Tag Archives: family

Unusual – Infamous Voodoo Donut

Unusual

While we were on our Portland, Oregon trip we decided to try out the infamous Voodoo Donut. The donuts were very tasty and reasonably priced. We waited in line for almost 25 minutes. The donuts are worth the wait if you are in Portland for a long visit. There are much more wonderful things to see and do in Portland if you are just making a quick visit.

We found that Portland is a great place to people watch. We probably would have left the line if it wasn’t for the street entertainment. There was a decent guitar player/singer performing right in front of Voodoo donuts. The downside to Voodoo Donut’s location is that there was a lot of pan-handlers right in that area. A few even approached us while we were in line.

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The store decor was eclectic and different but I guess it’s part of the charm. The donut fixture on their ceiling was definitely eye-catching and unusual.

Their donuts definitely live up to the company’s name. We loved the Voodoo Doll and the Maple Bacon donuts. The Doll contained a tasty raspberry filling and it was covered with great chocolate frosting. Talk about yummy Sugar Rush! The Maple Bacon donut was simply delish! (I’m a sucker for bacon.)

Yes. If we have the time to wait on our next trip to Portland, we’d definitely go there again.

Have you been to one of the Portland Voodoo Donut locations? If so, what are your thoughts on their donuts and your visit?

Beautiful Little Park

Today my son and I went to the closest city park and hid our painted rocks for others to find. My son, of course, couldn’t help but check out the playground.  I found it odd that there were no other children there. It is a Saturday and it was just after lunch. He had the playground all to himself for about 15 minutes.

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The heat may have been a bit unbearable for some but not for my child. My crazy son had on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. He claimed he was fine. What is it with kids using shorts in the cold winter and long-sleeved shirts in the heat of summer?

We also took a little walk to the community garden portion of the park. I love being able to see all of the fruits, vegetables, and flowers popping up everywhere. Here are a few of the photos from today.

Do you have any beautiful flower or garden pictures you’d like to share with everyone? Please feel free to share your pictures in the comments below.

A Visit to the Beach

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The summer has been great for us and it was a beautiful day for a visit with friends at the beach. It’s always nice to get the kids together. Our daughter enjoyed being doted on by our friends’ daughter and my son was excited to be with friends his age. I, of course, was super happy to be able to talk with other adult moms. We sometimes forget how important it is to nurture friendships at our adult ages too.

My goal is to start planning ahead for activities during Fall and Winter before our beautiful summer goes away. Nurturing friendships old and new. What are some of your favorite activities?

Here’s my daughter enjoying the wonderful breeze, ocean and sand.

Visit to Bloedel Reserve

A lovely quiet spot on Bainbridge Island, WA that we have come to love is the Bloedel Reserve. It is a serene and tranquil property that is perfect for a stress-relieving stroll, a place to gather your thoughts or time and place to simply admire nature’s beauty.

Our two year old loves trekking along with us on the trails. At yesterday’s visit we were blessed to see ducks in the pond, geese on the lawn, a deer and her doe in the forest and a little squirrel scurrying across one of the trails. Our daughter enjoys the beautiful flowers and never fails to try and skirt away to the water’s edge. So we always have to keep her close. I just hope she never tires of being around nature’s wonders.

Visit Bloedel Reserve. http://bloedelreserve.org/

Camping Craziness

Getting ready for camping, whether Boy Scout camp or our own family camping, is often stressful. No matter how many days in advance we insist on getting started on packing, we are usually not ready until the night before and sometimes the day of.

Boy Scout Summer Camp begins tomorrow. It’s our youngest son’s first time attending a full week of camp. Luckily, my husband and our second oldest son will be going to camp as well, but this means that all 3 needed to prep.

Our youngest son started to gather things and pack earlier this week, but he still had a few items missing, so with my husband’s help he finalized his pack tonight.

My second son is also still finalizing his packing tonight. He started packing in earnest last night. He’s a bit more experienced at getting ready for camping. I’m still praying and hoping he doesn’t forget to pack anything.

As for my husband (the Scoutmaster), he’s been working on gathering things earlier this week for the Troop but also had paperwork and emails to finish on top of a full week of work. He’s still running around packing his stuff while ensuring our youngest is ready. I think it’s going to be a late night.

This is just 3 out of 6 of us packing for a camping trip. At the moment I cannot imagine prepping for 6 of us and a dog to go on a camping trip.

We purchased a camper a few years ago. We pretty much got tired of the “blue tarp” camping. No matter how prepared you are to tent camp in Western Washington, you can always count on getting soaked at least a few times during camping season. While the boys have no choice to tent camp when out on scout trips, we felt our family trips should be as relaxing as possible.

This year my husband is still insisting we plan a family trip in the camper for this summer. I wouldn’t have to worry about packing for my husband and our boys but we also have our dog and our now one year-old daughter. We’ll of course need to take extra gear with us. For example: play pen, sleeping pad, things to keep her entertained, etc. This is on top of the dog crate and the normal camping paraphernalia. Our “just the right size” camper, I imagine, will seem very small.

Our controversial solutions are 1. Kick the older boys out to camp in a tent. 2. Sell this camper and purchase a bigger one. 3. Let’s rent a suite at the Great Wolf Lodge and pretend to camp. 4. Not go.

For one, while I wish we could sell our camper and purchase a bigger one, realistically it would not be a financially smart move for us. Two, renting a suite at the Great Wolf Lodge would be fun, but it would be great to take advantage and do awesome outdoor activities in the nice summer Washington weather. Three, it would be easy to just not go on a camping trip but I know I would fully regret not experiencing all the fun we could potentially have. Especially sharing our love of the outdoors here in this beautiful state with our daughter while making so many more wonderful memories as a family. So I think our only camping solution is to kick the older boys out to camp in a tent. Sorry boys!!!

Curve Ball

Two years ago God threw us a curve ball. We had a senior in high school, a sophomore in high school and an almost 10-year-old when we found out we were expecting our 4th child.

To say the least I was shocked. When the doctor gave me the news I cried. I was excited and elated that there was a life growing inside of me but a little crushed because it meant we’d be starting all over again. Life as we knew it was about to change. We were to become parents again. At my age of 43 the medical field calls it advance maternal age.

The shock eventually wore off. Due to medical concerns, the pregnancy was tough and a bit stressful at times but life began to brighten as we began to see our daughter grow and develop via ultrasounds.

Slowly the colors of pink and lavender began to inundate our home. We were finally blessed with the arrival of our first daughter, Jillian, in May of last year.

Having a little girl with 3 older boys has surely been interesting! The boys simply adore her but the boy adventures must simply go on.

Since the birth of our daughter many great things have happen. Our eldest graduated from high school. He earned his Eagle Scout through the Boy Scouts and is now a student at Pacific Lutheran University.

Our second eldest is now the Senior Drum Major in his high school band and is very active in his Boy Scout troop. He is currently working on his Eagle project.

Our youngest son has graduated from Cub Scouts and is now in the Boy Scout Troop. He is also learning to play the trumpet like his oldest brother. (It gets loud in this house.) He’ll be going to middle school in the fall.

It has been a very crazy year for our family. Jillian’s walking…ummm running now. It’ll be fun to see what kind of things she’ll be interested in as she gets older.

In all the craziness, our house at the moment has taken a back burner. This blog will be a great tool for me to help get things back on track.