Laurelhurst Park

With a whopping 1 day until we have to go back to work, Drew, Mom and Dad went to Laurelhurst park in NE Portland to meet up with frinds Jenn, Brian and Leisl. The weather started out partly sunny and warm, ended up rainy. We had a great time anyway.

Mom and Drew pose in front of an antifreeze pond.

Ducks!

More Ducks!

The real reason behind the electric green pond at the park. Yummy!

Big Boy Bed

As if potty training wasn't a big step to take this summer towards being a "big boy", Drew has now moved from the crib to a brand new "big boy" bed!

Go Drew!

and "Mocorcytles" on Saturday...

Saturday everyone went to Nana's for Noni's birthday. Motorcycle rides were given, fun was had by all.

Drew on Aunt Jenny's Harley

My grandma is about to be WAY cooler than your grandma

Jarrod and Noni... ready to ride!

Cruising down the driveway, toward the open road

Noni and Jarrod coming home

Noni waves to the camera in successful celebration

Ok, Ok... I can laugh at myself. Jarrod told me Jenny's helmet would fit. I expressed concern before I pulled it on. Looks like my gut instinct was correct. The damn thing got stuck. My ears were bent over, and my left ear is still painful. Sleeping sucks right now. Here John tries to pull the damn thing off of my head.

Drew is mad that he doesn't get to ride the "mocorcytles" as Dad prepares to ride.

This si the first time I was on a motorcycle since I was about 10 on Grandpa's little Honda. It was a lot of fun.

Drew in Tracy's helmet. He didn't get to ride, but he loves wearing the helmets!

Uncle Jarrod helps Drew into his helmet.

HELMET!!!

Sunset on Friday...

The thunderstorms on Wednesday and Thursday led to fires on Thurday and Friday. Friday night, the sun set into a layer of smoke and made for an awesome view that my pictures do not do justice.

Tractors on Thursday...

The next day, Dad and Drew went to Nana and Grandpa Steve's. Drew fell in love with the tractor.

A very determined Drew concentrates on driving the tractor.

Someone is having a good time!

Drew and Nana.

Drew and Grandpa Steve prepare to drive the tractor for real!

Drew gets to drive the tractor!!!

Raspberries on Wednesday...

We went to Bend on Wednesday... Thunderstormy weather was there to greet us, but there was still plenty of time for raspberries!

Here Drew finds one that is not quite ready.

Jill knows that more is better!

Lost in the Black-eyed Susans

On The Way To Redmond...

Uncle Jarrod , Aunt Jenny and friends stopped by last night on the way to Redmond, OR for their annual motorcycle trip to central Oregon. We'll be following them down tomorrow. We're all heading home on Sunday.

The Churchburner Motorcycle Club prepares to head out this morning.

On their way.

Here we see the entire ensemble. Jarrod followed by Tim and Tracy, followed by Jenny, with their friend Josh in the "chase vehicle"

Ride safe guys!

Clark County Fair

With a very busy week planned, today was the perfect day to hit up the Clark County Fair. We got there at about 4:00, so we were leaving right as Queensryche was hitting the stage. Pretty good timing if you ask me!

Drew got to ride his FAVORITE... the ponies. Here we see him atop Twinkie.

These are no ordinary Dune Buggies... these BOUNCE!

Drew and Dad take to the skies! This ride actually made me feel a bit ill, but Drew LOVED it.

Drew enjoyed driving the creepy car with some random kid.

We are pretty sure the ride operator was under the influence, and I'm not talking alcohol. Drew didn't care... he busted a wheelie for his Uncle Jarrod!
(Notice "Bear Affair" in the background, next picture)

Mom and Drew on "Bear Affair". All three of us rode this one. See video below.

Here's the video from inside "Bear Affair"

Here is the last ride of the day. Drew loves the driving rides!

FLUGTAG!!!

Today was the Red Bull Flugtag at Waterfront Park in Portland. I chose to join 80,000 other fans of flight to watch some human powered "flying" machines take to the runway 30 feet above the Willamette river. Due to the sheer number of people present, I went alone. It was WAAAAAYY to easy to lose Drew at this place. Here are some pics to give you a feel of the event. You can click on any of the pictures to see them full size. There is a lot happening in some of them. Some of the pictures are like Where's Waldo.

Holy Crap. 80,000 people makes for a headache trying to find a place to sit. It took me 1/2 hour to find a spot after I arrived at the park... 30 minutes before the event started. You can see my eventual seat in this picture.

Each of the 31 teams had a 1 minute skit followed by an attempt at flight. Here we see Dark Helmet use his Schwartz against Lone Starr. Shortly after this battle, the Winnebago takes flight! (see next picture)

Umm... I like this picture because it shows the pure FAIL that is most attepts at flight at the Flugtag, and you can see Dark Helmet's helmet flying off. Princess Vespa has just left the runway, and Lone Starr, Barff and Pizza The Hut are next.

As you can see. the river was almost as crowded as the park. The crowds also formed on the Hawthorne bridge across the river, and the opposite bank, from the bridge to OMSI. You can see a sprinkling of them down low along the water line at the top of the picture.

Sweet picture of a beer bottle and the Beer Brothers headed for the water.

Another sweet picture of a team flying into the water.

Erse Cream

That boy loves him some "Erse Cream". Who cares if it rained all day and we barely topped 70 degrees at dinner time. Drew ate a good dinner, we heard an ice cream truck we couldn't find, so off to Baskin Robbins for some ice cream... yay!

Oh man... this could get messy

Chocolate!

We should all enjoy ice cream this much.