2021 – May part 1

Started May with an eye appointment. Nothing wrong, just the yearly checkup. I did however like the wine bottle they had. After we were finished we headed off to another waterfall hike. We have the Oregon Parks pass, so we are getting the most out of it. I like the photo of me sitting on the logs. I could have sat there for hours (but I didn’t because well… kids).

Another trip to our favorite bridge (St. Johns if anyone hasn’t been keeping track). This time the kids and I took the walk across it and had some great views. You can see downtown, Mt. Hood, and Mt. St. Helens. You will see a photo of Luca bundled up on a cool May evening. We hiked in the gorge some more and saw the Oneonta tunnel (a wooden tunnel that smells like a Home Depot). On our hike, this time we even saw some fire damage from the 2017 fire that ripped across the area before returning to some of the classic gorge waterfalls.

These hikes are not expert-level so if you want to do it, just pick a cool day. That is my best advice – but if you go on a warmer day, get a little wet from the falls and your hike back will be pretty easy.

Hmm, does anything else really happen in May? Yeah. A bit.

More hikes. One of them we went on with my parents and it was a steeper incline than anticipated so I took the kids ahead with me. Elijah on my shoulders, Luca in the front pack, and Arabella holding my hand. After we got to the car Luca was very happy with having some time to sit in front with me.

We had a cookout at one of the state parks which was nice. Took Luca and Elijah to get some shots and before you knew it – it was Elijah’s birthday.

We wanted to make this year pretty special for him. We planned a few trips for later in May that are going to be all-encompassing for him. In addition, we asked a local person to stop by with his old Firetruck for his birthday. He was thrilled. We kept building off of that. What do you want for dinner? Favorite thing?! Pizza hut: Pineapple and Pepperoni Pizza at Rooster Rock State Park.

After dinner, we came home – he switched into his new Jurassic PJs and we got his birthday cake ready (even outfitted with a Jurassic Park Jeep on top).

The next day before we went on a larger trip, Arabella convinced my dad to go for a walk. It ended up pouring and they had a lot of fun dancing in the rain.

just Pray