Sauvee Island strawberry picking before leaving to Texas

В последний день до отъезда в Техас мальчишки пошли собирать клубнику с друзьями на остров Соуви, неподалёку от Портленда.



Ранним утром, пока солнышко не припекло и народ не оккупировал грядки мы прибыли на ферму и даже были лично приветствованы владельцем фермы и "другими уполномоченными лицами". Как оказалось, наша команда открыла клубничный сезон в этом году!


Алёша показал-таки верх трудолюбивости, собрав пол-ведра клубники за рекордно короткие сроки, при этом он успел пообщаться с другими, показав свой "улов", поделившись планами на завтра (Техас), а заодно и планами на весь месяц (беспредельное купание, изучение скорпионов под каждым камнем, поиск окаменелостей, выпечка с бабушкой Рози и гриль с дедушкой Стивом и пр.).



В отличие от сына, папа был способен делать только лишь что-то одно, в данном случае собирать ягоду, причём он явно дал фору Алёше так и не догнав его по объёмам. Кроме этого, папа оставил Лукошкиного "бэби" на ферме, за что ещё явно поплатиться позже.



Лукошка, в свою очередь, работал только на себя, как настоящий капиталист. Всю собранную ягоду он отправлял в рот не раздумывая, да простят меня фермеры за потерянную для них выгоду. Мне кажется, что детей до 4 лет фермеры должны взвешивать до и после выхода на поле, а за разницу в весе брать по стоимости клубники...
Только посмотрите на эту наглую физиономию.

Хорошо, что они не используют пестициды!

После сбора все уселись под навесом и с удовольствием откушали по-деревенски, пригубили холодного пивка, поговорили о том да сём, пока дети с удовольствием ловили бабочек и изучали окрестности.

Picnic on Sauvie Island

It was a beautiful day in Portland today and we enjoyed the entire morning and afternoon on Sauvie Island. First we drove out to Oaks Island trail--a gorgeous and easy walk. We would have like to spend more time there, but lunch was calling and they didn't allow fire grills anywhere on the trail. So, we had to turn back pretty early, but I would like to bring sandwiches next time and do the entire 2.5 mile (4.5km) hike.

Another family enjoying the trail took our picture--they warned us of black bears and tigers ahead of us on the path--it was their 4 year old who saw them though. Fortunately we didn't find them.

My new hat that Roma got for me! I like it. Roma is experimenting with our camera; his new favorite is to take pictures through the binoculars. It comes out pretty cool.

The boys found an eagle flying high over the wildlife refuge.

Our picnic. We had yummy bratwurst (organic and local) and Peter brought steak. The kids played amazingly together and enjoyed every second of being outside.

Nature School Tuesdays

Sellwood park again for Tuesday Nature School. This past Tuesday was the most beautiful Tuesday of the year. Roma studied in the park while everyone else attended their own duties, then we had a picnic lunch and stayed the rest of the day, lured in by the sun to forget any other responsibilites we may have.

Luka likes the see-saw, but I get a work out doing squats so he can go up and down. I noticed that in all newer parks that have see-saws, they have springs so the kids can do it themselves--I'm not sure which ones I like better.

Alyosha is a good tree-climber. We will work on this all summer so we can go apple pickng in the fall. Now he just climbs to shake the flowers down from the tree. Thank goodness it wasn't an apple tree--even the flowers fall pretty hard. That's gravity for ya.

The boys climb on Papa whenever they get a chance. It is great that he has the chance to spend so much time with them--but, even school takes up a lot of time so they take advantage of every minute.

Papa running with 2 boys. Look how long their hair is--tomorrow it will be all gone. :-(

Teeth

The big boys were playing on the playground with a thousand other kids on the sunny Monday afternoon. They took time out to entertain their brother who can't climb on the ladders and slide the slides yet.
Niki showing off his toothless smile. He is lucky enough that he doesn't have to go to the dentist yet; he doesn't really feel left out of the bunch because of that. In fact, it looks like he is pretty happy about it.
Luka is getting an x-ray of his front teeth. He was amazing, just letting the dentist do anything and everything she needed. He even held the film between his teeth like a pro.
Alyosha did great with the dentist too. He whispered that he was a little afraid , but the dentists were so great with kids that he is counting down until the next time he has to go. He doesn't know the difference between getting a cleaning and a filling though! (The dentist said he would get laughing gas--so he will be happy and floating in space)

They found 4! cavities. One I knew of, but the other 3 were a surprise. They are tiny little cavities between his teeth. The dentist said we probably didn't need to do anything about them because he should be losing his teeth in a year or so, but it would be a good idea to get rid of them just to make sure. On his x-rays we could see his adult teeth just waiting to come out. She said if he flosses every day- he wouldn't have any cavities at all.

The pediatric dentists at OHSU are great. They made the kids feel comfortable and somehow hypnotised them into doing everything and anything they asked. Luka didn't have any cavities, but he has a little dent in a front tooth that he got when he fell down once, so he will have a filling put in just to keep everything healthy for the future. I like it when we find good doctors and dentists :-)

Weekend

We had a great weekend spending almost the entire time outside! Yeah for spring! It was 78 degrees today (25 Celsius) and it will only be getting better as time goes by. I know that nature needs to rest during the winter months to rejuvenate for the next season, but I think the resting period could be a little shorter because we humans need the warmth of the sun! Here is Luka and Alyosha at the zoo, riding the wolf statues.

A portrait by Aloysha at beside the river at Silver Falls. There are 10 huge waterfalls here, but we only got to see one while we were on our way out. It was too much fun sitting in the sun and playing in the river. We will see the waterfalls next time.

A hiking trail at Tyron Park--it is a temperate rain forest-green and dripping with plants and bugs. Usually bugs, they are just now waking up so it was a little disappointing for Alyosha.

Roma is the leader through the forest, look at how green it is the first few days of warm, sunny weather.

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden

We had a Friday Nature Walk with friends at the Rhododendron Garden--which might as well be called the duck and goose playground. Along the entire walk we had a company of ducks waddling along behind us. Luka was afraid of the ducks, and geese (the geese I don't blame him for, they are bigger than he is!). Alyosha put on a very brave face around his friends--but once he was surrounded and we were ahead of him on the trail; when I looked back to see if he was catching up there was sheer terror on his face because the gaggle of geese and ducks encircled him and his bag of bird seed, a full zip lock bag. I saw him pour the entire bag out, then he made a run for it. By the time he reached us you could still see the wet, blotched tears on his cheeks and the redness in his cheeks, but he was trying to smile.

The kids and Nikolai staring each other down to find out what they are made of.

In front of the waterfalls. I don't know how, but we made it over the steping stones without falling in... Niki on my chest in the sling and Luka dangling from my hand--Alyosha was on his own.

The Canadian goose that was chansing the others away from his food--there were also mallards, wood ducks, scaups, red head ducks, northern pintail, shovler, cinnamon teal, chinese swan geese, and more....

Spring Time in February!

It is a sunny and beautiful day and there is a reason to be happy and have hope in this world! I truly do think that it is awful that weather/climate affect me so much, but as soon as the sun comes out it is like a heavy weight is lifted from my shoulders and the warmth I feel in the air melts what felt like a stone wall that was built around my heart and brain.

The winter here is just enough; it is February third and already I am shown the bright, warm possibilities this world has to offer. I can't imagine being in a place where I would have to last 2 or 3 more months! Today was 60 degrees!! (16 degrees Celsius)

Sunny, bright, beautiful--Now, if I could only lose 40 pounds in the next week or so...