Games

I have now come to the conclusion that not everything is easy, and not everyone does things in the same way. Teaching my kids grammar has been an adventure for a couple of years now.

At first I tried to use the conventional worksheets. That did not work for the boys. Grace loves it, and is very happy when I hand her worksheets. I had to find something alittle bit different. We have started playing games!

This fall I went to Learning Palace with a good friend. She helped me pick out a couple of games for the kids to play. Some are okay, some are good, but the advantage to all is they get to learn while they play.

Out of all the games we got the one they all like the best is You are Sentenced. It is alot of fun. You take a stack of five word cards and try to make a sentence out of the words. You get so many points for certain words you have used. It has been alot of fun for me too. Boy dust off the old brain when playing this game.

Family

I love this time of year! It is a time for family and friends to get together. To hang out and catch up on each others lives. Or just a chance to sit around to enjoy each others presence. I can just feel excitement in the air.

For our family we get together on a pretty regular basis. My family has Sunday dinners just about every week. We go to either grandparents, mine, my brother's, or his girlfriend's place to eat. It is alot of fun. We sit around eat food and then talk or play games. What could be better.

I know for alot of families who live a distance from each other. This idea is hard. After this weekend of time with family, and hearing about everyone's special plans, I was reminded of how blessed we are as a family. I get to see my family ALL the time.

There are moments my family can be annoying, frustrating, and just plain out madening. But when you are reminded of what a blessing they can be, and how they touch your lives the moments of frustration are easy to face. After spending a special weekend with my family I was reminded of that. Watching my kids interact with each other, and their cousin reminded me it is the little things that are important.

As Christmas is drawing closer I have a renewed goal this year. My new goal is to try to spend more time together as a family, and not sweat the big stuff. Who cares what the house looks like, or the gifts that are under the tree. It does not matter about the stuff that surrounds the holidays, it is the family that you spend time with that is important.

Fall at our house

Fall at our house

It is coming to the end of fall. The leaves are changing colors, or most of them have actually fallen of the trees. The air is getting crisper and we are getting doused with rain. I love this time of year.

This time of year gives us a chance to snuggle in at home. We spend time inside watching movies, and playing games. It is a time we pull out the hot chocolate and make sure the fire is going. It is GREAT!

At this time we also get a chance to decorate our house with fun stuff! We carve pumpkins as a family. Put up funny looking scarecrows, and hang spider web from our porch. My kids love to decorate for fall, and they REALLY love to dress up for Halloween.

I know some of the feelings of this time of year. But for us as a family, it brings a closeness and a chance to "play". This year Grace and Mike dressed up as Jedis. Jacob stayed home in his duck gear to watch the all important U of O football game. It was memorable!

As the fall comes to an end I have so many memories tucked away with my kids, pumpkin carving, decorating, trick or treating, and special time with the family.

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving, more memories as the family gathers at my house this year. A time to celebrate our similarities, and our difference. A time for us to give thanks for the blessing that have been given to each and everyone of else.

Thank you, to all my family for the memories we create.

Excitement!

Excitement

Have you ever had those moments when you can't hold back your excitement? Well, Jacob had one today. He is very excited because he got to talk on the radio! For him, it was the best experience in his life to date! Mike got to hear his voice on the radio, and was screaming across the house that Jacob was on the radio. It was true excitement in our house. Oh, to be a kids again.

Star Wars

In a gallaxy far far away.....................

Okay it was just here in Portland, but it was still cool. We took the kids to see Star Wars Symphony October 14th. It was an experience of a lifetime. One I will not forgot.


We arrived early so the kids, Mike and I could see the display of all the original propts from the movie series Star Wars. There was the costume for Darth Vader, the character of Yoda, the different weapons, different helmets, and best of all their were people dressed up as character from the movies.

There were times when Grace really did not get her picture taken. And there were times she just disappeared. But the boys had a blast with all the picture taking. Yes, I have hams in my family. I am willing to admit it!

After walking all around the Rose Garden, and seeing everything we could, it was time to find our seats. Granted we were quite a ways up, but the view of the orchestra was still good, and the screen was HUGE. Here is a picture of the white sheets of sheer material that hid both the orchestra and the big screen.

