Sunday Morning Quality Time

We are not a religious family. Jay and I both have a sense of wonder and awe when it comes to the world around us, but we have what seem to be similar skeptical views toward Religion and Church. We live in a county with LOTS of churches - especially the non-denominational Christian type that seem to be very into kids and reaching out to people in the community - even in the schools. I want my kids to be able to articulate their own philosophies regarding faith or whatever you want to call it, because I know that if we don't intentionally dig and then attempt to fill that hole in each girl, we will be leaving it up to the first friend they encounter at school who asks them to come along to church with them. We respect everyone's beliefs, but don't want to leave our kids' faith journeys in the hands of others - or leave those journeys up to chance.





So, this year, it is a goal of mine to figure out how we want to awaken their appreciation for the world around them, foster their sense of goodness, and define our Sunday mornings as time to spend happily and peacefully as a family. Maybe these mornings will someday involve some sort of something a little more structured, but for now, I like the idea of a walk in the woods, a spin on the merry-go-round and a stop to throw rocks into the Lewis River together.

Top Ten List #6 and #7: Parental Outings

Jay and I are pretty committed to giving experiential gifts to grown-ups these days, since, as previously mentioned, we don't really NEED anything and it's always good to reduce the amount of unneeded, although well-intentioned STUFF that piles up around the house. Plus, who really remembers where that third green sweater came from? But, you're always going to remember the fun day when you went to _______ (fill in the blank) with ________ (fill in the other blank). So, Jay and I went snowshoeing, and I took day trips with Mom and Pops, too.

Mom and I went to Bonneville Hot Springs for a spa day. They were selling $100 gift cards at Costco for $80 a pop, so I stocked up on a few and studied the spa menu. After Christmas, the weather was better than it had been before, but Bonneville is out in the gorge and getting there is a hilly, twisty ride where, on occasion, it's possible to envision your car sliding on black ice and plunging a few hundred feet down the gorge and into the Columbia River. For some reason, I booked us for appointments at something like 9 in the morning on a Sunday, so it was a somewhat rushed trip to get out there, but once we were there, it was really pleasant. The building itself looks a little dated from the outside, but the spa was okay, and the people were super-nice. I have had my share of facials and massages, but never before have I had a private soak in the magical mineral waters of a hot spring. A quick facial plus a luxurious pedicure, and I was feeling pretty good. Mom had a massage and pedicure. We ate a relaxing lunch overlooking the garden and outdoor soaking pool and then headed home. The most stressful part of the visit was choosing the color of polish for our toenails.

Pops and I had a Carleton Watkins day - Portland Art Museum had what proved to be a hugely popular exhibit called Wild Beauty, featuring the history of photography in the Columbia River Gorge. There were alot of photos by Watkins and his contemporaries, but the exhibit went up through more current times including the harnessing of the river's power when the dam was built at The Dalles (and the Native American fishing grounds and many petroglyphs were sunk under the river). We also went to the Oregon Historical Society (quickly), had a great lunch across the park at South Park and watched as a downed tree was removed from a third story window of a nearby building.

And I didn't have to buy a single thing this year from L.L. Bean.

Clark County "Hidden" Treasure

Nautilus is headquartered in Vancouver - right near one of my favorite local shopping areas. If you look at the signs as you're driving around the parking lot, you see an arrow pointing to something that says, "The Backyard." The Backyard includes an artificial turf football/soccer field, softball field, track, basketball courts, bleachers, scoreboards, picnic tables. There's plenty of parking, and it's open to the public (you can even reserve the fields if you want to plan ahead). I've been there a few times with the girls, and yesterday the whole family went - and at no point have I ever seen more than one other small cluster of people there. Now, I don't know that Nautilus really aggressively advertises that this wonderland is available for any old Joe off the street and his rugrats - but it IS. (It's kind of hard to find much to link to that explains the Backyard - here's something at least. See the lower right-hand corner of the page.) And, with the kids - anywhere you can take them where they have the freedom to run around an open space at will, it's awesome.

It's funny to see the personalities come out when we do this type of thing, though. Ellie picks up a ball and starts running around laughing and "playing fetch." Maggie picks up a ball and pretends that she's a princess holding on to a precious egg that must not be dropped, thrown, kicked or otherwise abused. She likes to twirl around and get lost in whatever little fantasy she's dreamed up in the moment. Meanwhile, Ellie's running laps, kicking field goals, shooting three-pointers... well... Don't want to start pigeonholing anyone, now do I? But, we have decided that Ellie will be a soccer player and Mags will probably be a Jazzercise instructor. (I got her a pair of black leggings the other day. Today she wanted to wear them and her sneakers so she could pretend to be just that.)

You Can Lead a Girl to a Pony, but You Can't Make Her Ride

Sunday morning we made our annual trek to the Clark County Fair. We (the girls and I) are planning to go again with neighbor Susie on Friday, but this was our family outing for the weekend. The fair is fun - I'm getting used to it after a few years. It's different from and similar to the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show (which has morphed into the New Jersey State Fair - You go, Sussex County!)

While you won't find waffles and ice cream (sadly), you will find LOTS of farm animals and farm people - which send the girls into extreme emotions - whether those reactions will be excited swoons and whoops or terrified screams and parental leg-climbing is sometimes very, very difficult to predetermine. This year, I'd say the big winners were the goats. I would not be surprised if someday we have little "naaa naaa" sounds echoing through our yard from behind the veggie garden (where Jay has already decided our goat area will be).

We were disappointed that due to insurance costs, (human) kids are no longer permitted to climb in and play with the baby pigs. They are pretty fun to watch, though, except if you can read. The hand-lettered sign above them says in four months they will weigh 295 pounds and be ready for slaughter.

