June date

Our June date weekend was spent in Portland. We explored the Japanese gardens in Washington Park. It was a very tranquil and beautiful garden. Everywhere we looked there was water, sculptures, and bonsai. The day was perfect too! Blue skies, sunshine and temperatures in the high 70s!
Tranquility: We loved the hidden water falls and little streams.

There were lots of these bamboo water features.

This waterfall and pond area was filled with lots of blooming iris and other water plants. We even saw some koi, although they were pretty shy about coming to the surface. The pond is surrounded by a boardwalk that allowed us to explore the nooks and crannies. We also noticed that even though there were lots of people, we didn't really notice them. Such a peaceful area!

We walked across the park to the Rose Test Gardens. I was in heaven! There were acres of roses and we stopped and enjoyed so many of them! Here's a picture of my next rose - it's called Livin' Easy!

This is the main walkway of the Rose Garden: it is only a small portion of the area. We also witnessed several weddings in the park - you could tell it was June! After our explorations, we headed downtown to a great little restaurant and then explored Pioneer Park Square. Another great date weekend! Wonder what we'll do in July?

Missed opportunity!

Last week was a minus tide and unfortunately, we had to work. Beth and Bryan did take the time off and ventured to our favorite place: Cape Kiwanda. They explored tide pools and the beaches. Thanks, Beth and Bryan for the wonderful pictures - wish we hadn't missed this!
This picture was taken by me in May 2008. It shows how much water comes through the cove.

Here's the cove last week - this time you can actually walk through to the other side instead hiking over a huge sand dune! Way cool!

The beach at Cape Kiwanda at minus tide!

The big dune to the right is what we would normally hike over to see the cove from the other side.

And now for the rest of the story......

The reveal: Beth and Bryan took these pictures to showcase our gift to Dad. We made a casting of a rhubarb leaf out of a sand/cement mixture. It turned out great! The coolest part was the deep veins that came through the cement. It's a pretty neat project and I am planning on doing more of these! Beth painted the leaf and sealed it so Dad could enjoy it in his yard!

The molded leaf

Dad was fascinated by the process! Happy Father's Day, Dad!

UPDATE!

Do you remember the previous post about a project? Well, the update is we have given Dad his gift but I don't have the pictures yet. Stay tuned......(Don't you just love the teasers?)

Special Dads

Being a dad takes special talents: listening to three girls go through all the emotions (and usually either all at one time or one right after the other!), having the patience to put up with the drama (and we know how to pour it on!), and having the wisdom to turn off the hearing aid (just kidding, Dad!). Seriously, I am so very thankful for the dads in my life.
Dad, thank you for being there when you could be - you have taught me the importance of faith, peserverance and trust. Love you lots!!! To my husband: You are the best man in my world and I'm very thankful we have each other. Thanks for being such a great husband, dad and grandfather. I love you!

To my son: You have become a great dad - I am so very proud of you and your family. Your generous spirit, faith in God, and commitment are inspiring. I love you, son!

What are we doing?

mmmmm.....Beth and I are embarking on a new project. She is so creative and I love that I can learn so much from her! This is all I can post on this project because it's for Father's Day and I don't want to ruin the surprise. Don't you just love our outfits????

Hiking the Falls

It's another of our date weekends. We decided to embark on summer hikes and this was our first! We drove out to Silver Falls State Park, about 25 miles from Salem. The weather was picture perfect: blue sky, sunshine, and temps in the low 70's. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

These are the South Falls; you can actually walk behind them. Mind you, it's a little damp and misty but what a view! The roar of the water and coolness were such a treat. If you look closely, you can see people walking behind the falls.

On our drive in, we saw this field of red blooms. It was quite the sight! Not sure what the flowers were but it was so pretty.
Here's a close-up - anyone know the flower?

We then hiked to the lower South Falls, which are smaller in size (only a 93 fool fall!) but still majestic. Greg is looking mighty fine here!
The view at the entrance/exit of the falls. It's such a pretty area; if I weren't so partial to the ocean, I'd live here!

Here we are on the return from the falls; the entire hike around the sets of falls (there are 10) takes you for a hike of 8 miles. We are looking forward to doing the entire loop soon!

Of course, when it was all done, we had to stop at Greg's favorite ice cream shop! It was quite refreshing!
Can you guess: his or hers? We really are enjoying these weekends! It's so much fun to spend this time together and it's great fun to plan the weekends! Not sure what's in store for June....that's Greg's month.....stay tuned!