Well.... I could go on about what we saw.......... Okay I will tell you about a couple of the other costumes that were there. Some of the people coming to the event were serious fans. One lady was dressed up as Vetress. It was weird. She had a cap to cover her hair, and then she painted her whole head to look just like the character. There were parents who dressed their kids in Ewok costumes. I felt for them the most! It had to be hot in those full bodied fur suites. There were quite a few kids dressed up as Jedis, just like our kids. Very strange.

Now, the music was fabulous. The concert lasted hour and half. The actor who played CP30 in ALL the movies, Anthony Daniels, was our MC for the show. He did a wonderful job walking us through the story line, as the orchestra played wonderful music to bring life to the screen of pictures.

All I can say is, it was an experience. One I know we cannot repeat, nor want to repeat. It will be something the kids can say, "do you remeber when...." If you have not seen all the pictures we took from the show, you can take a look at them at my facebook account. Just look up my name, and under photoablums Star Wars.

It truly was an experience of a lifetime.

Experiencing the WILD!

OUT IN THE WILD

In September we decided to take our kids down to Southern Oregon to see the Wildlife Safari. And what an experience they had!

Above you can see a picture of one of the rhinos at the park. His name is Jake. Jake was one of the many animals we got to see. There are over 250 "hoofed" animals in the park. We were blessed enough to meet one of the gentleman that take care of the animals.

Jungle Jaime works at the Wildlife Safari. He has been working there for over a year. Jaime, when we first arrived, recommended we go and feed the elephants.

After we drove through the park, and so ALOT of different animals. We returned to the main village to join the group going to fee the elephants. Here in the picture to the right you can see Jacob feeding the elephant.

These elephants eat over 300 lbs of food a day. They way sometimes over 5000 lbs, and can balance on one side of the body. Elephants are also very intellegent animals. With that said, they have to train these elephants every day not only physically, but mentally.

After the experience with the elephants our own broud was hungry. We ate lunch, and ironically ran into Jungle Jaime again. After asking more questions about the park, and the animals, he offered to take us on a small tour of the park. GREAT!

He took us around the front part of the park, that is where I got the photo of Jake the rhino, and over to the Giraffes. Jaime gave our kids the chance to feed the giraffes!! What an experience for all of us.

Never before had I been so close to a giraffe. I have to tell you they have pretty ugly tongues. Their tongues remind me of a purple slug. Like I said ugly. But the giraffes themselves were beautiful, and graceful. The way they slowly lowered their heads, and interacted with each other.

After feeding the giraffes Jaime took us over to see the hipo. Right now they only have one hipo. About two or three years ago they lost their female hipo, and just this last year they lost their oldest male hipo. The hipo they have was actually born in the park about three years ago. They are currently trying to find another one.

I have to tell you I could go on and on about the Wildlife Safari park. I would encourage you to go and see what we experienced for yourself. Giving your family the chance to see animals first hand in their habitat, and beable to experience close up. You cannot make enough memories like these.

Link to Wildlife Safari http://www.wildlifesafari.net/

And if you want to see more pictures of the wildlife safari trip, you can go to http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1023112939&v=photos&ref=profile#/album.php?aid=2021977&id=1023112939

The adventures of young men

The adventures of three young men

It is wonderful when kids are able to find things to capture their imaginations. May it be a hidden alcove in the backyard, a grove of trees in the park, or a small stream with a island in the middle of it what ever they find to help them find their imaginations it is wonderful. Jacob and his friends were able to do just that.

The last part of August Jacob staied at the Friend's house for an evening. When I dropped him off the boys decided to go over to the park with a blow-up raft, and take a trip down the small stream. They told us it was big enough, and there was a island in the middle for them to explore. This was a perfect time for two moms to check out what the boys were talking about. Low and behold, what we found was such a kick we took pictures of the event.

I wanted to share these with you. When you look at the pictures it really does look like there are somewhere out in the wild on a river or small stream. Please understand this is a small creek located in the middle of Hillsboro at one of the local parks. But when you see them you will see how something as small as a creek can become a boys wildest imagination.

Here they are getting into the boat after the two moms where discovered hidding in the bushes. Yes!! We were trying to spy on our kids. We did not want them to know we were looking out for them. It is a mom thing.

This is where they are off and running. Can you see the sticks they are using for ores? Jacob had forgot the ores at the house, and so they had to think of something else- sticks.





They had rowed all the way to the small island and were trying to find a spot to "park" the boat at on the side of the island. It was great to see how the boys worked together to find a solution.

they found a spot to park!! Now to get the boat parked and climb onto the island.