Maggie was so excited when she saw the little ponies on the pony ride that she actually tried to cut in line. I was excited, too - I carefully kept myself from reminding her that she freaked out last year before her turn. This year, she was PSYCHED. I told her that we'd have a helper get her on the pony. She picked her pony. Then the man in the red shirt came to lift her up and FREAK OUT FREAK OUT FREAK OUT!!!!!!!!!!!! The legs were a-kickin', princess shoes were a-flyin', and she was screaming as if I had just thrust her into the waiting arms of a child molester. We recouped our $5 and went to the adjacent dairy barn for an ice cream cone and a breather.

Of course, Jay was holding Ellie during the whole escapade, and when we turned to leave, she started screaming "HORSIE! HORSIE!" So, Jay figured, "What the hell..." and got in line. And yeah, she rode the horse. She was about half the size of the next smallest kid. Then, to illustrate the difference between Dads and Moms - Jay stopped walking around in the pony circle with her. There's my BABY riding around on a pony without an adult holding on to her. I could not have felt more proud and scared at the same time if she went up in the freakin' space shuttle.

Poor Mags. We might try again Friday, and I'll see if I can get her up there without the man in the red shirt. She did, however, find a horse that she liked riding very much.

She also redeemed herself by riding a kiddie ride all by herself after we rode on the merry-go-round together. Oh my God, what am I going to do when it's time for them to get their driver's licenses?

Father's Day

Sunday had been set aside for outbuilding floor installation, so we celebrated Father's Day on Saturday at Marshall Community Park (or as Mags calls it, "the park with the wood chips") in Vancouver. (On the last picture, be sure to follow Ellie's gaze over to the double slide...)

I sure am glad he's my kids' dad...(even if he doesn't always do things just like I would). And here's part of how I know he's a good dad - feedback from Mags:

"Mom, I want you to make my oatmeal like Papa does. He makes good oatmeal!"

"Mama, that's just the same as Papa hugs me when he puts me to bed!"

"Mama, I want you to sing me the song that Papa sings..."

Giving New Meaning to Walking to Work

Keep in mind that "walking to work" for me usually entails sliding on the old bunny slippers and shuffling from the bedroom to the kitchen for coffee and off to the home office off the great room.

Last Thursday, Leslie and I followed this approximate route from point A to point B. (Two important exceptions - 1. the exact starting point has been modified a bit to keep from revealing her address and 2. although Google maps won't let me show it, we walked on the paths through the park). After spending the day with my client at Point B, I walked to Point C to meet Dan (Leslie's husband) at his office. We then walked to Point D to meet up with Leslie for dinner.


View Larger Map

No wonder my ass hurt the next day... But it was a good hurt. The city really does seem a little smaller when you cross it on foot, and a week with the (wonderful) East Coast Food "Carb-o-Rama" and without Jazzercise or Rugrat Chasing needed a little something to keep the metabolism in check.

Speaking of dinner at Point D. We went to The Holy Basil. Finding a Thai place to love can be dicey, but when Leslie spoke of this one, it was with a sparkle in her eye that told of a long-standing love, so I knew it would be good. It was really wonderful - and the place had a little, well, a lot - more atmosphere than our old fave Thanh Thao in Portland... Leslie and I both had the Thai Salad (yum, peanut dressing) and the chicken Kang Ped (red curry) - can't go wrong with coconut milk. I have no idea what Dan ate - I was too busy shoveling my own food into my pie hole to look across the table to see. Mmm...

Big Apple

Got in last night, and after 2 hours on the Super Shuttle van from Newark(!!!) sans A/C (triple !!!), arrived at Leslie and Dan's place in Manhattan. We went for a good dinner (and beer - needed beer!) at a cozy place called Good Enough to Eat, and then retired for the night. I don't actually mind a 21-hour day now and again.

Crossing the Land Bridge

Saturday was freakin' beautiful, so we slathered the kids with sunblock, packed up the little red wagon and headed south to the Columbia. At Jay's suggestion, we continued on and crossed the new land bridge over SR14 toward Ft. Vancouver. The kids were super-tolerant when Mama and Papa slaked their thirst afterward with a few pints of Ruby at McMenamin's on the Columbia.

The Vancouver part of the Confluence Project is meant to "reconnect Ft. Vancouver to the waterfront" - as part of a re-establishment of the ancient "tribal crossroads." When walking down there - with the airplanes overhead on their way to PDX, the trains squeaking past, the boats and barges on the Columbia and the cars on SR14, you really do notice how many different types of transportation go through that corridor. You especially notice when you've got a 3-year old pointing every passing vehicle out to you.

Four Generations

We went to Jersey to see Great-Grandma Pat. Here is the picture that will survive through the ages.

Sunny Day - Sweepin' the Clouds Away

Before we left on Sunday, we crossed the GWB to spend some time in the city (that would be New York) with Jay's sister Leslie and her husband Dan. After a tasty Mexican brunch, we walked from their place to Central Park to play. We went to a little playground with enough other kids to keep it interesting, but not crowded. All day on Saturday we had torrential, blinding rain and then Saturday night brought window-jiggling blow-the-house-down winds. So, when Sunday dawned clear and bright and the park was so clean and perfect, the Sesame Street theme kept playing over and over in my head - especially the line in the title of the post. I am super glad that we don't actually live on the east coast, let alone in Manhattan (I won't mention how long it took to get through the Lincoln Tunnel on the way to the airport...), but it sure can be a nice place to visit. I wish we had gotten to see Elmo.