Once again it seems that summer has just arrived and yet many children are already headed back to school...where did all that time go? I'm not about to let the rest of summer go to waste though, so I thought I would take a (long overdue) minute to fill everyone in on what we have been up to this summer and what we are doing now.
With our recent move to Corvallis at the beginning of Summer, and an effort to save on gas, I have spent a lot of time exploring the area by bike. When we first moved here Seth finished up my bike which he built from a frame we found on craigslist, parts from my old bike, and other scavenged parts from all over. He'd been working on it for a while, but with the move he found the motivation needed to finally finish the project. Now with this sweet (and very cute) bike, along with our (much loved) bike trailer- Mikaiah and I have been all over the place! It's been a real treat to explore many of Corvallis's off-the-road bike paths, which often run along beautiful fields, ponds and rivers.
While we didn't get to do as much (okay, any) camping this summer (though we are this coming weekend) we did make it down to California a couple of weeks ago to see my grandmother as well as my Uncle, Aunt and cousin. While it's always hard to have these "end of life" visits, it was really special that my grandmother got to meet Mikaiah before she goes. My grandmother is one tough cookie. She is 94 years old and is just this last year or so really gone down hill, health wise. But she has lived a long full life and I'm so glad to be a part of it. I was also blessed to be able to have Seth and both of my parents to be able to go with me on our visit. It was (over all) a really good time. We even got time to go on a sweet hike with my Uncle.
Apart from that trip, we have been making the wedding rounds this summer. With either a wedding or bridal shower (or both) every weekend they can seem to take up the whole summer, but it was a joy to be able to be a part of them. Especially since one of them resulted in a new (and wonderful) sister-in-law for me! Yeah!
During the weeks I have been filling in my days with berry picking, getting to know neighbors (yesterday I tried my hand at tye-dying - we'll see how it went today) and such. We live in such a neat little community in this trailer park next to the Mary's river. It is so much cooler than I ever expected it to be.
In the days and weeks ahead I hope to begin immersing myself in the bigger community picture, joining (hopefully) a zumba class and a knitting class (I've always wanted to learn how to knit!) Let's hope I can blog a little more faithfully as well, and then maybe I won't have so much to ramble on about! Here's to the end of summer, last minute bonfires, more berry picking, camping, canning, and a few last bbq's. Enjoy it. I know I will.
