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Sometimes I get the strangest feeling, like Portlandia is belting out her siren song, calling me home. Four and a half years later and I miss Portland more and more. Sometimes I long for it. I mourn the distance between where I live now and all of the restaurants, stores, parks, libraries, culture and diversity that I want to be with. I know our reasons for moving were many, and some of them extreme (like a drive by shooting on our street). I work really hard to focus on the good of where we live now, but it doesn't hold a place in my heart. Portland was and always will be "My Hometown".

Lately I have really been craving Portland. I think maybe it's how much fun Summer in the city can be. I love all of the green space, the parks with their well manicured lawns. My niece and nephew are here for the week, so today I took everyone in to town. We went to the Kennedy school for a movie and some tots, and to the Peninsula Park rose garden. We used to live just a few blocks from this park. When the weather was nice, or sometimes even not so nice, we walked through this park every day. We watched the squirrels play, we waited for the roses to turn, and we ran on the rich green lawns. Today it was just as glorious as I remembered. The roses are divine, and their heavenly smell still hits you right as you start down the stairs into the garden. Just like I remember it.

Happy ,smiling faces

This is my final reunion post (at least I think it is). I had a few more favorite pictures, and I just wanted to share some of the wonderful faces that made the reunion so special.

The REALLY fun stuff

I have to say, almost everything about this reunion was super fun. That's what happens when you get to spend time with so many enjoyable people. There were however a few activities that were a little extra fun.
Like "The Great Marshmallow Shooter War"




Pop rocks sizzling on our tongues






The bubble-gum bubble blowing contest




Riding quads






And catching a ride from Uncle Aaron

OH....just so many fun memories!

Fishing

The kids really wanted to catch some fish at the reunion. None of my poor kids have ever caught a fish before. They tried catching fish at the pond by Uncle Aaron's house, but only one frog was caught. Then they tried for a little while at Willow Lake. In the end someone got the fantastic idea to take the kids to the fish hatchery, so they would all have a great chance of catching something.









Finally! Grayson was one of the last kids to catch a fish. He had been getting pretty frustrated and tearful. I think fishing is definitely not his sport, not enough patience.


New friends


Fish gutting 101 with Grandma B.





And now I have some lovely little fishies in my freezer, just waiting to be fried up.

Willow Lake

For one day of the family reunion we all packed up and went to Willow Lake. What a gorgeous place, just spectacular! The kids were all ecstatic to get to go out on Uncle Aaron's boat. They had been eyeballing it since we got to his house. We had a lovely day relaxing at the lake; with boat rides, playing in the water, visiting and eating good food.

My boys all now want either to get a boat, or get adopted by their Uncle Aaron.
Here are a few of my favorite photos from that day:
Grayson and Jack


Fuller on the boat


Paul and Rowan


Grayson and Mojo


The guys

The fam

The Cousins

This was a really special gathering, since it was the first time that all of the cousins have been in the same place at the same time. It was fun to see them all together, and see their friendships forming and growing. They are quite a crew.

In order form oldest to youngest we have: Gabe(12), Fuller(12), Holland(12), Elsie(10), Lakota(9), Grayson(8), Jack (7), Cozette(7), Rowan (6),and Ben(5).
Sometimes they all played together, and other times they would break into smaller groups. There was pretty much a prefect span of kids at different ages so that everyone had someone to play with.
Here's the "big kid" gang. They got along great, and only tried to hold their "status" over the "little" kids a few times.

For the most part the kids required little on no adult intervention. Uncle Aaron and Aunt Sandy's place is just fantastic. They had so many options of things to do, and the kids generally came up with their own games and activities.
They all spent a lot of time playing on the trampoline.


"Dead Man" seemed to be the most popular game.


Sometimes they all played games together. Aunt Barb is the BEST at getting kids going on a game.


They also swam together, even though most of the time it really wasn't THAT warm.


But mostly they just spent time hanging out and catching up.

And it was wonderful to see those friendships pick right up where they left off.

Four Days of Fantastic Family Reunion Fun

We just got back from having a fabulous time with these good folks.

Oh, what a time we had! Swimming, boating, hiking, fishing, riding quads, laughing, eating and SO much more. It's going to probably take about 10 different posts to cover all of the adventures we had. But first I have to sort through the hundreds of pictures I took, and get started on all the smelly laundry we brought back with us.

Summer stats

Here's a quick little "by the numbers" look at how our vacation is panning out.

Members of family who have thrown up more than once-3

Have run or are now running a fever- 4

Nights with little or no sleep- 3

Sore throats- 2

Ear aches- 2

Trips to Dr's office- 1

Prescriptions filled- 1


Days until relatives from Montana arrive- 2


***10PM update*** Add trip to Urgent Care and 2 more prescriptions to the list of fun.

Getting ready for the next chapter

I have lots of end of the school year posts to write, but for some reason seem to be having trouble doing it. This has been kind of an emotional time for me. It seems like our family is right on the cusp of so many changes. This year just flew by. It seems like just yesterday I was prying Rowan off my arm and handing him tearfully over to his kindergarten teacher. Now kindergarten is over. My half day snuggle friend will be off to ALL day school next fall.

Twelve and a half years ago I quit working to dive into the life of stay at home mom. There were times when it seemed like this phase of my life would last forever. That I would always have little ones home with me during the day. There were also times when I longed for them to all be away at school, just so I could have a few minutes of quiet. But now that it's almost here, I can't believe how fast this time has gone. I'm not ready to be away from all of them all day. I miss them already. Perhaps lots of togetherness this summer will cure me of that sadness.

Next fall will bring with it many big changes. Fuller will be off to the middle school, a scary prospect in several ways. He's reaching that point where he wants so much independence and less family time. Grayson will also be at a new school, ALL the way across town.(OK, I know it's only 5 minutes away, it just feels farther.)
Rowan will be in the big world of first grade, no longer my morning shadow. What will I do without morning story time and silly chats over tuna sandwiches?

And then that just leaves me. What will my fall look like? I always kind of assumed I'd go back to teaching once the kids were all in school, but now see little appeal in that(and little opportunity, given the cuts the school districts are making). So I guess that remains to be seen. Maybe I'll write the next great American novel, or finally make it to the bottom of my laundry pile. It just feels odd to be at this point in my life. After years of knowing pretty much what the plan was, I find myself suddenly not sure.

Just when I've gotten used to the idea of being 40, something else to figure out.

Getting ready for Summer

A new Summer picnic blanket, all stitched up and ready to go.

Good Things

A Farmer's Market $10 bouquet


Fresh local berries


Turned in to yummy freezer jam.


Three more market bags completed.


Final T-ball game of the season.


And a really cool trophy to put on the shelf.