The great Spring Break boat building of 2015

Boat building, Spring Break 2015

I was planning to get some thesis writing done this afternoon but when walking home after working in the Boulder Mennonite Church's community garden for a few hours (tilling, raised beds, planting seeds, watering, etc.), my son asked me if we could build some boats when we got home. In truth, I was plum tuckered out from gardening in the hot sun and wanted to take a wee bit of a nap in our backyard shade. But as we talked about our ideas for making boats, his imagination and excitement about it couldn't help but be infectious...and I caught it. 

When we got home, I made us some lunch and we sat at the table drawing out our ideas for boats. After lunch, we got out some of our scrap 2x4 and 2x6 lumber ends from our tree-forting building and set to work. We had a lot more we wanted to add our boats - things like sails and anchors and rudders and helms and such - but we simply HAD to go try them out at in our local stream, Bear Creek in the St. Vrain watershed (check it out via the EPA's great Surf Your Watershed site). We found a few things to tweak but had a blast testing them out. And while I didn't get any writing done, I was happy to have spent those few imaginative and creative and fun hours playing and building boats with my son. 

These moments don't come around again and I'm learning to embrace them as they appear, regardless of my schedule. I've got a long way to go, but for now, I have this time with my loved ones. And I am grateful.

The waitress

Finn the short order waitress. March 2015

The other morning Finn wanted to pretend she was a short order waitress. She has so much fun making up service-oriented games and she had me hoppin' in the kitchen - one of the few times we'll make an exception to preparing different meals for everyone. As each person placed an order, she recorded it their own ticket which she pasted above the stove. And she was so excited to wear, as an apron, a scarf she recently used for fish printing (gyotaku). We figure we'd better support our kids in play or they won't want to come to us with the serious stuff, now or later. Plus it's just fun to play as a child. A fun Spring Break morning, for sure.

From paleontologist to airplane engineer

This evening after getting his pajamas on, little man comes out to the living room, obviously pleased with himself, and offers an explanation for his ensemble. He says

I picked out this shirt because it has dinosaurs on it and when I grow up I'm going to be a paleontologist. And if I get fired, I'm going to build airplanes. Not paper ones but ones made out of metal so you and Papa can fly in them. Yep.

And with that, he marched out of the room.

Snowy days in Corvallis

Corvallis and surrounding areas have had more school days cancelled because of snow this school year than any in recent history. And, with a changing climate, we can expect more of the same (i.e., more extreme events; higher highs and lower lows). The question is, will we be societally smart (and proactive) in our planning for the future? When it comes to work and school schedules, it's nearly impossible to plan which days will be cancelled due to weather. But we can prepare for the eventuality by having a list of fun (and challenging) home activities close at hand. And a potential list of babysitters ready to call. Personally, we like the idea of swapping kid-watching days with parents of friends. Then the burden doesn't necessarily fall on any one person. In the meantime, the kids just love playing in the snow, even at their school playgrounds!

An English Tea Party

Gentlemen ready for a spot of tea...

You never know what will happen in this house...Nanny and Grandpa came for a visit and we put on a tea party for Finn. Cat was Mrs. Farkwar, Finn was Ms. Nesbitt, Little man was Mr. Stansfield the 4th, Nanny was Mrs. Perrywinkel, Papa was Mr. Hazelbottom, and Grandpa was Mr. Pigglesworth. We made up stories, dressed up, and Finn loved it!

The tea party.

Astronauts

Underwear helmets? Water immersion landing suits? Special water landing vehicles? Electronic transmissions between ground control and Astronaut Zero? The rough life of kid astronauts and their parents (via text messages)...

A weekend at Drift Creek Camp

We spent last weekend with our Corvallis Mennonite Fellowship church family nestled into the deep woods of the Oregon Coast Range at a magical place called Drift Creek Camp. We had a wonderful time and wanted to share some pictures from the weekend with you. Just a great time to play indoors and out, fellowship with others, and spend some time together as a family. Love that place, my family, and our church family.

Giant splintered spruce.

Perspective.

Bananagrams

Inside looking out.

Watching the abilities variety show.

Hiking in the woods and coastal drizzle.

Closed USFS road into the wilderness. 

Watching grazing elk at Wapiti Park.

Collecting seashells on Taft Beach.

The salmon spine and the river.

Steelhead fishing Drift Creek.

The Nightcrawlers

Finn: Papa, are you ok with me having a club called 'The Nightcrawlers'?
Me: Sure! Who are the nightcrawlers?
Finn: Well, I have to recruit some people...
Jeremiah: Sister, I'll be a nightcrawler!
Finn: OK! Yay! We have a club!

Love the way this girl thinks. I hope she never loses the simplicity in things.

An interesting conversation between kids

Sibling love. And looking at fish at the pet store.

Recently, our two children were sitting together at our dinning room table playing with Play-doh when we happened to overhear a conversation of theirs that caught our attention. Here's how it unfolded...

