Crawdads, knives, and Joe's Donuts!

We had an awesome camping trip this weekend at Timothy Lake, Hoodview Campground. Our campsite was amazing (#26) and was right on the lake. 

Lots of water time, looking for salamanders (no luck!), catching crawdads, swimming, and just enjoying the sunny and warm weekend.  We sure lucked out with the perfect weather!

 Dan and the boys went out in the lake for some swimming.  Dan taught them about skinny-dipping.   They call it "SDC" (skinny dipping club).  The boys thought that it was so racy and fun, even though they never fully took their drawers off, they pulled them down far enough to qualify. 

Fishing at dusk off of the dock.  Mt. Hood in the background. 

This trip was officially the beginning of a new camping tradition for trips that are in Mt. Hood National Forest.  As we approached Sandy, one of the boys remembered  Joe's Donuts from a trip last year.  We had to stop and get a dozen to take into the woods.  They ate a lot of donuts!!  We will never again be able to cruise past Joe's Donuts without stopping.

Big excitement this camping trip as the boys each earned their own real pocket knife and flint fire starter.  Overall, they did great with this new responsibility.  Chris earned his the first night, Nate had to wait until the 2nd day.   A rite of passage, for sure.  No blood or cuts, either.  Just a bunch of whittled sticks.  

 

 

 

 On Saturday, our friends the Wileys came and joined us at the campsite.  Mike brought a generator to run the blender, and Mary made special cocktails with spicy vodka and pureed watermelon.  They were tasty!

 On Saturday night, we had a craw fish boil from all of the little fellas that fell victim to our trap. 

We had quite the bounty!

Lots of fishing, but not a single catch. 

The Wiley's dog, Max, kept us safe and was lots of fun on the trip.  Oh, Max!

Their summertime job....bat boys!

Remember how much Chris and Nate loved the Concordia Cavaliers baseball team in the spring?  Well, like all good things, that season came to and end.  But several of their favorite players (I can even tell you who they are since they talk about them all the time..... I have heard these names over and over and over.....Sheldon Austria, Jared Young, Jordan Keeker)  moved on to a summer league that plays many of their games at Hilkin Stadium. After Chris and Nate showed up to cheer on the new team, the Toros, Dan got a phone call asking if two very dedicated fans would like to be the bat boys for the season.  You can only imagine their excitement over this summer job.   

Today was their first game.  Job well done!

Here goes Chris to pick up a bat.

 Nate's turn.  They took turns running out onto the field.

Lots of hustle!

 They sat at their post for all 11 innings of this game.  Nate in the red helmet, Chris in blue.  

They're officially part of the team.

Waiting and watching.  Just like the players.  They told us that it was fun getting the inside scoop from the dugout, with things like the players' nick-names, hand signals, and the fact that some of the players said 'bad words'.  We told them that it's o.k...that's just what guys do, and that they'll do the same thing when they're their age.  Both boys were impressed with the team and said that they were really nice. 

 After the game Chris and Nate had to collect all of the balls as the teams did their 'good game' high-fives.

When the job was over, they ran and found us in the bleachers. Those are the smiles of two boys who had an awesome time. They can hardly wait for the next game!

Camping at Champoeg

Slaters, Cotters, Moores and G'ma camping in yurts at Champoeg Park.  When you book a yurt 10 months in advance, you can only hope for a good-weather weekend.  We didn't luck out, and it was rainy, rainy, rainy.  But we still had fun!  

Slater siblings.  We missed Uncle Greg, but he was in Ashland celebrating his 47th birthday.

Some things never change.   The fire pit is always the biggest crowd pleaser on a camping trip.

I wonder if this had anything to do with Nate's big puke at 1:00 a.m.???

Group shot!

Glow sticks for the cousins at dusk. 

Junior Rose Parade

On Wednesday, the boys marched in the Junior Rose Parade with their school friends.

We have always been spectators at this annual tradition/event, but last year as we sat on the curb and watched, I told them that next year their school would be in it.  And they were. 

What a fun day it was!

This is the stuff that memories are made of. 

The Big Burn

The deck at the Slater household needed to go. Anyone who was a regular at our household growing up knew that many evenings and summer days were spent out on that deck with a gentle breeze and a view of the Willamette Valley.  But like everything else in life, it's time had come to say goodbye.  Brother Mark and his buddy Jim said that they would take care of it.  Today was declared as the day for the deck to go, and the big burn.  There were 2 massive piles of yard debris from our work party last summer, plus all of the decking wood.  It made for the perfect storm. 

 Burn pile #1.  This was a very impressive fire.  It only took about 1 1/2 hours to burn all of the wood that made up the deck and benches.  Was I freaking out?  Yes.  But Mark had it all under control.

