Little Ladies

Yesterday evening was overcast, humid, and windless....a perfect time to release our little ladies.  Jonah placed 1500 ladybugs throughout our garden.

  

They really tickle!

We also picked our first ripe strawberry of the season!  Is it summer?

xoxo

Easter Eggs

Happy Easter!

Spring is in full swing, but the oak trees haven't leafed out yet so our kitchen gets flooded with a wonderful warmth on the sunny days.  I took this picture and then realized I was missing something important....

Lilcas!

Ours just started blooming.

I love the aesthetics of our tiny kitchen.  It's the only part of the house that has the original single pane windows.

I wish you could inhale this photo.  It smells divine!

Earlier this week there was a lot of Easter Egg decorating.  Jonah was enjoying dipping and seeing the colors stain the eggs.

Master egg artist at work.

 We used my Mom's duck eggs for this particular project.

This morning we went up to my Mom's mini farm in Underwood for an Easter Egg scavenger hunt.  She had made rhyming riddles directing Jonah to all the secret spots.

On the hunt....

Jonah loved it!

The cape was Jonah's idea.  It turned out to give him super finding powers.

Ezra got to "find" one too.

Afterwards, we got to have a 2nd Breakfast of bacon, rainbow salad, cupcakes and Easter eggs.

What a privileged life.  We are so thankful.

Then it was back outside to say hello to the chickens...

...and ducks.

Thanks for a very special Easter morning, Old Mom.

I hope you all have a lovely day too.

xo

-c

Silver Falls State Park

Last weekend we celebrated Stephanie's birthday by staying at the cabins at Silver Falls State Park.

It was our first time there and we enjoyed hiking the short, family-friendly loop to see two impressive waterfalls.

Ezra is 10 months old now and getting bigger!  He only likes to be carried facing outward, but as long as that request is satisfied, he's one happy hiker.

Wave!  We had our rain gear out because the trail goes behind the falls and it's very misty.

Jonah got to puddle stomp and explore every side path.

And, thanks to Dave and Steph, we have a couple photos of the four of us!

We enjoyed a delicious meal of grilled lamb chops ("lamb pops" is what Jonah called them), eggplant, couscous, & salad.  Over the years, we have had some incredible meals while camping, but this one might be my new all-time favorite.  Dave and Steph really should be famous for their skills.

The key to having great food while car camping is:

buy excellent ingredients and do all your prep at home.

Jonah and I made birthday Pavlova for Aunt Steph.  It was so good that we didn't even eat smores....or, at least, not until the morning.

I was introduced to Pavlova while living in New Zealand.  This was my first time making it.  I look forward to whipping it up several more times this summer when our berries are ripe.

Camping, even car camping or cabin camping, was intimidating to me with Ezra's feeding needs.  I took this photo of Ezra's gravity feed bag (full of formula) hanging up from the tree because I wanted to share our daily reality with you all.  It is definitely harder, but it is always harder....even if we stay at home.  It was a good reminder to embrace what our lives are now and keep doing the things we enjoy.  Ezra had a blast and got to camp for the first time!

Preparing breakfast...it was a cool morning, but the sky was clear and soon the sunlight was warming us up.

I would definitely come back....it would be fun to do the long hike next time and see all 10 waterfalls!

Happy Birthday Steph!  We love you.

xo

Welcome Spring!

The Grass Widows are blooming!

Our unfortunate warm winter means that spring arrives in February.  There's really no good news about this except that we've been able to take advantage of the mild weather with lots of outings.

My little helper is never far...

This particular day took us to the Syncline for a bike ride.  Jesse got 45 minutes of downhill action while we explored the waterfalls and had a picnic.

Jonah, Ezra, and I come here at least once a week.

"How much water is flowing this time?"

The outing ends with a little trail time for Jonah.  He is remarkably good on his bike.  I love hearing comments from other riders as they see a little 3 year old riding.  He receives a lot of praise and encouragement from everyone.

Have a lovely weekend!

xoxo

Spring Shearing

Baa-baa!

Today we got invited up to Underwood to see the lambs and watch the Mamas get their annual haircut.

From a perch atop hay bales in the barn, we watched as the herd got shorn, one by one, by a Basque farmer who came out from Hermiston for the day.

  

The babies were in the pen next door waiting for their mothers and making quite an entertaining racket.

These little lambs are 2 months old, and already as big as Jonah!

The shearing could not have been more perfectly timed...it's supposed to be in the 80's tomorrow!

The animals seemed to be a little extra frisky in the warm sun.

Jonah got to shepherd the sheep to their pasture.  The variety and intensity of green in springtime is so stunning.

Guess who wants a sheep now?

xoxo

Egg Hunt

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.  Here are a few pictures from our visit to Portland where we shared the Easter holiday with Dave and Steph.

"I Spy" is one of Jonah's favorite games, so hunting for eggs was a huge highlight.

We enjoyed lots of yummy food...including these pickled eggs that Steph made, local ham, and fresh rhubarb pie.  mmmmmm.

Happy Easter!