Hole in one...

Well, not quite, but that's all good with us. Since we now live near a golf course the collection has started. We had been walking on the road that borders the golf course for almost a month before we happened on our first golf ball. And then we figured "hey, there should be some more of these things around here". And sure enough we started scoring at least 3 per walk after that.

Even more exciting when you find the "special" yellow ones. 

We now have 6 yellow ones + one orange, (knew you'd be happy to know that) 

SO up until a week ago we just checked within range of that one tee off (I think that's how you say it, or maybe that's the guy that hit the ball) anyway, then we realized there were more tees within reach and the real searching began. All along the ditches before the tee by our corner yielded 16 in one search, and we became hooked.  Then we thought of the hay field at the end of our walk, where almost nobody goes.

Here's Bug's with two in hand hot on the trail for more.

 Bingo!

 It was an awesome drive...if it had gone straight.

(the tee is behind the white and blue sign in the top right corner of the picture)

 Running out of hands. 

 Phi walked the fence line and struck it rich!

 

The stubble field tripled the collection after two trips through, that and the ditch and we are now the proud owners of 98 golf balls!! 

(Does anyone need some golf balls??)

Mr. Tech found one where he is standing... that is the tee directly behind him. He also found the broken handle of a club in the vicinity. Interesting game this is. I find the names on the balls to be rather amusing,  being these were all found well off course, like so:

 Someone used the right ball for the shot.

 To somebody's score.

 Certainly didn't win this one.

And here is the youngest member of our club, hiding in his corner hoping no one will notice that he's related to the rest of these odd folks. Hey, we're not the only ones, there have been several cars that pull off next door while the owners scour the ditch. ;) So if anyone needs some golf balls, now you know where to find them !!

Tis the season...

for peaches!!! It came early this year, but we were given a clue as our blackberry season usually runs side by side with the peach season. And blackberries have been on for a week and some now, so I decided to give the farm up the Gorge a call and see how their season was going. That was a week back and they weren't ready, but I got on their list to call when our favoritest Hales ripened!  Then Thursday, this week, I and the kiddos were home expecting a slow day as Mr.Tech had a job 5 hours away in Klammath Falls, OR. and they called about 11:00 AM to say they had them in the stand and were beginning U-pick that day. :) We take our Hales quite seriously and since they only have 3 rows on the whole farm of this particular peach, we jumped and ran.. :)

We picked up Grandma on the way out of town, and made the beautiful 1 1/2 hour drive up the Gorge in good time. The kids kept busy looking for burn spots as they have been very interested to follow news about the large wild fire that is burning up near GoldenDale, WA about 30 minutes above where we were going to pick the peaches.

When we got to the farm there was a dry wind blowing and it was almost 100 degrees!! They had picked their first picking that morning and were selling them by the box in the stand for the same price as U-pick! Hmmm...that began to sound very enticing though we have great times picking them usually. We walked through the rows just to say we had and then decided quickly on prepicked in that heat!! We asked if they would have 14 boxes of prepicked and they did in the cooler by had to pack them up for us so the kids got a chance to stretch their legs and Beetlebug ate and then tada our peaches were ready! Too easy, but it got better from there! The kind lady at the stand said if we took 15 boxes the price would go down by $2 a box. We quickly found room for that box!! Then decided at that price we could probably fit a few more.

 In the end we came away with 20, 20lb. boxes of peaches for $4 dollars cheaper per box then we could have picked them for ourselves!!! Thank You Lord!! :)

The kids were abit disappointed at not getting to actually pick, mostly cause they didn't get to climb any ladders. :) So we headed for home with our hall and great thankfulness! And since we had extra time decided to take Grandma to our favorite little beach in Hood River!

 There was some pretty good wind this time and that meant lots of kite boarders were there. But the beach they mostly launch from is separated from this one by water so it still wasn't crowded. 

 The kids headed straight for the water once they had their fill of watching kite boarders try out the  jump that float off shore.

 Even BeetleBug got his toes wet this time!

 Because of the wind Jewel's had to hold a hand or she would lose her balance and fall in but she still loved being in the water!

 As did the boys, it was after 4 by the time we got here again so no sunburns but the dry wind and heat made the water feel sooo good!

 Racing each other to the shore, hard work when the water is up to your knees. :)

 Clutching me so as not to fall in completely and having a blast. :

Bugs even tried out his back float he learned from swim lessons back in the winter!

 watching the kite boarders.

