Hillsboro Hops with the kids

At last spring's school auction, Marcus and I won a Hillsboro Hops package.  One of the items in the package was a 4-person event with tickets and a behind-the-scenes tour.  What a great opportunity!  We knew the older kids would love it so we took them with us.

First was the tour under the stadium.  We learned that there are 6 levels of pro baseball, and the Hops are the 2nd level, with the Arizona Diamondbacks being the 6th/top level.  Players are happy to play in Hillsboro because of the fantastic community support and the brand-new facilities.  Also--the Portland area is hard to beat for youngsters like these ball players.  :o)

the dugout, after touring the training facilities (they wouldn't
let us take photos down there)

on the field

great seats!  And I was happy that we were behind the net.

7th Inning Stretch

mascot (we call him Hoppy--not sure what his
real name is--maybe that's it!)

He came up to give high-fives!

James got a signature after the game

We had a lot of fun--it was a great family atmosphere.  This is definitely something we want to do every summer!

Seddy's 3-year drs. visit

I just HAD to post more pictures of Sedric's drs. visit, because they're so darn cute!!

I love it when my little kids are docile…even
if it only lasts a few minutes...

baby and helper

"Raise your hand when you hear the beep!"

Time for Dr. Shah (Mariposa took the pics)

normal

As chaotic as that last picture looks (and yes, that IS normal), it wasn't a bad visit!  Dr. Shah is great and his office is very very close.  He never pushes any optional treatments but he does answer my questions honestly and often answers with the framework of "what would I do for my daughters?" (he has 2 young girls).  Great experience all around.  :o)

some fun in July

Aackkk!  I haven't downloaded photos in a month!!

Here's some fun from the first half of July:

Bunny started taking lessons--here she is, meeting her horse
Teva for the first time.

Mass at Migrant Ministry

Hillsboro Hops baseball with Bunny, James,
and Celeste

Sed 3 yr drs appt.

lazy days of summer (by Gemma)

4th of July parade

4th of July pool party

another Hops game (adults only!)

tomatoes came early

garden is doing well

Migrant Ministry bingo

Mrs. N picking plums for the kids, after they exhausted
all the low-hanging ones

visiting Tess at the farmer's market

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…