Extreme Makeover: Backyard Edition

For those of you who have been here and seen it, our backyard has needed a desperate amount of help from the day we moved in. Weeds, overgrown plants just like the front yard, trees that were too big for the small space, and tons of dirt mixed in with rocks over the paving stones that were meant to be decorative. Obviously, a lot to be done. We've been slowly removing plants and trees and have finally gotten to the point where we can begin working on the landscaping portion of our makeover.

Now, because of the way the property is sloped, grass is a no-go for the back. There's way too much rain run-off and erosion happening, so all landscaping needs to be stone and rock based. Also because we have dogs, we're not planning on really growing anything back there. All veggies are growing out front. I do have some plans for hanging planters on the fence, but those are still just thoughts and would be the last thing to be put in.

We are taking the landscaping one section at a time. Here is the section we started with (click on any picture to enlarge):

 As you can see, weeds galore and a massive amount of dirt covering the paving stones. I started with just a pointed shovel and then decided I needed to buy a pick axe. Yes, me with a pick axe. It definitely helped get through the matted mud and rocks, although the whole still required good old elbow grease and sweat.

It took me a few weekends to get out the weeds and dig out all of the matted mud to create grooves in between all of the stones.

After that was done, we bought a few bags of decorative river rocks to pour in between the paving stones and around the tree:

 It's a little dark as I had just sprayed it down with the hose to remove extra river dirt from the rocks.

So there's the first little portion done. Our plan for the whole backyard is just to make it pretty and functional. A place for the boys to play in their sandbox, a place for us to sit in deck chairs around a fire pit. We'll get it there - a little bit at a time.

Elowah Falls

Yesterday we took advantage of the hot weather (91 degrees) to go play in a waterfall in the Columbia Gorge. We knew the area would be a little busy, so the night before we researched some of the various trails leading to waterfalls that would be kid friendly but not massively crowded. We came across Elowah Falls - a 1.3 mile hike round trip to a gorgeous water fall. So the plan was set. We packed a backpack and drove about an hour, 2 miles past Multnomah Falls (which was PACKED) to a little trailhead off of Frontage Road.

There were about 15 cars, but there are a few trails that begin at this trailhead, so we figured everyone wouldn't be on the exact same trail. And we were right. We passed a group of people maybe three times on the hike and there was one other group swimming at the falls when we got there. Not bad at all!

It was quite muggy, so we were thankful to be in the shade and out of the sunshine for the duration of the hike.

The trail was easy for a while, although you gain some elevation for the first half and then you begin going down again for the second half, then the trail becomes steep and rocky with quite a few switchbacks. I held Nathan's hand in case he hit some loose rock - and there was lots of it - but in general the boys were able to hike this one easily.

We found a tiny waterfall and decided that it was a shower for fairies.

Some of the scenery leading up to the waterfall.

You're still quite close to the freeway on this hike, but once you hit the switchbacks, the freeway sound dies away and it's replaced by the sound of the waterfall. It was a gorgeous sight.

That tiny thing at the bottom of the picture is Aiden.

These falls are strong. The spray and wind coming off of it was hefty, but it felt perfect in the muggy weather. I didn't want to walk away from it!

We played in the stream under the walking bridge and had a snack.

This is seriously a beautiful place and possibly my favorite waterfall yet. I think I'm going to have to start keeping a list of all the waterfall hikes we've done.

As you can see, the boys had a wonderful time exploring the falls. I loved that this one was a great hike for the kids, even if it did get a little steep and rocky at times. We can't wait to do more hikes throughout the summer!

Camp Invention

Last week, Aiden had the opportunity to attend Camp Invention at his school. We had signed him up for it as soon as we received the flyer back in March. He's done at least one day camp each summer since he was three and we knew this one would be right up his alley.

Here's a description of the program from the Camp Invention website:

 "In each Camp Invention program, children rotate through four modules each day, each of which encourages working in diverse teams, engaging in investigations, experiments, and engineering challenges that combine science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in fun, hands-on activities."

At the end of the week, all parents were invited to the "Invention Showcase" where the kids got to show off all of their inventions from the week. Aiden's InventNow group had created a balloon popper, which they demonstrated for us.

Aiden's individual invention was created out of recycled items. It was a household robot (to perform basic household tasks like laundry and dishes), but Aiden would like me to mention that he didn't get a chance to finish it. He was given a mock patent certificate with his name on it.

Aiden's Magnetropolis group created an island out of recycled items. They had to plan and build the whole island together and find a way to link wires and magnets throughout the island so that the lights would turn on.

Aiden built the school for the island. He told me that he believed they needed a school so that all of the children on the island could learn about science and technology.

It looks like they were successful with the magnets because the lights all over the island were shining brightly!

While those were five very long days for him (he's not used to 9-3:30 days away from home), he said that he loved the experience and wants to do it again next year. He was able to learn teamwork, use his imagination, learn some new things about science and technology, and get a little taste as to how long his school days in 1st grade are going to be. I packed him a lunch in an actual lunchbox every day last week and honestly, it made me a little sad. How my baby Aiden could be old enough to need a lunch box is beyond me. But I am happy that he enjoyed himself. Now to keep him adequately occupied for the rest of the summer!

The 4th

As we do every year, we spent the 4th at John's parents house. We celebrated with a yummy BBQ, lighting off our own fireworks, and watching the big fireworks show that they set off over at the high school. We've got a great view from the neighborhood there and it's nice to not have to battle a huge crowd to watch fireworks.

The boys got to help with lighting some this year, although Nathan was ready to make it run for it as soon as his was lit! I don't mind that he's a tad cautious!

Speaking of being cautious, Laura ran out into the road before one of the fireworks was done going off (it had paused and we all thought it was done) and she did a nice little dance when it began exploding again. We laughed and screamed and gave her a good-natured scolding for being a bad example to the boys, but we were all happy that she didn't actually get hurt!

It's hard to believe it's been almost a year since Laura and Kevin's wedding!

As careful as Nathan can be, he did start waving one of his sparklers around and threw some sparks towards his great-grandfather.  Yikes!

At the end of the night, two firetrucks drove through the neighborhood and when they saw the boys waving at them, they turned on the lights as they drove past, waving and smiling at Aiden and Nathan. My camera had been put away at that point, so I sadly didn't get a picture.

We had a slightly eventful drive home. John reached over to pat me on the leg at one point and stuck his hand right into the layered bean dip I was holding in my lap. We had no napkin available, so he had to eat as much as he could off of his hand and then go through the rest of the drive with a slightly gooey hand. It gave me a good laugh.

Aiden bit into the glow bracelet he was wearing and ended up with some of the glow stuff in his mouth. He said it made his mouth feel "waxy". Luckily it was just a drop, so we gave him some milk when we got home and he was fine.

It was a very fun and relaxing 4th. We always enjoy family time and we were all the right amount of tired by the time we got home at almost midnight. For those of you who weren't there to join us, you were missed.