First Family Hike

This post will be the start of a series summarizing our summer adventures, as I continue to play catch up on our blog. This first adventure led us to the nearby Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge on a sunny day in June. The Refuge is home to several species of wild birds and animals. There is also a replica of a Chinook long house. Not far from this long house, Lewis & Clark stayed and traded with the Chinook people on their journey to the ocean. The remains of historic long houses are nearby and part of an archeological dig site (off limits to the casual visitor).

There is a short, mostly flat walking path that we "hiked" with the boys and Aunt Jenn. At the end, we found ourselves at the edge of one lake that is fed by the Columbia River.

Every since our visit, Nathan has spoken of returning and hiking with his Grandpa Murray. When warm weather returns, we'll have to plan another visit.

Comments

Tradition

At no other time of the year do I think about "tradition" more than during the holidays, from Thanksgiving through Christmas. I do like the sense of timelessness that traditions afford, reminding us of past Christmases and the people or places we cherish most. As much as I love the traditions of years past and years to come, I think it's healthy to miss or change traditions every now and then. My own childhood was filled with traditions for Thanksgiving and Christmas, as was Jeff's, but I also recall the experiences when traditions were put on hold or changed, sometimes intentionally, and sometimes for reasons beyond our control. I suppose it's the same for all of us as we grow, move, lose, and gain. Not that I go out of my way to disrupt any plans for my family now, but rather, to remind us that life doesn't always go the way it has before and we can enjoy the time together no matter what. Having our own family caused Jeff and I to decide on what would be...

The Time is Right to Write

Hey. Remember me? I know it's been awhile. A whole year, I think. It sure has been a year. I cannot count the number of times I considered writing reflections on the year here. Surely, this was a year to record our place in a history-making pandemic? But just as often as I thought about writing here, I stopped myself; after all, what makes my experiences different or worth noting? We have collectively endured a year of loss, struggles, pain. So, I'm not going to write a long recap of our entire year here. Instead, I want to write about writing. I know I have another post on the subject but this one has a different purpose. Jeff recently sent me an opinion piece from The Washington Post that immediately resonated with me: Journaling for kids: How (and why) to start a journaling practice with kids Like the author, I was encouraged to journal as a kid. As the author notes, journaling helped me process the most significant events in my life, such as the loss of...

Christmas 2020

Have yourself a merry little Christmas Let your heart be light From now on Our troubles will be out of sight As a result of the pandemic, the model train festival we typically enjoy this time of year was canceled (thus no pictures with Santa). We missed family and friends this year. The fun energy of the last few school days before Winter Break was not quite the same over Zoom. I missed singing carols in church during month of December. As the season progressed, I couldn't help but reflect on other times in history where celebrations were small and often just a nuclear family. Times and places where travel was too difficult or too expensive to justify leaving home. For those generations of families, the traditions were as simple as reading the Christmas story together or baking a special bread. In so many ways that was our Christmas this year and by seeking the joy in each moment, we found our hearts lighter. We visited our favorite local tree farm to find THE TREE. We...

The Davolts

Search This Blog