Finn: "Jeremiah, do you want to marry me?"
Jeremiah: "Yes sissy I do...I want to marry you."
Finn: "You can't marry me because we are brother and sister."
Jeremiah: "What?...Yes I will, I will marry you."
Finn: "No, you can't because brothers and sisters can't marry...if they do they will have weak babies."
Jeremiah: "Oh. Weak babies?"
Finn: "Yeah they won't be well...that's why if we marry I will have to get spayed."

Okay...that was an interesting conversation to have been privy to! And the conversations they have when they think no one is listening really crack us up! Just a normal afternoon at the Osborne-Gowey zoo.

Camping - the three amigos

Setting sun over our camp - site A19, Moonshine Park.

I tend to get some quiet time now and again. Or, at least, time away from the family and to myself (I often fill it with things, though). But Cat rarely gets some of her own time...and has been needing it. Time to spend without the chaotic distractions that are a part of normal daily life in Western cultures. So, after looking at our mad-crazy summer calendards, we planned it.

I decided to take the kiddos on a 2-day, 1-night camping trip figuring that'd give her a couple of days of much-needed respite. We headed over to one of our favorite local, coast range spots, Lincoln County's Moonshine Park. When it's hot in the valley, it's always 10-15 degrees cooler there along the Siletz River. And with plenty of beaches and river to play on and swim in, paved trails to hike and ride bikes and scooters and miles of prime summer steelhead fishing, what more could we ask for?!

So off we headed, with just a tent, blankets, some food, and lots of outdoor toys. We fished, panned for gold, swam in the river, built forts in the woods, hunted for mushrooms, rode our bikes and scooters, read books, cut firewood, sat around the glowing campfire, and watched the stars.

Papa, the water strider jumped out!

Nothin' yet, Papa...

Happily passed out on the way home.

And we just drank each other in until, at days end, the kiddos passed out happily in the car on our way back to mummy.

I so love my children. And my wonderful friend, spouse, and partner. And perhaps the best part - we came back to a rejuvenated mums!

A little afternoon canoeing fun

With all the recent rains here in the Willamette Valley, the rivers have really come up, flooding many low-lying areas. And then the rains stopped and the sun came out today! And according to the weather forcast, it's the last sun we'll probably see for the next several days. So we decided to take out canoe out for it's first voyage of 2012 - a little paddle in flooded Willamette Park. We all felt a little shaky at first, dusting off our canoeing smarts, but had a blast. It was so warm Finn wanted to just relax in her seat and take a nap, mums just soaked it all in, and little man was a worry wort the whole time. "I no like it. It's sinking!" he says. "Want to go home. No more boat. Want my boatiak" (that's what he calls our extra stable Zodiac). After the paddle and everything was packed up, he says "Tanks for da ride, Papa. Want to go back out der on da canoe again!" Silly, fickle boy.

Getting ready to offload the canoe at Willamette Park.

Getting ready to launch

On the flooded foot path, near the parking lot bike racks

Me and my girl, post-paddle

Finn's first pajama party

Finn's first pajama party sleepover started off with a bang. A short trip up Kings Valley Hwy. 223 and a stop at Ritner Creek park and covered bridge for some creekside playing and geocaching. The girls found a small geocache (GCW5E5, Country Fried Monkey) and each grabbed a goodie, Finn a pirate eye patch and Julia a toy egg.

Little man woke from deep sleep just as we got back into the car and was fascinated that someone else was in the car and he had no idea when it happened - he couldn't stop looking at her (she is a cutie pie)! Then up to the Dallas Motor Vu drive-in theatre to watch Cars 2. All three kids snuggled in and were wide awake for the first 40 minutes or so but as darkness really settled in, little Jeremiah gave up the ghost and passed out in his chair. Finn eventually did the same around an hour and a half into the show but Julia stayed awake for the whole movie and loved it. She even stayed awake on the 20 minute drive back to Corvallis (what a trooper!) and finally passed out snuggled with Finn in her bed.

Morning arrived for the girls around 730 and Cat and I awoke to the happy sounds of the girls playing and giggling together in their room. Thirty minutes later, they were in Finn's "artsy-fartsy" area coloring and generally being creative. An hour later, they were using watercolors and creating marvelous pieces of priceless art followed by building the world's best train tracks! Then some farm fresh scrambled eggs and wonderful  10-grain pancakes (Bob's Red Mill) with MaraNatha almond butter and real maple syrup from a friend's farm in Maine! Yum!

The morning concluded with the kiddos dancing around the house while listening to some Rick Meyers' Old Time Music Show and Amadou and Mariam, then splashing in a tub and getting dressed in their Sunday's finest for a day of exploring and rodeoing at the Philomath Frolic and Rodeo. For all intents and purposes, Finn's first pajama party was a smashing success!