Hello July

Summer is in full swing now. We have finally had some sunny weather. Thank goodness! and we have been doing our best to get out and enjoy it. At the risk of getting too far behind, here is a brief recap of the first couple of weeks of July.

Breakfast at the Beaverton Farmer's Market. 

4th of July Fireworks at Oak Hills, our annual tradition.

Happy 4th of July!

Fun at the lake with our good friends.

 

Goodbye June

June is over and with it we said goodbye to another school year, another baseball season, and another dance recital. I am always glad when school gets out and I have the kids at home, no homework to keep up with, no schedules to keep. Part of me, though, is always a little sad to see another year gone. It is an all too shocking reminder of the passing of time.

This year Cole played his last season of little league. It is strange to think of how long we have been watching our boys playing little league baseball. As much as I complain about how time consuming it is and how long the season is, I love watching the game. Next year I suppose he is on to junior baseball, or whatever he decides to do next.

The first week of summer is always a busy one as we get ready for the girls dance recital. In some ways I am glad to be so busy that first week. It keeps us from getting bored too quickly. And the girls love every minute of  rehearsals, hanging out backstage with their friends, getting hair and makeup done - they don't even mind that they have to do three performances. They start getting excited in the spring when costumes come in. This year we had a little photo shoot in the backyard since we missed picture day. 

Waiting to go on stage.

I always feel like the summer can really get started once the recital is over and done with. This is my favorite time of the year. When school has just let out and the whole summer lies ahead of us, a blank slate ready to be filled in with whatever we want to get done, whatever summer activities we want to accomplish - barbecues, beach trips, fireworks, swimming lessons. We have our list of things to do and we are ready for summer.

Visits

Recently we had a visit from my parents in Virginia. They got to spend the week hanging around Portland, going out to lunch, and watching a few games of baseball and lacrosse. It was a bit chilly for them, but it's not often they get to watch the kids in their various activities.

It's fun to show off your skills for grandma and grandpa.

The following weekend we went over to Redmond for a baptism and a birthday! Quinn turned 8 and got baptized. It was fun to have the whole family together to celebrate her day.

Fun times.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm

How have we lived here for almost six years now and never been to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival? I feel like I have been missing out on a necessary rite of Spring tradition, like going to the pumpkin patch in the Fall.

Friday was a day off school for the younger kids, and probably the most beautiful day we have had here in many a long month. We were seriously due for some sunshine and spring weather, and we finally go some this weekend. It was a great day for the girls and I to head down to Woodburn for what I thought would be a couple of hours and turned into the better part of the day.

This place is truly a wonder. With over 40 acres of tulips it was a sight to behold! They also have lots of activities for kids, concession booths, craft booths... and miles of tulips to wade through.

It is a photographers dream. The girls kept asking me to stop taking pictures, they wanted to do stuff. I still feel the urge to go back and take more.

One of the activities they have is a letter boxing route with 5 boxes hidden throughout the farm. We spent a good while searching them out and ended up with all but the last one. It was frustrating to leave our task unfinished, but it was getting late and we were tired. Better luck next year, I guess.

A beautiful day!

More Spring Break Fun

Here are some more pictures from our week of spring break. We also went to central Oregon to impose on my sister's family for a few days. The kids always have a good time together.

We had a fun day sledding on Friday. We got a mix of some snow and sunshine and it was not too cold out so it made for a pretty good afternoon.

Now, enough of winter! Bring me some sunshine and warm weather!

Tillamook

Last week was Spring Break and by Monday I was ready to get out of the house and do something. I put my slightly reluctant family in the car and we drove down to Tillamook. Driving to the coast can be a hit or miss activity. You just never know what the weather will be doing and it doesn't matter what the weather man says, the forecast will change hourly. Sure enough it was raining when we got there, but this was fine because our first stop was the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

It is always surprising to me how entertaining it can be to just stand and watch an assembly line package cheese. We could almost stand there and watch all day. There is so much going on.

Hannah wants to work here when she grows up. In fact, she wants this lady's job which seems to be standing there and checking random packages of cheese. For what, we were never quite sure. air perhaps? We did stand here for a good 20 minutes trying to figure it out.

Tyler would like this guy's job of checking to see if the cheese has aged properly.

Cheese tasting.

Of course, you can't leave here without ice cream.

By the time we came out of the cheese factory, the sun was partially out and it was a pretty nice day. We drove down to Cape Meares to walk down to the lighthouse and gaze out at the ocean.

The octopus tree.

Day 1 of spring break down; 4 to go.

Pizza Night and an Awards Night

My favorite day of the week is pizza night, which is usually on Friday. It is the only day of the week that I don't have to think about what's for dinner. The decision is already made, and it is guaranteed to get no complaints! Everyone loves pizza night.

For years I tried to make my own pizza, but with no luck. I bought a pizza stone from the pampered chef, I tried different recipes, I tried cornmeal on the pizza stone... it was never quite right. A couple of years ago I read in my trusty Cooks Illustrated cookbook about a method using parchment paper, and finally after long wait - the perfect pizza crust! Now we eat it once a week.

Whenever people ask me for my pizza dough recipe I always tell them - It's not the recipe, it's the parchment paper! I still use my pizza stone. I preheat it in the oven at 500 degrees and roll out my pizza dough onto a piece of parchment paper. I use the back of a cookie sheet to slide the whole thing into the oven and bake about 8 minutes. It's the perfect pizza crust every time.

For the record I like the Pioneer Woman's basic pizza crust, but I have sometimes been known to use a store bought pizza dough. It really doesn't matter. Sadly, most of my family will only eat pepperoni on their pizza. I usually make half a pizza for Tyler and me with pineapple and ham on it, but I secretly wish I could sneak some veggies in there. If I am feeling ambitious I will save a small piece of dough and experiment with other toppings. Like this white pizza with arugula. Yum.

On another note, Luke's wrestling awards night was this week. Oh, happy day - wrestling season is over! (one more post-season tournament in Reno in 3 weeks and it will really, really be over).

Here is a terrible picture of Luke receiving his varsity letter. (That's the last time I give Danford camera duty.)

It was very interesting to hear his stats for the season. He wrestled 42 varsity matches - won 22, lost 20. He earned 140 varsity points, which was 5th highest on the team. He had 15 pins, which tied for the most on the team. Also, he only got pinned 6 times. I can just breathe a sigh of relief now that there were no injuries on that list. Congratulations Luke!