Day One Hundred Eight-Seven through One Hundred Ninety-Four

Here we go again.

A morning ritual...waving to Papa.

Simeon learned a new skill and peeled his hard-boiled egg all by himself.

We celebrated Grampy's birthday with food, family, and tractor rides on his new birthday present...what an antique beauty, huh?

The weekend brought the annual trip to Da Vinci Days. Nothing says "Corvallis" like this festival. The boys really enjoyed the parade, despite the rain. The kinetic sculptures are always a favorite in our house. We spent the day in and out of the festival, exploring, hula-hooping, being wowed by an amazing juggler (seriously...he's so good), eating fair food, and enjoying time together. That evening, JJ and I got to go on a date as one of my friends watched the boys for a few hours. Thanks, Bethany!

On Sunday, we returned to watch the kinetic sculptures as they finished the river race. Simeon brought the magic with his wizard hat.

Monday night was a cause for celebration as JJ finished the floor on the new treehouse, complete with a trap door entry. This is one of our summer projects, or maybe THE summer project. Next come the walls!

Aidan and Dominic made pancakes. I bet you can't guess which one is Dom's. He called it the "super snake".

Day One Hundred Eighty-Six

Okay. I'm not catching up, so I better start somewhere. Today we took a hike on the Old Growth Forest trail, which is in the nearby McDonald Forest. We skipped, ran, walked, talked, meandered, hopped, climbed, laughed, and sang our way through two hours of trail....with very little whining. With three young ones, two hours doesn't get you as far as when you're with your adult friends. But it's not about the distance, it's about the experience. We put our toes in the stream, listened with eyes closed and ears alert to the call and response of wild birds, identified plants, recited poetry, enjoyed the forest and all that it had to give to us...old growth, new growth, huge stumps, fallen trees with roots exposed, rotting logs full of scurrying bugs, brightly colored moths, verdant mosses, and peace.

The woods were lovely, dark and deep. The conversation was precious. I can now sit back and ponder these moments in my heart.

Simeon was a trooper. The photo above was the one chosen due to this comment: "Mama, my wegs feel fuzzy and warm from hiking so much." I think I understood what he was trying to say.