Labor Day Camping - Trout Creek

For Labor Day in Portland, we did what a vast number of Pacific North-Westerners do and went camping. Thanks to a friendly post over at Good Stuff NW we decided to try out Trout Creek in the Willamette National Forest. 

We were very pleased with our choice. We had a nice big site with easy creek access, close to the bathrooms & close to the water pumps.

Trout Creek campground is located about 20 miles east of Sweet Home - far enough away from civilization that you feel like you're off the grid (umm.. no cell reception!) but close enough to a town that when you run out of beer and milk you can run to Safeway and back within an hour or so.

Everyone had a great time. Drew enjoyed mucking about in the sand and dirt, Zoey enjoyed jumping around in the creek (also mucking about in the sand and dirt), Mom & Dad enjoyed stolen moments of peace and quiet around the campfire at night. Our good friend, Kaija & her frenchie, Dash, joined in the festivities as well. 

Below are just a spattering of pictures from our weekend. 

We highly recommend Trout Creek for anyone looking for a good family camp ground in the PDX area. However, I am keeping our site number top secret so it doesn't all-of-a-sudden become the most popular. Sorry, guys... have to protect treasures!  

Drew.. dressed by his dad.. checking out the creek.

Zoey - swimming like a champ!

Drew and Zo

Drew in the creek

Dash!

Drew & Dad 

Not sure if you can see Drew in this picture since he is wearing 2 different camo
prints - he blends in pretty well. 

More cute Drew & Dad. Dad was explaining that Drew needed to
take the rocks slow & carefully since they can be super slippery. Drew did pretty well!

Kaija & Dashy

Someone came before us & put up these cool cairns.
I'm hoping they really weren't using them to mark their path since Drew
immediately knocked them down. 

My camp banner!

Open-Flame Cooking Champ: Dad!

Kaija & Drew posing for Instagram selfies - they turned out really cute

My selfie - just to prove I was there

Drew's version of a silly face
(we have some work to do on this!)

Being silly...

Zo & Dashy had a great time playing

XOXO

First Day of Preschool!

Yes, I've been a tad behind in posting any updates since the Leppers landed in Portland. We arrived June 15 and had a nice long & lazy summer of trips to the park, mornings at the library & exploring our new stomping grounds.

But... as all good things do... it has come to an end. 3 weeks ago, I went back to work, full-time and last week Drew started preschool.

I won't bore you with the details about my job... well, maybe I will... but in a separate post.

Drew started preschool 3 mornings a week last Wednesday (after a wonderful Labor Day camping trip... again, details to follow in another post) at Hummingbird Preschool - a neighborhood preschool out of a cute craftsman-style home, about a half-mile away from our house. Mark and Drew can easily ride bikes or walk if the weather permits.. and by most accounts, it will only "permit" for another month or so.

Since Drew was in full-time daycare since he was about 3 months old, he jumped right into preschool like it he was born to be there. He is a fairly social kid (says hi to everyone on the street!) and was starting to get a wee bit bored with just mom & dad as his closest friends. Now he has 9 other kids to hang out with.

I learned that most people start planning for preschool in January or February - we started in August. It evaded my attention that preschool is not the same as daycare & you are on the school-year calendar. Eek! But, God was gracious & the stars all aligned and we found Hummingbird Preschool - with an opening - and very close to home. Perfect!

We were happy with this school because they really focus on letting the kids play and be kids - not pushing a huge academic agenda. The mind of a 3-year old is a sponge & will absorb lots of new things but we really felt strongly that we wanted him to have a play-based, creative school for now & we can worry about his calculus abilities later. Play while you can... you only get to be a kid for a few years and being an adult is boring.

All that said, here are a few pictures from the first day of preschool. Please note that Mark is in charge of getting him ready & I probably would have made a few attempts at getting his hair to lay down a bit more. But not dad.

ps: we are growing his hair out for a real haircut before my cousin's wedding later this month. The shaggy look is not really what we're going for. :)

XOXO!