Over the long weekend, Josh decided to rent this giant powertool digging machine for working on his backyard.  Kevin, never one to turn down the chance to play with a very large tool thingy, was more than eager to head over and check things out.  Since neither Kat, nor I, were too excited about said digging vehicle, we decided to leave the boys to their toys and do a bit of river exploring.   Portland is many wonderful things and a great part of its beauty lies in all of it’s rivers.  I’m a beach girl myself and never really saw the appeal of rivers but I decided maybe it was time I checked it out.  So, armed with a book about cool hiking trails in Portland, us girls headed out for an adventure.  We decided to try a river park called Kelly Point Park which was about 10 minutes away from Kat’s house.  We drove through a massive industrial dock area and then, wham-o, we turned the corner and were engulfed by huge trees and dappled sunlight.  Don’t you just love it when you find a pocket of green in the midst of grey concrete?  We parked the car and headed down the hiking path with the other families.  There were a ton of very happy looking dogs, fishing poles, and coolers around.  The path lead through some trees and then down to the banks of the Willamette river and it was gorgeous.

Who knew there was sand at the river?  I sure didn’t.  And it was beautiful, white, clean sand too!  Since it’s a river, there was none of that annoying sticky salt feeling you get at the beach and no stinky smell.  The trees reached almost to the water line so there were only pockets of cleared space all along the river bank.  Kat and I settled onto a fallen log to chat while the girls ran and played and splashed.  We felt like we had the river all to ourselves.  We had only one shovel but that was ok.  Turns out all you need is a river + sticks to make two little girls very very happy.  Who knew?

There were no waves to scare you and plenty of boats and jet skies to watch idly from the river bank.  The trees provided plenty of shade.  I could have easily hung out there all day long I think.  But there was more exploring to do so we hiked back up to the path to continue our journey.  Our next destination?  The place where the Columbia and the Willamette rivers meet.   It was easy to find.  All we had to do was look for the giant anchor marking the spot!

You see anchor, they see climbing toy.  Leina actually wanted to take it home to our backyard!  Yeah, I don’t think so.  But she sure did love climbing it!

It was a beautiful, peaceful, fun day – a total recharge of all systems.  I’m so glad we went up to see Kat and have our adventure.  We ended at DQ with dipped cones and Blizzards.  I’m thinking we may just have to ditch the boys and do this outing again!

Right now, it is so wonderfully gorgeous it steals your breath.  Usually, May and June are full of gloom and clouds and moaning about where the sun has gone.  But this year, we are being treated to a glorious Spring.  So much so that we opened up the back deck this weekend and Kevin cleaned up the grill.  Every night we’ve eaten dinner outside and it has been heaven.  Leina and Kulia help set the table and Artie runs about like a mad dog under our feet.  We eat slower and sit around longer.  Kevin and I get to talk and relax while the girls wander about the deck and yard doing what they do best – exploring and imagining.  Since it stays light until 9pm now, there isn’t any feeling of being rushed.  Yes, bedtimes are pushed back but it’s hard to notice since the kids are so happy and sleep so well after a day of swinging and running and screaming their little heads off.  The best part is that every few days it rains which keeps the temperature down and means I don’t have to water my plants.  I’m telling you, if someone where to come and visit me right now for a week, they would be making plans to move here.  Just perfect!  

I’m actually dreading the hot and dry days of Summer and hoping this lush green Spring lingers just a bit longer.