycles and hot air balloons a close 2nd :)  At first, Caits and I were hesitant ride the animals on the carousel that go up and and down, so mommy and yiayia had to stand with us, but by the 10th ride or so, we gave them the boot to go ride their own animal!  (It took me a bit longer to go it alone then Caits, she went from scared to death to "leave me alone" in about 5 rides, as for me, it took more like 10!)  That place was a hoot and I can't wait to go back!!!!