Blackberries, Blackberries and more Blackberries!

So, I have to say, yes I am jealous of Oregon's coast, but truthfully I am really jealous of their blackberries...no wait I mean weeds. Yes, that is right, in Oregon blackberry bushes are considered a nuisance or rather a weed. They actually spray to kill them...ugh..I hate you a little Oregon! To make up for this, I decided that we absolutely needed to take advantage of the blackberry bushes just a block away from Aubrey & Stephen's. I am not sure how many times exactly we went blackberry picking in the week or so we were there but I would think at least 5 :) I made all sorts of blackberry recipes, some good, some could have definately used improvement, but I loved it all. I even made Blackberry Jam...yum!

Here are some pics of the berry picking fun:

West Coast Journey: Part II - Butterflies and Horses

One of the days there we decided to go to the Clackamas County Fair and Rodeo.  Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures at the rodeo that night, but I assure you, fun was had by all of us.  It was a bit late though for Michaela and Danielle and they actually wanted to go home just before it was done.  Two hours later in time than Minnesota and a late start time equals VERY tired kids :)  Oh well!

The fair was earlier in the day and we got to walk around and see all the animals and one of Malcolm and my favorites was the butterfly garden.  It was the first butterfly exhibit that I had went to that actually had you feed the butterflies and had q-tips available for you to place the butterflies on your skin.  It was super-cool!

I get a kick out of the pics of Michaela and Danielle because they TOTALLY show they're personalities.  Notice the ones of Michaela where she has the look of complete concentration, then the brave face when she is trying to smile, but not quite sure that she likes the butterfly on her.  Then you take Danielle whose every emotion shows on her face.  I get such a kick out of my girls, what a hoot!

         

We also got to take all the girls on pony rides compliments of Grandma.  Thank you Grandma, the girls loved it!!

       

Fair Pics:

     

West Coast Jouney: Part 1 - Ocean Fun

So, to tell you I am a little daunted today. Malcolm and the girls have went back to the grandparents this weekend and before Malcolm left he told me he would love it if I got a blog done of our trip out west. Sounds easy, right? Yeah, well, I would love to have you look at all the pictures in our trip folder...whew!!! Malcolm did almost all of the editing and I get to come up with which pictures, you or I (later) will like to see. Its a tough problem, because for me each picture shows a hint of personality in each of the people in it and I want to see all of them. Then there is the perfectionist in me who sees flawed pictures in all of them and I don't really want to post any of them.

So what's a girl supposed to do? Well, I am going to take it bit by bit and try to post a few different sections of our trip to give you a recap of our trip. If you don't hear from me in awhile after a post. Send me a comment and tell me to get my butt in gear and write some more! Here goes nothing! One of my favorite parts of the trip was the beach outing. It was so fun being on the beach, flying kites, running through the waves and I even got to go for a mile or so run barefoot in the sand...it was so cool!

Danielle:




Michaela:



Zach-Man!- I get such a kick out of the way he crawls...I know a lot of kids crawl this way, but Michaela and Danielle never did, so it is extra fun for me!




Abi:


 

Kite-Flying Fun!

 

A fun day was had by all, I believe, but I especially had fun and sincerely wish we had the ocean near us. We tried flying a kite since we got home and because of the bluffs/valley the wind was so inconsistent even though it was strong that we couldn't keep it flying. Unlike the ocean, where I think we could have ran for miles and miles and it would have stayed up! Loved it!