They made it onto the island! But unfortunately they could not stand very well, and it was getting late. So they had to come off the island and start making their way back. At this point they were also getting pretty tired, and it was obivious it was time to come home.

Here they are coming back after their adventure to the "island". They had a blast, something none of them will ever forget.

I am pretty proud of these boys. They took something that most of us would pass off as a small creek, something to look at, and made it into an adventure. They thought outside the box, and made it work. Granted Jacob and his friends were pretty tired that night. But I think in their "wild" boys heart they were glad they took a chance of a life time. They were the modern day Tom Sawyers. What a memory!

The CSI challenge at OMSI

I decided to see how clever my kids, Jacob and Mike, Gwen and myself were. We went to take the CSI challenge at OMSI. Unfortunately, one of my oppurtives, Grace, was sick that day and could not take the challenge. Jacob, Mike, Gwen and I were up to taking it. So off to OSMI we went.

First stop was the nose. we had to push the button to make it sneeze. It was way to much fun, and also it was really really grose. Jacob and Mike thought it would be to pick the nose also along with making it sneeze. Gotta love those boys. We left the nose. Then CSI challenge awaited us.

First stop our assignment. We had to solve the crime of a dead skeleton found in the desert. Who was he? How did he get here? How did he die? And the most important question who killed him?

We collected our evidence. Some of us showed emence skill at collecting data. Others on the other hand......well, let's just say they are still in training. After we collected all the evidence it was time to go analyze the data.

After to the labs we went. We had to check for any similiarties with the footprints found. We ha to check for matching dental information to find our victim. We also hand to check for back ground information. After getting our piliminary evidence analyzed we had to go see the coronor. He was able to tell us how and when the victim died. He was able to tell us it was a homocide!

Now that we had all of our data, evidence, and information we needed to fill out our report. After much discussion, and decision making we decided that....................

I am not going to tell you who did it. you need to take your family to OMSI and check out the CSI exhibit. It was alot of fun, and the kids learned alot about forensic science.

Get your kids and head down to OMSI, we gotta turn in our reports. ;)

Back to the beach with the Wolbaums

We were invited to go to the beach with the Wolbaum side of the family. So we spent last weekend at Lincoln City with Mike's family. We had fun! Going to the beach, to the Oregon Coast Aquarime, and we even squeezed in a round of golf. I would say a weekend to remeber.

We got there Thursday night, and enjoyed a quiet evening of games and conversations. It was nice. The house was spacious and plenty of room for all five families. The kids got to run around like wild banchies, and the parents had space tobeable to just lounge around. There were three bedrooms and two baths upstairs. They also had a deck with an hot tub located next to the rooms. On the main floor there was a great room that consisted of the kitchen, living room, and eating area. Plenty of room to stretch out. Downstairs there was another large room where people could sleep or just hang out and play video games(YUCK!) or even air hockey. By the way, Jacob's Aunt Alicia creamed him royal. I am really proud of her. :)

Friday morning we got up bright an early to meet a beautiful day. It was nice and cool, with sun shining. Perfect weather for a round of golf. Mike, Pearle, Larry, Grace, and I got a chance to drive over to Neskowin to play a round at Neskowin Marsh. I really would not reccommend this golf course. It was what it name says, a marsh. There was quite a bit of water, in fact I lost my first two golf balls in water hazzards that we had to pass. UUGGHHH! So, now I hav officially losted a golf ball on a course. After finishing we headed home for lunch.

After lunch that afternoon, we head down to the beach. It was great. Sun was shining, and it was not to hot. The kids and Mike got a chance to swim in the surf, and I got a chance to walk the beach. A relaxing head to a rather busy morning. (golf can really wear you out.) We had another evening of conversation, and game playing. I got a chance to learn a new marble, and card game. Unfortunately I don't remeber the name, but Grace and I love the game. It reminded us of Sorry or Parchizi.

Saturday came just the same, a few clouds but a beatiful sun and mild temperatures. Grace, Mike and I got up alittle earlier that morning to walk the beach and collect seashells. It feels great to get water up your legs early in the morning. After breakfast we decided to take the kids, my mother in law, and Stevens family to the Oregon Coast Aquarime. We had a great time there too. It broke up the visiting with each other, and gave the kids a chance to see some wierd stuff. I tell you, there are some REALLY strange fish out there. Along with the fish we got a chance to see some beautiful blown glass also in the tanks.

