brunch at Olympic Provisions

First stop, Portland Farmers Market. Soooo
hipster!!  No, really, it was very cool and the
vendors had beautiful displays.  There were long
lines for food/breakfast but we just came for some
Tails & Trotters ribs and bacon.

Look, I'm not the only one who grows crazy-big kohlrabi!

Marcus couldn't wait until brunch to try the
Olympic Provisions sausages (they had a booth
at the market).

O.P. is in an industrial part of North Portland.
They open at 10am on Saturdays (LATE for us)
and don't take reservations.  If you don't get there
early, you're out of luck for at least 45 minutes.

Pretending to drink coffee
(really, the bloody mary was mine)

Close-up of the drink.  Yes it had sausage on it!

Our breakfast.

After this little excursion, we decided BRUNCH is the way to go!!  The meal was around $30 before tip, as compared to $100+ for a nice dinner out.  The food was FAB-TASTIC!  We ordered the Kielbasa hash (with oyster mushrooms, bacon lardon, frisee, and poached egg) and the prime rib benedict with lazer potatoes.  We thought surely we would never eat all that food, but (helped likely by the bloody mary) we were able to walk away without leftovers.
Next time any meat-eaters come to visit Portland, we are taking you there!

Tumelo State Park

This year's parish campout was at Tumelo State Park outside Bend/Sisters.  After a very nice drive out, and the trip to the High Desert Museum as chronicled in an earlier post, we set up our "home away from home" at Yurt #5 at the top of the B-loop.  This was our first year to get a yurt, and man, was it nice!  Marcus backed in the van (complete with rented U-Haul trailer for the bikes) and we went to work unpacking. 

before

after

Our good family friends Pat and Shirley, along with their awesome kids Tess, Daniel, Sarah, and Mary, had wonderful community events planned for the whole weekend.  We enjoyed camp cones, homemade breads, coffee, and even hot doughnuts!  There was a potluck, talent show, and Mass.  Every day the kids raced around the campground to find the subject of the the "Find It" photo.  Best of all, we all socialized and played with friends in such a beautiful setting.

A lot of dog-walking (our yurt was pet-friendly,
so we could bring Daisy!)

camp cones on the first night

Seddy was just a dirt ball all day, and he loved it!!!

Bunny played guitar and sang "A Thousand
Years" (from the Twilight movies) (no she has
not seen the movies, but we all like the song!).

more dog walking--good thing our friends
brought their two rat terriers, Archie and Lucy!

our site was fantastic; we were very pleased

a great way to finish a great weekend (big thanks to Father Peterfor driving all the way JUST for Mass!!)

So as you can see...we had a fabulous time!  We certainly missed the rest of the family (we usually ALL go to the campout every year) but we had lots of "new" fun and the kids really solidified friendships with the other kids.  Oh, and the WONDERFUL state park was a big bonus!  On our way out of the campground we decided that we most certainly would be back (maybe next time with a camper trailer?).  Anyone want to join us??  :o)

Deschutes River

The big fun at the campground--and something new for us--was river play!!  The river was close enough to walk to (across the road) but far enough away that it wasn't a temptation for the kids while we were at the campground.  So, on Friday and Saturday we spent the day on the river!

High Desert Museum

The St. Matthew campout is an annual tradition for our family.  Each August we trek to a remote location (ok, so really it's often pretty close, and last year I stayed in a hotel) and try our hands at roughing it for a weekend (another fib; we camp in luxury as we bring everything but the kitchen sink, and they usually have those for us at the campground).

This year the parish chose a nice state park in Bend, which is quite far away (about 4 hours).  We had considered skipping this year because of the distance, but then I remembered about the High Desert Museum and how I wanted to make it a homeschool field trip someday.  So why not now?  So we signed up for the campout and made plans to leave early Thursday, find a small town for Assumption Mass, make it to Bend and visit the museum in the afternoon, and check in the campground before dinner.

We made it!

Once inside the museum we were informed that a "living history"
tour was taking place.  Perfect!!  The kids loved learning about
Oregon history, from the native Americans to the Oregon Trail
to mining and farming.

Unfortunately I missed the tour as I was on preschool duty.  :o)
Gemma loved the 2 wild cats so that is where we spent most
of our time....

After the tour the kids spent time in the dinosaur room.  It
had awesome video games and hands-on activities.  There
weren't many people there (late afternoon) so we just let the
kids hop from exhibit to exhibit.  This jeep was a hit.

We continued on a self-guided tour.  All the
kids loved the animals.

Sedric wasn't so sure about the turtle.  He
wouldn't get too close.

Before the museum closed, we took a walk at
just a small portion of their outdoor exhibits.

Birds of Prey--thinking of Auntie Erica.

Looking at bald eagles.

A fantastic experience!  I totally want to go back and attend more programs, and see all the outdoor exhibits that we missed on this short 2-hour visit.  We all loved it so much, and it was worth the drive for sure.

I'm lucky

My "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow :o)

WashCo Fair

Last month the kids and I went to the county fair in Hillsboro.  James was camping with Auntie Coley/Uncle Brian/Eliot/Emmett, so it was just me and the girls (and Seddy of course!).  We had a great day from the start, when we snagged FREE street parking IN THE SHADE, score!!  Then we enjoyed a leisurely pace around the fair:

First, we saw the animals.  Sedric loved them all and was
especially pleased when I let him pet the pig.  The girls enjoyed
the animals too, except when someone would remind Mariposa
that these animals are for us to eat (she is my vegetarian in the making).

We packed sandwiches and fruit for lunch,
but also indulged in a LARGE order of fries!

On our way out we stopped by the Master Gardeners display.
They had prepared a seek-and-find for kids, how fun!

The prize for completing the hunt: a carrot!

Something good to eat that is NOT an animal.

Bunny was protective about her carrot, until
Seddy wanted to hold it...then she gladly gave
it up to him.  :o)

fun in the garden

Don't ask me why Mariposa put eggshells on the flowers in the garden!  I guess she wanted to combine her two loves, gardening and chickens.  :o)

Gemma had fun finding the eggshells, although she was a
little confused at first (as was I).

Mariposa can often be found in the garden.

Black-eyes susans are one of my favorites!
(OK, I have a lot of favorites.)

Bzzz Bzzz, a lot of bees this year.

spider babies