Mommathon

The boys and I went to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) today. The word on the street was that they were having a video game exhibit. Sure enough, they were, and it was pretty cool. They had some of the very first video games (circa late 1970’s to early 1980’s) as well as pinball machines, arcade games, video games from different countries and also more modern games. They also had a variety of handheld gaming devices from long ago (Speak and Spell, Simon and that handheld football game that everyone had) up to a DS3D. We were at OMSI for about three hours and we spent most of that time in that room. (It was a big room). We did make time to eat lunch and to run to see the live animal/insect room though.

We are planning on going back before school starts (that gives us until Monday) so that Sean can go too. I am not sure I am going to be able to get him out of the “old timer” game room…he’ll be reliving his teenage years. 🙂

The boys and I ventured out to a spot I first saw last year when we went berry picking. We didn’t make it there last summer, but this place was on my list of places to visit for this summer. It has a great education building with lots of hands-on things for the kids to do and then there are paths that lead to various parts of the wetlands.(That are super duper not wet in August…we’ll have to go back in April.) It was absolutely beautiful though and there was only one other family there, so it was quiet too.

This picture was taken after we saw a snake. Liam is consoling Colm. (I don’t know why Colm needed consoling since I am the one who had to give him a piggyback ride so his feet weren’t touching the ground.) Since they were both a little distraught after the snake sighting I gave them my camera to distract them…worked like a charm.

(Project 365-8/30/11)

Recipe at MommaCooks.

I recently checked out a book from the library about things to do with your kids in Portland and the surrounding area. The librarian told me about another place that she thought probably wasn’t in the book. I am so glad we went. The boys got SUPER dirty and had a lot of fun.

Colm putting the worm on Liam’s hook. LOVE the look on Liam’s face.

You might be wondering if the boys caught any fish. The answer would be no and I was SUPER happy the answer was no. Here’s why. You catch it. It’s yours. Oh, and you have to clean them before you leave too and I don’t mean with soap and water. I am talking about cleaning it with a knife. A gal I talked to at church said they had caught THIRTY fish when they went there. Can you imagine me cleaning thirty fish? Uh no. I was literally praying to God while the boys were fishing that they wouldn’t catch anything. (Thank you, Big Guy, I owe you BIG TIME.)

So we gave up on fishing and decided to hop in the paddle boat complete with water guns that you can shoot at other people who are also paddle boating. Good times.

This place also has Frisbee golf. We tried the easy course (they have three). I am so glad we opted for the easy one. One other thing they have here are peacocks…about 30-40 of them. They are everywhere-young, old and everything in between. I took a zillion pictures of them, but none of them came out too clearly since they were either in the shade or camouflaged. I will say, however, that peacocks make an awful sound.

Time to go home…Otter Pops with the resident dog.

(Project 365-8/26/11)
Dirty feet! We went home and made a beeline for the pool. That got them cleaned up in a jiffy.

We picked these five beauties from our garden today. We have about five more that will be ready soon and lots of pumpkin blossoms with promises of more pumpkins in the near future. Now what to do with five pumpkins in August. Any ideas?

School supplies came today! I love getting school supplies. You know what I love even more? Not having to schlep all over town to find them. They are delivered to the school and all I have to do is pick them up AND the school earns a little money, too. It’s a win/win as far as I’m concerned.

So summer is going to be over here before you know it and we still have a lot of things we need to do. First stop, one of the boys favorite places to go and it’s turning into an end of summer tradition around here.

(Project 365-8/22/11)