But there were a couple of fish I really worried about whe I saw them. They kind of hand a pig like look to them. They also looked awfully familiar to me. I can't tell you why. Just a freakish feeling I got. HHMMMMM......

After touching and feeling some sharks, and rays. We took the kids to see the shark tank. This is an area where you walk along a large tubbed path and get to see all kinds of underwater life. We saw stingrays, all kinds of sharks, fish, and other sea life. Intreging for the kids to experience.

In the afternoon we went back to the beach, and this time fortuntately it was low tide. We had the chance to explore the tidepools that gather there at the beach. It was exciting! The kids got to see life up close and personal. There were all kinds of little crabs, fish, and of course different kinds of sea animanies. After spending the afternoon at the beach, we had to kiss Mike good bye. He had to go back home for work. :(

Saturday evening we took the whole group of us, and headed down to the beach for a bomfire. The kids had a good time roasting marshmallows, and watching sparks flie. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. :( But my sister in law, Alicia got some great photos of the kids out there. In fact some of them look "fake" with the sunset in the back. Kind of wierd.

Sunday started out quieter, with our family making breakfast for everyone. The kids chipped in and we fixed french toast, with bacon for the others. YUMMY! Next we just layed around and rested. We packed our things, and our van. In the afternoon Jacob, Grace and I walked up to the main street to do some last minute shopping. After a great dinner and a "to die" for dessert prepare by my mother in law we headed home.

It was a great weekend with family. Something we will beable to pack away in our memory banks and keep for a very long time.

Beating the heat!

It was predicted to be so hot yesterday, and well this whole week, I decided to take the kids to the beach. With a good friend and her daughter, we left early yesterday for Seaside. It was fabulous! When we got their the weather was perfect, and the beach was even better.

The destination was the beach, so when we got there that just what we did. Carrying all of our gear, and our lunches we took the small hike from the car to the beach. It was GREAT! Not to cool, sunny, and somewhat clear. There was a slight fog bank between where we sat and the waters edge. It did not detour the kids one bit.

They ran straight to the waters edge when we got there. I don't blame them. The water was nice and cold, a great feeling on your feet.

To the right you see Grace and her friend with Jacob at the waters edge. To the left you see my little toesies getting cooled off in the water. It felt wonderful. And like I said it was a beautiful sunny day. I could not ask for anything more.

My friend and I sat at our stuff to talk. The kids ran around in the water, and when they got to cold from the water they came up to dig in the sand. At one point the kids decided to bury Jacob. Unfortunately, my camera did it's funky thing, and I did not get the picture. My friend did though, and hopefully we will all be able to enjoy the wonderful experience of Jacob being buried in the sand. tehe.

The girls built a sandcastle, while Mike and Jacob dug in the sand. You can see Mike and Jacob as they are digging their gigantic hole. The best part of this time, was all the sand that the kids brought to us. It was quite funny trying to eat lunch, and pick sand out of your food. A great sacrifice for a cool afternoon.

As all things do come to an end so did our day. The kids had fun at the beach walking in the sand chasing the waves, trying to jump the wave, and building/digging in the sand. It is one of those summer days you treasure forever. Days that are made of memories and laughter. The days you wish would never come to an end.

Pittcock Mansion

For some of you who live in the Portland area, you are fortunate to live in the "back yard" or "front yard" of one of Portland's finest homes, the Pittcock Mansion. I took the opportunity to take my kids to see the magnificent home. At first Jacob thought it might be pretty dumb, but by the time we were done he thought it would be pretty cool to live in a house like this. Who wouldn't?!

Here you see the kids at the front or entrance of the mansion. You actually enter at the side of the house. But when the family lived in the home this is where any guests of the family would enter. If you were bringing a deliver, or visiting one of the servants of the home, you would go to the servants door, which is also located on the side of the house.

The Pittcock Mansion was built between 1909 to 1914. The Pittcock family moved in the home in 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Pittcock lived in the home for five years. The relative who lived in the home the longest was Peter, the Pittcocks grandson. He was actually born in the home in 1914, and lived there until 1958 when he moved out and tried to make it into a museum to make money for the upkeep of the home. The home was then put up for sale in 1962 after the storm of 1960 which did a great amount of damage to the home. The city of Portland decided to by the home in 1962 before a land developer purchased the home and destroy the property. The city of Portland felt the home warrented saving and making into a museum because of the long standing history the home holds. It does have some interesting little additives.