 They found this stick and took turns towing each other around on it.  One would sit straddling it while the other towed.  They were all in jean shorts with no spares as we had not planned to get wet.

But after about 45 minutes of water fun we headed back for the van and sat in the wind and sun for a snack. By the time we were ready to head for home they were dry enough that they didn't need towels! So that was our peach picking this year with many thanks to Grandma for coming along and making it possible to go.  Mr. Tech was headed back toward home by this point but found out they needed him on a job that night about 30 minutes away from home. So he did a double shift and was up almost 24 hours when he finally came home this AM!!

Today we already had to get on them, getting the first ripe ones ready for the freezer!

 Since this involved knives Leroy was the first to notice and volunteer. These are dull knives mind you, and there were no cut anythings in this process (other than peaches).

 They each got to try their hand at getting the skin off and pit out of a slippery peach and then cutting it into slices for fresh eating. ( I did the ones for the freezer while this kept them busy.)

 And if you want them diced into very small pieces 2 and a half year olds seem to be very handy at that. She made the sliced ones into a lovely ice cream topping.

Which we enjoyed after dinner on frozen whipped cream! :) Delicious!!

Blueberries!!

It's  blueberry season around here! one of my favorite times of year when this farm opens for u-pick. We worked on the farm during berry season before I was married and it's always fun to go back. The berries are huge and the picking usually goes pretty quickly. It is still early in the season so it took a bit longer with more green and purple to pick around. But the kids surprised me and were a great help in picking this year.

 Phi picked almost 2 of these buckets full himself.

 Jewel's came strolling up too with her little bucket.

 Full of BLUE berries!! (verses green or otherwise) I was very surprised to learn she had done it on her own. :)

 And Leroy was also able to fill his bucket on his own!

 And the fun part, adding their berries to the big bucket.

 Hmm... looks like a few are missing the bucket.

 The highlight this year was that certain cousins made it into town in time to pick too! Here's all the girl cousins together for a moment.

Beetlebug entertained himself pretty well until picking edged on for too many hours

 This entertained him for a while as at least he was upright and the view was different. :)

 There happened to be a patch of sand in our row which helped keep the kids busy for a while. As did Gramma ...

and our lovely assistant Karen M (seen here in the background). :)  

Also their imaginations kept things from becoming too boring, there was a wedding happening at one point. Miss Kate and Phi started this one with Leroy as judge and the others as sort of assistants or flower girls. :) (thanks to Uncle Hans and A. Sus for this one. ;) ) But things ran a muck when Bugs and Taeo, became growlly   "monstereds"  and chased the wedding party away... :) That ended quickly as there is NO playing in the field and a snack break in the shade of a hazelnut cluster let us finish up our picking for the afternoon. And so ended our blueberry picking for another season. :)  ~ SJo

Time Out!

We took time out for a fun day last week! We headed up the Gorge to Hood River where there's a beach we'd discovered several years back. 

There was no wind and overcast skies but in the 80's which made for a great time with no sunburns!

It's got great sand and the river is like a giant kiddy pool for a long ways out with no current.

Heading for the sand bar. 

Leroy in a "deep" spot.

Jewels out on the sand bar (that seems like it's in the middle of the river) observing a freight train cruising by on the  far shore.

Out past the sand bar with Washington in sight.

Beetlebug enjoyed himself in the Moby

Phi "drove" his truck most the way out.

 There were the cutest little fresh water clam shells to be found.

Plenty of sand to dig in too.

Got two smiles. :)

There's the train.

 Jewel's "swimming".

 A barge that happened by and crossed under the bridge.

 He looks just like his Daddy the following picture proves it. ;)

 :)

 The sunshine peeked out once or twice.

Beetlebug took a short rest in this convenient "bed"....

and then tried out the feel of sand between his toes.

 That's better. ;)

"Look what I can do Mom"
(this is the first time he sat up on his own! :) 

We stayed till dinner time and then headed toward home on the WA. side with this beautiful view of Mt Hood to look back on.

And tunnels...

 Lots of tunnels.
 It's great to take little getaways now and again. Ours tend to involve a bit of a drive as the kids are relatively good travelers. That means we get some down time to talk or listen to things without to much interruption... so long as it doesn't go over 2 hours :) There are so many great places nearby in the Northwest!  ~ SJo