Busy, But Fun

I posted a little bit about the busy times we are having on my rambling blog, but here are some pictures and details of a few events.

We changed our schedule a little last week and went to Grandma's first on Wednesday. The children stayed with her while I went to my cycle class at the YMCA. When I got back we had lunch and then went to the library on our way home. It worked surprisingly well. The fountain at the library was on and I let the children get wet before our walk home. We have been having a warm spell (over/almost 90 for... 3 or 4 days).

I decided that for some quality school work we could go to the fountain again on Thursday after I got back from getting our milk. It was after lunch when we went and unlike the day before there we other people at the fountain, quite a few (though I didn't get many in the pictures). It was a little more difficult for the kids to play, but they still had a good time. Some of them played in the big grass area as well.

Greg has been working a lot of hours, which we are not complaining about, so it has taken us a couple of weeks to make it out to see the track races on Thursday and Friday evenings. They are held at Alpenrose Dairy, about 5 miles away. We took Henry and Solomon (only four can go as the van isn't working) because Louis and Otto had been there with Greg a few weeks ago when on a long bike ride. We don't know much about track racing, but have developed an interest to find out more.

Friday night we went to see Prince Caspian. We intended to all ride, but realized we would need to go to an evening showing (Greg works) and it would be dark on the ride home. Greg rode with only Henry and Louis; Otto, Solomon, Olivia and I walked to Grandma's where we met Greg's dad. Olivia stayed at Grandma's and watched a calmer movie and the rest of us got a ride with Greg's dad who saw the movie with us and gave us a ride home afterward. The movie was enjoyed by all.

The Beaverton Farmers Market has begun and while Greg was riding with Louis and Otto yesterday (check Greg's MTB blog) Henry, Solomon, Olivia and I walked over to check it out. It is located right next to the library and the fountain. I was amazed at the crowd. We walked through it all and I bought some great asparagus and lettuce. We bought some bagels for breakfast and listened to live music, Jenny Get Around (old time fiddle music). The kids were a little bored, but I had a great time.

Solomon's B-day

Today is Solomon's birthday so i (Greg) decided we'd go for a bike ride. We've had quite a bit of riding this weekend so it seemed like a good idea. He always wants to be in the lead so we were going back and forth on who was leading. First we headed up to some single track not far from where we live , for Solomons first time riding on dirt. He loved it! after fooling around there for a bit we headed through the neighborhoods to a park. Once there Louis ( the wearer of the back pack) got out the Nerf foot ball and the baseball and gloves , so we could play catch for a while. Then we headed home via the bike path.Only 7.5 miles but a fun ride none the less. Three day's in a row for Otto and I.

Fun day!

March 1st Trip to the Oregon Coast

Greg was talking about doing a video only blog the other day. After our adventure to the coast yesterday, he was talking about it more and ready to start it. I talked him into making this a video blog. I'm obviously having a hard time keeping up with it and the change will be fun. So here is video of our trip to the coast yesterday. There were few times when I realized Greg was recording us. He uses our camera so it looks like he is getting ready to take a picture. I have to confess when he opened the window to film outside, the rain was quickly soaking through my jeans and I was a little irritated. It's a shame I'm confessing it because I didn't know he was filming and glad that my expression and words did not betray my inner emotions too much. Another funny thing, when Greg is filming us walking up the bridge to look at the sea lions you can see the camera lens blowing in the wind. After the sea lions we went back to Seal Rock and went below to the beach that Greg, Otto and Solomon we overlooking. It is there we crossed the little stream on the rocks and saw some awesome tide pools. Greg took lots of great pictures, hopefully they will be on our Flicker site soon (see our Pictures link). We had a great day and as you see the weather changed frequently, always beautiful.