The staircase that Grace and Jacob are sitting on is located in the enterance hall of the home. It is made with Italian marble that was imported for the home. On the opposite side of the staircase, which you can't see, is the elevator. This was one of the first homes with an elevator located in the home, and it still in operation today.

This is a picture of Mr. Pittcocks desk located in the library. This is probably where he did most of his work when he was home. He was the ran the Oregonian, owned a paper and pulp mill, a sheep ranch, steam boat interests, and quite a few more. The man was busy! He had 6 children all together, and two of his daughters lived with him in his home.

In fact, the Steinway grand piano you see here was purchased for his daughter Lucy. It is now located in what people think was the music when the family was in residence.

After leaving the music room you pass the smoking room, yes a smoking room. At this time, the afluent would have a special room for people to go to, to smoke. It is a small round room, not big enough to fit more then maybe three people. From there you go to the dinning room pictured below. The room special attraction is the hidden cabinets for the crystalware. The cabinets are to the far left, and right. I am not sure if you can see them in the picture below.

The dinning room has an bulter's pantry just to the right of it. A wonderful room any of us would like to have. It is place that holds all the china, a small stove for keeping food warm, and an area to finish any final preporations for food before going into the dinning room. As you walk throught there you enter the kitchen.

The kitchen is interesting because there are no cabinets. The only things that were in the kitchen were the stove, the sink, and the two long tables to work at. It was very simple, and basic. Easily kept clean and no clutter. To the cooks at this time pots, pan, and other things need to cook with were considered unattractive to the eye. These items were to be kept in pantry, which was located across the hall from the kitchen to make easy excess. Next to the pantry was a room, that was WAY before it's time, and would be great for any cook today.

The room was called the cooler room. As seen in the picture to the right, the room had tiled floor, a three paned window, and a door similiar to a vault door to keep the cold in. Located on one wall was your "ice box" to keep certain things even colder then what was in the room. Here they could keep fresh foods, things to be kept very cold, and other items that we would put in our refrigerator today. The difference between the two, this is a room, not a "small" appliciance. Personally I will take the room!

Next we went upstairs to see the bedrooms. You had rooms for two of Mr. Pittcocks daughters and their husbands, a sectary's room for one daughter who ran the household needs, the childrens' room for the three granddaughters and one grandson, a sewing room, bedroom for Mr. Pittcock, bedroom for Mrs. Pittcock, and sun rooms used to sleep in during the hot months. What the kids and I found the most intreging was the shower located in Mr. Pittcocks bathroom. As you see in the picture to your left the shower had lots of plumbing. You can't see the very small spicket at the bottom, but that was used as a toe tester. You could test your water before it made it al the way through the pipes to the top shower head. Then there were two "kidney" shower heads if you need more " bang for your buck" kind of thing. And they say some of our showers of today are elaborate!!

We also got a chance to see the room where Peter, Mr. Pittcocks grandson, was born. The room is pictured below.

Peter was the only grandchild to be born in the house in 1914. He lived in the home until 1958 when he moved, and thought to make the home into a museum to try and help balance the cost of the home.

The Pittcock Mansion was a home of elegance, and before it's time. It has amenities that people did not even dream of at that time. They had a dumbwaiter system that was electrical, just like their elevator system. No need to use a pulley to take things up. They had brought in things from far and wide to build this home, Italian marble, different woods, and sandstone for the outer surface of the home.

The phone you see here was located in many places in the home. The home had it's own internal phone system, and intercom system. In the mornings when Mrs. Pittcock was ready for the day she would phone the chauffer, who lived above the garage, to tell him of the events or places they would need to go to. A corner of the garage is picture here below.

The home was very much self contained. There were numerous greenhouse, and located near this garage was a 500 gallon tank of gasoline.

The Pittcock Mansion is one of Portland's greatest treasures. If you have had the chance to see this gem I would encourage you to go. There is so much history and beauty that people of all ages will enjoy the time spent there. We as a family enjoyed our visit and plan to go back. There are three different hiking trails that Mr. Pittcock had established when he lived in the home. Our family did not get a chance to see those trails. So we will be going back this summer. I hope you family will beable to go too. For more about the Pittcock Mansion, please visit www.pittcockmansion.org.