hummingbird friend

Bunny noticed that a very brave hummingbird was sitting on our lighting wire, and it didn't move when she got close. Bunny even touched!  I grabbed my camera and took a few shots:

 We think it was a young little thing because it looked fluffy, and it peeped so pitifully!  It kept trying to fly and get to the flowers, but it would get tired and come back to the wire.  This went on for a few days.  Finally I went out there and followed it to the flowers, and as it began to falter, I put my hand under it and…I was holding a hummingbird!!  It was amazing!  (Sorry I didn't take pictures but there was NO WAY I was going to stop that special moment just to grab my camera!)  I took it from flower to flower and it fed on the nectar.  A few times it flew from my hand but when I followed it, it landed on my finger again.  Wow.  I'll never forget it!

After a few more days, it must've gotten strong enough and we didn't see it again.  But we hope our little friend is healthy and strong!

Field trip to Central Oregon

So right after Sed's birthday we packed up the van and took a much-anticipated trip to Central Oregon!

***NOTE: Bunny chronicled this trip as well.  See her blog for Day 1 and Day 2! (She does such an awesome job with her blog!) ***

We love taking mini-trips like this one because it's do-able for us to leave for a few days and drive somewhere fun.  (Bigger trips, like the ones that involve planes, are usually scheduled just once a year.)  Every trip counts as "homeschooling" which is awesome, and this trip in particular was very educational.  The main reason for this trip was geology and boy did we learn a lot!

Our constant companion on this 500-mile round-trip was a "Roadside Geology of Oregon" book that we got for Christmas.  I highly recommend this series for any road trip!  I read out loud from the book for each highway we traveled on.  Very very interesting!

First stop, Mount Hood (aka Grandma's Mountain)

 After a pitstop at Mount Hood, which we thoroughly enjoyed and would love to visit again, we continued on to our feature destination, Richardson Rock Ranch.  We chose this rockhounding destination because of it's proximity to other fun places (Bend) and because it had a retail operation.  Good choice…rock hunting in 100+ degree heat is not a good plan for a family of 6 young kids.  The store was a much better idea.

rocks all throughout the parking lot

Next we made our way to the hotel, which was a Best Western lodge that we'd passed by on our other trips to Bend/Sisters.  Marcus had even stayed there when doing business with Les Schwab (tires) many years ago.  We all loved the hotel and would highly recommend it to anyone visiting the area.  It was especially suited to large groups or multi-family excursions.

pool time

 On Monday we visited the High Desert Museum, which we also visited a few years ago when our church campout was in Bend.  What a great place!

stopping to take photos

 The High Desert Museum has a mix of indoor and outdoor exhibits.  Indoors has live animals, art, rotating exhibits, and a lot of displays about Native Americans.  Outdoors has replica buildings, a Birds of Prey center, and more (we did not see it all!).  It seems to be the #1 place to go in Bend, which is saying a lot because Bend is awesome!

After the museum we drove a short distance south to Lava Butte.  A bus took us to the top and we enjoyed great views and more learning about the geological landscape:

The view is nice but the hair is blinding me!!

The sun must be super-intense here.  I need sunglasses
to block the glow of Mariposa's tresses.

 The Newberry National Volcanic Monument (where Lava Butte is located) also has an amazing lava cave.  This was somewhat of a surprise for the kids--the older kids may've overheard us--and it was really special!  Marcus put Seddy in a backpack and I had Celeste in the sling, and we descended the 55-step stairway down to the cave.  It was a balmy 42 degrees and pitch-black.  Our Harbor Freight flashlights worked fine but a nice lantern would've been better.  :o)

We made it ALMOST to the end of the one-mile cave.  A park ranger was turning people around as it was 4pm and the cave closed at 5pm.  We were so close!  But it wasn't a disappointing trip at all.  We have such great memories from being in such awesome nature!

on the way up

 On Tuesday we made our way back home, but first had to stop at the Rock Ranch again:

we made a full circle around Mount Hood this trip

 We made one last excursion when we took a potty break at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery.  I'm hoping to come back in the fall when the salmon are spawning.

map of Western Oregon

 Here's the path we took!  From Portland we took 26 to Mount Hood then continued on 26 traveling SE through the Warm Springs reservation (bordered by brown on the map).   The Rock Ranch was just outside the res.  We stayed in Sisters (north of Bend) and went south of Bend to the museum and cave.  Then on the way home we went north to The Dalles and the Columbia River, and followed the gorge back to Portland.

Hillsboro is in the upper left just SW of Portland,
and bend is in the lower right.  

I'm so glad we made this dream a reality!  I am already dreaming of the next road trip…

Big Sed is three!

On the last day of VBS we celebrated Sedric's 3rd birthday!!  VBS will forever be linked to Sedric's birthday, at least in my memories, since he was born on a Wednesday right in the middle of VBS week 3 years ago.  I was hugely over-due (only a few days overdue, but I mean to say I was huge) but still chugging along.  That morning, I was having contractions but you never really know until you know.  By the evening, we "knew" and so we drove into the birth center.  The rest is history….

We chose to have a Friday night dinner because we knew we would be busy packing on Saturday for a trip to Central Oregon.  The Friday evening party worked really well for everyone!

opening presents after dinner

Sedric still loves Thomas trains and for the 2nd year in a row he had a "Thomas" themed birthday party.

ding dong cake

kids playing outside after cake

You can't have an evening party in the summer without S'MORES!!!!

Saturday was Sedric's actual birthday and we celebrated with mini-versions of the ding dong cake (so easy just to double the batch and call it good!).

Bubbles from Mrs. N

Still more trains

Seddy had a great birthday, thanks to all his family and friends!

end of VBS

VBS week was a fun week.  It was busy! with cousins over, park dates, party planning, and vacation-packing, but it was all good.  :o)

Vacation Bible School is important to us every year, as you can probably see.  As homeschoolers, it's a fun treat to be part of a group of peers whom you don't know, and to learn group-school ditties and practices.  Also, these are kids that my own kids see at church events, so there is a little familiarity.  The classes at VBS are excellent and the kids love ALL of it: activity, snack, lesson, crafts, music.  The potluck at the end is like a big fun party to cap off a great week.  Even though it is tough for a homeschooling mom like me to wake up early, get the kids ready and fed and out the door, and then go back into town a few hours later to pick them up…it is all worth it!!  (How do you group-school moms do this every school day all year???)  :o)

Park Day with our local homeschool group

Seddy (in red) loved the bubbles!

selfie

Gemma didn't stop or even slow down once

music crew sang for Mass

James was an altar server (with candle)

A few of the teachers, at the potluck

annual cousins pic

this is normal

Another learning experience: sheep shearing

I'm back, after a busy couple of weeks!

Here are some pictures of the neighbor's sheep being sheared.  We had been enjoying the sheep for a few years, but they had eaten up all the brambles/pasture and the time had come for them to go home.  Bunny is saving up to buy a few for us to have, so hopefully it won't be long until we hear baaa-ing again!

Before transporting the sheep home, the (real) owner paid a shearer to come out:

One ewe had a baby that morning!  What a surprise!

Three bags full (and more)

Last was BigRam's turn.  This looked like
quite the chore for the shearer!  He knew just
what to do…but BigRam put up a good fight.

I'm so grateful for these random learning experiences that seem to pop up all the time for us…just another aspect of our crazy life.