First Fish

I had a chance to catch newts, tadpoles, macroinvertebrates and tiny fish with hundreds of kiddos at the edge of this pond over the years. So, you can imagine my delight when I got to watch you explore this special place and catch your first fish here.

Alex, you really enjoyed casting and getting immediate results. Those bass were ready for every worm you threw at them and you yelled 'I got another one!' as loud as you could every time you caught a fish.

Will, you learned a quick lesson about tucking your arms into your life jacket while walking along uneven ground. After I plucked you out of the pond, you were up for a few rounds with the fishing rod. The fish wiggling at the end of your line fascinated you but you were not quite sure about touching them.

 

Let's hope your interest in fishing grows with you so that Papa and I can take you on more adventures in the years to come.

We HEART Parks

Boy do we LOVE going on adventures to parks. It may be a side effect from my job, but I love jumping into the car to investigate parks within a 30 mile radius from our house. Here are a few of our favorites this summer...

The 'bouncy bridge' park...

The 'doggy petting, Saturday market, splash pad park'...

 -Will-

 -Alex-

 

The 'soccer and playing house in goals park'...

The 'let's watch planes land, splash pad and sandbox shower park'...

The 'dinosaur and steep trail' park...

The 'water steps with sand park'...

Thank you Hillsboro and Sherwood residents for paying taxes to support your awesome parks, we sure do like playing in them. Newberg parks are cool but when we need a specific place to romp, you both usually have something to offer.

Diamond Lake

Our second camping trip of the summer was at Diamond Lake. It was surreal to introduce my husband and children to a place that was such a pivotal part of my childhood.

Diamond Lake may very well be the place where Mother Nature and I officially met and fell in love. Over the years, many things happened here...I caught frogs, marveled at lichen, built forts, saved emerging damselflies, peeked at bats, admired sunning fish in the shallows, swam with the leeches, rode my bike to the lodge, watched lightening from the dock, the list goes on...

My parents honeymooned here. My family vacationed in the summers here and dug into the cabin to snowmobile during the winters. Our pet cat escaped the cabin and nearly became a Mountain Lion snack here. We watched bears dig through the trash cans here. I fed chipmunks Cheerios from my highchair here...

This is clearly the place where our family created many happy memories...

Which is why we chose this place to memorialize and remember both of our parents...

It was wonderful to be back with family that I cherish to start a new chapter of memories. Camping across the lake gave me a new perspective and an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of cousins discovering their own Diamond Lake magic for the first time...

Auntie Jen brought glow sticks for the kiddos...

We enjoyed long chats around the fire...

The cousins had plenty of time to monkey around...

-Ilse, Alex & Will-

-Alex & Will-

Everyone remained civilized and took a dust bath...

 -Ilse-

-Ilse & Kellen-

-Will- 

-Alex-

The lions reappeared in the grass, slivers slid into hands and smiles were shared all around...

-Kellen-

Mother Nature provided the flowers and wove her spell with baby birds in a nearby nest...

(Look closely and you will see Mama bird catching caterpillars)

We enjoyed splashing in the lake and throwing rocks...

We took a quick dip and prowled the dock with Daddy...

 
-Will-

 -Alex-

The boys spent a few quiet moments making memories...

Here's to remembering those we love and the places we shared. It's okay to look back as long as we remember that we have a beautiful path ahead of us...