Roadrunner Weekend!

because it sped by way too quickly! BEEP BEEP!

Psychologically, it seemed shorter than usual because I wasn't able to work at home on Friday--my work-at-home Fridays are good transitions for weekends. Our modem became operational last week, so we had to wait for Qwest to provide a new one. Since my job consists almost entirely of being online (via e-mail and accessing the company server and intranet), I had to go into the office. I know...poor me! (I know how lucky I am to be able to work at home!)

Saturday we finally got back to the Portland Farmer's Market (which the Huffington Post has named as one of the top 10 farmers' markets in the country!). Our garden is doing wonderfully (photos coming one of these days), but it's still not producing much beyond lettuce and herbs. So we needed to stock up on veggies...and my favorite, BERRIES!!!

This is Nicholas' favorite thing about market days--walking on the "wall" near my parking spot (near the office):

The boys eating their ice cream sandwiches:

Chris also used his allowance to buy a bag of broken cookies! :)

We got some lovely raspberries (which we freeze, mostly, for the winter!) and boysenberries. Last week, Fred Meyer had organic strawberries on sale too...so we've been indulging in lots of berries lately. Fresh berries are one of the best features of living in Oregon!

Sunday afternoon we drove up north on I-5, halfway to Tacoma, to the Lewis & Clark state park. When the weather is decent, we like to meet my sister Nadine and her family there for the afternoon. I just discovered that it's one of the last major strands of old-growth forest in the state of Washington (probably why I like it so much!). We were celebrating my wonderful brother-in-law David's birthday, along with Nadine & David's and my parents' anniversaries. We had a picnic, and the boys had a great time tearing around on their bikes.

We also did a bike swap...my nephew Daniel passed down his "Thomas the Tank Engine" bike to Nick, and we had an extra bike for our oldest nephew Ryan to use.

Nicholas had a look of PURE GLEE on his face when he got his new bike!!

Lunch in the covered area (it was cold and a bit sprinkly):

Kieran, Daniel, and Ryan

Garrett and Nick

Mom and Nadine

Me, Chris, and David


Two amazing men: my dad and my husband!

Another amazing man: guitar-collecting David in the shirt we gave him last year

Putting on a "Scooby Doo" play--which involved lots of chasing, a bit of dialogue, and Kieran telling everyone what to do!

Nicholas performing as well!

Wanting to be one of the guys!

Kieran as a terrified Shaggy!

Daniel getting ready to make his appearance as the runaway mystery van!

David with his brownie and fresh berries

Dad, David, and Mom (wrapped in blankets to ward off the chill...except for David, of course, who is always warm)

David with the photo of Mt. Rainier we gave him...David has expressed interest in climbing Mt. Rainier, along with getting another motorcycle, both of which Nadine has given him permission to do...when he is 95!

After the too-short visit, we headed our separate ways home...but first we drove through the park looking at the lovely wooded camping area. We are plotting a return to go camping there. However, I did just spy the mention of "bears" on the state park Web site...so I will have to investigate further before we plan any camping trips there!