 Oh yah, Mark.  Hot, hot, hot.  Feel the burn!

 This was burn pile #2 which was very large, but ended up with more smoldering due to all of the grass clippings.  Chris was excited that he got to light the fire with a flare.  G'ma was happy for all of the help.

 Yep.  I'm really helping to keep the flames where they belong with my big hose and massive water.

Mark Tebowing with Jim.  Raging fire in the background.  Dorks. 

While we're on the topic of fire, have you seen this video on You-Tube?  It went viral a while back and Dan showed it to the boys.  Nate must have found it again online, because he has memorized Sweet Brown's words.  Ain't nobody got time for that!

There's a new horse (and cowboy) in town!

Remember our neighbor horse, Clyde, from a post back in September?

Well, shortly after that picture was taken, there was some sort of a terrible accident, and Clyde was smashed to bits.  With a little bit of TLC from his owners, Tom and Judy, Clyde was able to make a full recovery (minus some hip and other bits) and a grand reappearance at the curb about a month ago, tucked safely behind his corral made of twigs.  

What fun it was today when a white horse appeared beside him without anyone seeing him make his way there.  A mystery horse.  When neighbor Judy discovered it, she thought we had done it...but we hadn't.  

Chris went out to chat with her about the horse, then returned home, and disappeared into the basement for about 10 minutes.  He came upstairs and had a little cowboy made out of construction paper, markers, and staples.  The perfect sized cowboy. 

"Judy said that she wished Clyde had someone to ride him" he told me.  Chris knew how to solve that problem.  Out he went with his scotch tape and attached him to the back of Clyde.

  I think that this cowboy and white horse companion made Clyde's day. 

 I think that it made Judy's day even more so.

Lincoln City getaway

Beach combing in Lincoln City!  Chris found lots of sea glass....a new favorite!

  

The boys spent lots of time in the pool, and I was able to sit poolside and read my first e-book, 50 Shades of Grey. Was it really hot and steamy in the pool area, or was it just the book I was reading??

 We went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.  The boys looking dead from the shark attack.

 Look at that face.  Love.

 Family photo taken at arms length.

 A highlight of the trip was our visit to the Candyland store in Lincoln City.  Such a great variety of fun candy!  The boys bought (with their own money) a piece of taffy for each friend in their class.

 We  played a round of putt-putt golf  at the Putt n' Bat on Hwy. 101. 

 Totally cheezy, totally homemade, and totally awesome!  Dan whipped the 3 of us.  A little slice of Americana for sure.

Nate acting dramatic because he was (for once in his life) "TOO BIG" to play the basketball shot game!  Only for children 48" and under.  He has waited for this day to come, since he has many times been just a smidge too short to participate.  This sign made his day!

Mothers Day & Sunday Parkways

Ah, hammock time. Nothing beats snuggle time with each boy, as well as making goofy faces to the camera overhead.

Today was Mothers Day and Sunday Parkways. To top it off, Portland's temperature reached 90 degrees, so we acted like it was Summertime...with the hammock, grilled Gartners ribs for dinner, and lots of outside time.  It was perfect!

Sunday Parkways was in our neighborhood this weekend.  It is an annual event in Portland neighborhoods where streets are shut down to car traffic, and it's all about bikes, scootin' walking, and getting out in the community.  It's awesome.  The boys and I went on a ride when it started at 11:00, but then it was time to get to work.

This year, they wanted to sell water and try to earn some money.  They had the perfect product, on the hottest day of the year.  The crowds went wild and they sold out of 120 bottles of ice cold water!  Of course, there was time between sales to cruise around on bikes.

  Oh, and it wasn't like they were all greedy with their earnings.  They told their customers that 10% of their proceeds would be donated to charity.  They chose Safe Routes to School, since it's an organization that promotes bike riding, and getting kids to and from school safely.  Seemed fitting for today's event.  I'm sure that the CEO over at Safe Routes will be thrilled when they present them with their $6.00 donation.  :)

Where it all happened....on the corner of 23rd and Ainsworth.

Good times.  I'm lucky to be their mama.

Sometimes it's the little things in life....

 ...like this little green worm.

I was at my mom's house this week and we were cleaning out a room and going through old stuff, and you can't imagine my surprise and delight when I came across this little fellow, stashed in the bottom of an empty flower pot on the top shelf. 

 This little green worm spent his entire life sitting in my Granny's kitchen window plant. He was always there, peeking over the edge with that silly grin. 

 How could you not love this quiet and unassuming little worm?

Now he's mine, and I couldn't be more thrilled to have him. 

 I know that Granny would be thrilled, too.