Almost Library Day

I took the camera to the library this day intending to take lots of pictures and tell you all about the times we go to the library. However, after the picture with the kids in front of the sign I forgot I had the camera and never took another shot. Now, I could still tell you about the day, but I'm going to make you wait until I have some more pictues. Hopefully, at that time, I will also have more time to write. The bike trail the kids are on is nearly one half of our walk. It not only keeps us off the street and away from traffic, but it has this long curb which is great fun, though it does add some time to the walk. We have been going to visit Greg's grandma after the library as it is within walking distance as well. Olivia always takes a nap on library days. I will have Greg ride the route with his bike. It has a computer that tells the mileage and then when I write about our library days I can include the distance we walk. It is maybe 2 miles total. Not too far, but good exercise.

I was looking through our pictures and found a few from a ride I didn’t write about. On New Year ’s Day we went for a family ride on a bike path that begins not far from us and goes to Tigard, almost to Greg’s old house. In fact, he took Louis, Otto and Solomon on the same path in… December? maybe November, and they rode by the house so the boys could see it. It is a long trail, maybe 7 miles, nicely paved. It does cross a few roads, one is especially busy, but the others have light traffic or crosswalks. It was cold New Year’s Day, but not wet. We went maybe 6 miles and I got a piece of glass in my front tire. If we had brought a tube we could have changed it, but we didn’t. Greg rode back quickly with the oldest three and the younger two and I waited for him to come back with the truck. That was when I began to feel really cold. The kids ate some snacks I’d brought and we played “I Spy” and ran up and down the sidewalk. It was sure good to see Greg when he made it back to us, and he had the heater going full blast… ahhh.

Being the youngest and the first girl, Olivia is the most photographed member of the family. We will enjoy that for now and I will be making a conscious effort to get some pictures of the older boys. Be sure and check their blogs because I am requiring them to update them at least every 1-2 weeks. It would be easier if we had an internet connection at home, but they may have finished their blog entry and have to wait a week before we get to the coffee shop so their entries may be logged late. Anyway, I did get a picture of Otto and Solomon playing with silly-putty. Olivia is playing with a few of the stickers Uncle Rick and Aunt Kathy gave her. She also received a dress-up chest from Grandma and Grandpa Straub and you see her modeling a couple of those. Finally, she was helping me make dinner last night by cutting up some Calamata olives for our burritos. Here is also a different night when I am making tortillas, Olivia is collecting some cilantro leaves and Henry is putting away dishes (at least you see he is an active member of the home).

Trails, Blogs, etc.

I cannot believe how quickly time passes. It has been over a week since I posted last, but it seems only a couple of days. Maybe life is just not that interesting; it doesn't seem like much has happened. Greg was going to go riding at Falls City on Sunday, but decided to go for a hike with the three oldest boys instead. They went on a trail in Forest Park and had a great time. The weather was beautiful, though the trail was muddy. Louis wrote about it on his new blog (link added: Adventures of Louis).






Speaking of blogs, we had to get Henry a new one. It has been so long since we have been on it that we couldn't figure out what e-mail, username, password, etc. we used to set it up. We decided to just let it go and start over. Isn't life great when we can do that? So I changed the link and he will add something shortly (he has to finish his school work first). Otto wants to start one, too . He also needs to finish his school work and have something ready to go before I even set it up. They aren't getting their school work done because everyone wants to see the pictures we choose and the template we pick, etc. It is fun and even educational. It's great when they look forward to writing. Their typing is improving as well.




As usual, Greg took a lot of wonderful pictures on their hike as you can see. I have been practicing my guitar everyday and that is fun. I practice until my fingers can't hold down the strings becasue they hurt so badly. I wish the callouses would build faster. I will continue to work on them.

Hard Working Man

I haven't said anything about Greg's work and want to let you know he is working, and hard. When the bike shop began slowing down because the peak season was ending Greg began looking for a driving job; that is where he has the most experience. He found one driving a sweeper truck. It is a new experience and he gets really dirty cleaning the truck when he's done sweeping. The owner seems like a decent person; Greg will stick with it, working hard. Unfortunately the company has some kind of an agreement with a temporary agency in Portland so Greg has had to work through them for the first 90 days. That has meant a lower hourly wage, no holiday pay, no benefits. We are interested to see what will happen about the middle of this month when we reach that 90 day mark. I'm a lucky woman to have such a hard working husband who desires to take care of his family.