More Weekend Fun

Hoo boy, we had another great weekend. On Saturday, Shaun's parents were volunteering at the Tree Farmer National Convention Field Day, so we took the boys out to Camp Doneen to check it out.

It was a huge affair, with people attending from all over the country, and we had a great time. Loggers are some of the friendliest, most real people around. People would look at our name tags to see our names and where we were from so they could start up a conversation. What made it even more fun was that all Shaun had to say was "Did you know Chick Jensen? He was my grandpa." The reply was invariably "EVERYBODY knew Chick Jensen." I felt really proud just to have married into that legacy and tradition. But people were every bit as nice to us even before they knew of our tree farm/logging connection.

As an extra bonus, Shaun got to chat with Mike Pihl, one of the main "characters" of The History Channel's reality show Ax Men, which Shaun enjoyed following last season. We saw several of the guys from the show...but they weren't a featured part of the convention at all. They were just there, participating, because they're loggers. And yep, Mike Pihl said "everybody knew Chick Jensen."

Nels on the school bus shuttle to the tree farm.

Boys being cute in the woods.

The mechanized logging demonstration was incredible.  The power, size and agility of those machines made me feel like it's the closest I'll ever come to seeing dinosaurs.

Quite possibly the finest day in the woods ever.  

Cable logging is exciting too.

That night we went to Ariana and Jeff Mullins' house in Portland for their house's 100th birthday party.  It was just a wonderful evening.  All of their friends are lovely, and it was so much fun to meet people.  To be AMONG people.  Talking.  To adults.  Most folks had kids, and our boys spent the evening running all over the big yard with the other kids.  We all enjoyed a fire and some violin, mandolin and guitar music.

Really, Saturday was a highlight.  When it came time to put the boys to bed, I had a hard time singing them their bedtime songs.  My voice was all tired out from talking to people all day.

Sunday was not too bad, either.  In the late afternoon we went out to eat with some friends who were in town from Bend, and that evening I went out to dinner (Indian food) in Portland with my friend Heidi.  She only lives 20 minutes away from us--just one exit past Ikea!  After dinner we went back to her adorable Tudor revival house and enjoyed a cup of tea and a visit, made all the more enjoyable by the knowledge that all our little kiddos were fast asleep.

I ended the weekend pleasantly overwhelmed.  Spending all my time with my two kids (and not being involved in-depth at church for a while) has left me extremely out of practice when it comes to socializing.  I was grateful for the crash course.

p.s. Hrumph, as my sister might say.  I meant to make the photos bigger.  Make sure you click on the one of the sun shining on the leaves to see the forest in all of its glory.