Cotton Candy and Oregon History

I am very excited about our history & science studies this year!   Despite being born and raised in Oregon, there is so much that I don't know about our fair state.  More exciting than the topic is the fact that our history & science co-op is going to take a field trip each month to a different region of Oregon to see it firsthand!  Tomorrow our journey will take us to Crater Lake to learn about volcanoes and the Indian myths/legends revolving around its creation.

Considering our history topic this year, it was nearly impossible for me to resist a free photo presentation at Prineville's A.R. Bowman Museum on the railroad wars of Central Oregon.  The kids and I made the journey to Prineville last Friday.  We arrived about 1.5 hours early for the 6:30 start time, so we stopped for dinner at the local Tastee Treat Diner.  Immediately Violet began drooling on the ice cream case, just inside the front door.  Inside the case was the brightest ice cream I have ever seen.  It was swirled with neon shades of blue, pink and purple and carried the equally exciting name of Cotton Candy.  Knowing my limited budget for dinner, I had to say no to the prospect of sampling the psychedelic ice cream.  While I was placing our order, an employee in the dinning area struck up a conversation with the kids, trying to guess their ages and grades. With the exception of classifying Robin as a preschooler, she nailed them all.

Dinner was an improvement over the fast food to which we are accustomed.  Mid-way through our diner fare, the waitress brought out a note to me from the manager.  It turns out that Bev the manager was whom the kids had been talking with earlier and she had seen the disappointment on Violet's face when I said "No, ice cream."  It turned out that Bev wanted to give them each a scoop of the Cotton Candy ice cream on the house!  How could I say no?  When the server brought out the neon ice cream, there were uncontainable squeals of delight.  What a wonderful welcome to Prineville!

After their dose of sugar, we stopped by "Castle" Park near the center of town to burn off some of our excess energy before the presentation.  What a cool play structure!  The options for climbing, swinging, crawling and sliding are endless.  We did not stay too long, as there were too many men unaccompanied by children hanging around the park, which made me feel uncomfortable.

Finally, we made our way to the Bowman Museum, where we met up with my mom.  I was slightly disappointed that the presentation was not in the main museum, but rather the unfinished annex.  Soon the presentation began.  It was chock full of information about the arrival of the first railways to Central Oregon.
The slides and stories about the Crooked River Bridge construction alone, made the trip worthwhile.  I was pleasantly surprised that all four kids sat relatively still for the entire 1.5-2 hour presentation.   James seemed pretty interested, but the girls were quite bored.  Nevertheless, we survived and may have actually learned something.

Violet Made it to 10!

When our daughter Violet was a toddler, there were many days when Travis and I thought, it would be a miracle if she made it to 10 years old. She has always been one to push the limits of everything, especially my patience. This week I am thanking God for a miracle granted. This November marks 10 years that we have had the blessing of Violet in our lives! Not only has she survived, but she has thrived and matured. This year I have seen her soften and begin to bloom into what I am sure will be a wonderful young woman. Violet has become more responsible, truthful, and respectful. I am truly enjoying being her mother!

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus Recipe - How to Make Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

This sounds yummy!  I think that I will have to try this recipe.  Hopefully I will be able to find Tahini easily, because I don’t think that I want to make it from scratch.  

Sun Dried Tomato Hummus Recipe - How to Make Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

A Splashing Good Time

The onset of HOT summer weather brought out the inflatible pool. It has become tradition to set it up under the slide for maximum enjoyment. This is one aspect of motherhood that I truly LOVE, trying all the things that I only dreamed of as a child. Growing up I remember a wide array of sprinklers to run through, an occasional hard plastic wading pool, and many repurposed small boats, but a pool slide, that was only a dream. This summer we added friends to the fun. I find it so fulfilling to watch the kids playing nicely, enjoying the cool water and hot summer sun. Fulfilling that is, until Robin giggles and hollers, "I peed in the pool!" Little sisters are so silly!

Elks Game

Tonight I enjoyed my first Collegiate league baseball game, The Bend Elks vs. The Bremerton Bluejackets. GO ELKS!! In all actuallity it was the first time I had watched adults, outside of a church league, play a serious game. It was great fun! I especially liked the price, 7 of us got in for just $5.00 total! It was Little League night, so all little leaguers in uniform (plus one guest each) were admitted for free. I have decided that nothing can beat the cracking sound that a wooden bat makes as it collides, full force, with a baseball. I wish that the little leaguers could use wooden bats as well. Sadly, tonight the Elks lost by one point, but it was a good game. Lots of great catches and 2 shattered bats. The broken bats thing was incredile to watch. Large segments of what was formerly a bat, went flying deep into the infield. It has to be a little unnerving for the pitchers to be so close as the bats come flying recklessly in their direction.

It was a double header tonight, but the clouds were rolling in, the wind was picking up and the temp was dropping, so we called it a night after the first game. I think that the kids had fun tonight, at least there was a lot of giggling and squealling. Who knows if they actually watched the game or not. The team mascott, Homer (a man with a giant baseball for a head), was the focus of most of their attention and ridicule. I hope that James gets to experience the life of a mascott at some point in his life. To the delight of all the kids there was an affordable concession stand in the stadium. Looking back, I think that sugar overload may have contributed to their inability to stay seated during the game. Next time I will stick to the popcorn and peanuts.

I can't wait to go to another game! I never imagined that a baseball game would be so entertaining. I hope that I can enjoy the next game as a date with Travis and find something else for the kids to do for a couple of hours. I'm hooked!

Little League 2009

This year Violet played on the girls softball team. Her team was named The Thunder. They had amazing coaches! Violet had to learn about stealing bases and pitching underhanded with a wind-up. This was the first year that Bend had reintroduced a softball division, so there were only enough girls in bend for one team of 7-10 yr olds. With a shortage of rival teams in Bend, we played teams from Prineville, and Redmond. Initially I thought that the travelling was going to be horrendous, but it wasn't really that big of a deal. The Thunder played some really great games, made apparent by the hooting and hollering of the spectators. One of the girls taught the team some cute cheers:

We don't wear no miniskirts

we just wear our softball shirts

We don't play with barbie dolls,

we just play with bats and balls.

We don't drink no lemonade,

we just drink our Gatorade!

Much more creative than the lame ones, I remember.

James rejoined the league this year in the Minor American Division. His team name was The Twins. He was delighted to find a couple of his friends from AWANA also on his team. James found his niche in the catcher position. He did a great job, and I saw BIG improvements in James' basic skills this year. He developed pretty accurate aim in throwing and toward the end of the season he was able to hit the ball.

This is James showing his Trekkie genes. Live Long and Prosper!

Sadly, I have not got the pictures of Hailey developed yet :(

Hailey signed up for the tee ball division this year. She made her debut into little league on the Sidewinders. Hailey has always had a bit of a princess complex, and her coach must have sensed as much. He told all of the boys on the team that girls get to bat first, every time, and she really ate that up! She did pretty well for her first year playing. She hit the pitched balls about half of the time and the other half she used the tee. I think that her favorite part of the game was chatting with the base runners. Hailey's throwing skills improved through the season as well.

Well, we survived another year of little league. Next year should get pretty interesting, I think that Robin might be old enough to play too!

God's Plan of Salvation (GPS) Spring Choir Performance

This year the Bend Church of the Nazarene Children's Choir presented God's Plan of Salvation. All of our children were able to participate this year. It was a great performance! I was quite pleased to see at least three out of the four doing the hand motions throughout the songs. The kids' candor is so much fun to watch. At one point Robin shouted out "OH, watch! This is the funny part!" There is no predicting Robin.