Burning Down the House

A historic house in the heart of our little town was used for a "Burn to Learn" training this weekend. We headed into town to spend some of each day watching the burn.

The back, left, upstairs window was where my desk was located once upon a time, when I worked preparing taxes as a young pregnant and then nursing mother (with our firstborn rocking in his swing right next to my desk!) over fifteen years ago.

Downstairs was our favorite local restaurant. They had the best Grilled Burritos, Pesto Chicken Wraps, Raspberry Chipotle Chicken, amazing salads with homemade Cilantro Pesto dressing, and so much more.

Yesterday firefighters from a number of districts took turns lighting small fires inside and then more crews went in with hoses to put them out. Later in the afternoon the engines pulled up to the house and treated the training as if it was a real 911 structure fire call. Today it was burned down completely. It was sad to see it go but neat that it was used to help train firefighters!

"I want to be a FIREMAN when I grow up!!!" - Bud, age 4

I'm hoping I can find some extra time this week to pull out our fire themed picture books and maybe create some new Fire Safety Lap Books with my little ones.  It's been almost 7 years since I made those with the older children... Time flies!

Mt. Thielsen, Mt. Mazama and Craters of the Moon: The First Two Days of Our Summer Road Trip

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life with Like Mother, Like Daughter. ~

{pretty}

Mount Thielsen, an extinct shield volcano in the Oregon High Cascades, is so pretty! 

We pulled over on the side of the road to take a couple pictures. 

At the Rogue Gorge... The water is so low this year due to the drought! 

The picture above was taken in the same spot as the top picture in this post last summer. 

We also stopped at the Mt. Mazama viewpoint. 

"If you were standing at this spot 7,700 years ago when Mt. Mazama exploded, you would have been vaporized."

Mount Mazama is a stratovolcano in the Oregon segment of the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Cascade Range located in the United States. The volcano's collapsed caldera holds Crater Lake, and the entire mountain is located within Crater Lake National Park. When it last erupted, the eruption was 42 times greater than the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.

Mazama's summit was destroyed by a volcanic eruption that occurred around 5,677 (± 150) BC. The eruption reduced Mazama's approximate 12,000-foot (3,700 m) height by around a mile (1600 m). Much of the volcano fell into the volcano's partially emptied neck and magma chamber. At 8,159 feet (2,487 m), Hillman Peak is now the highest point on the rim.

You can see pictures of Crater Lake, located inside Mt. Mazama's collapsed caldera, in the archives. It's one of the most beautiful places I've visited.  

A quick visit to the chapel where we had our Homeschool Family Camp earlier this summer. 

{happy}

Anne of Green Gables, beautifully read by Kate Burton, kept us "as happy as queens" during the first long stretch of our summer road trip through Eastern Oregon and Southern Idaho.

{funny}

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. 
You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept of to." 

Parking for the night. 

Another day on the road.
(He was listening to Band of Brothers soundtrack with his new headphones. His prize from the #NPLTW contest!)  

Craters of the Moon National Monument

Our older children each have (very small and private) Instagram accounts (with a few close friends and some extended family) and Captain started sharing photos of his LEGO Camper Van at the beginning of our road trip. It didn't last long, there were just too many interesting things to see and do at the National Parks, but it looks like he finally made it back home yesterday!

Hometown: The mini figures inside the R.V. are glad to be back in their hometown. 

{real}

At the end of our second day on the road we stopped to explore Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve for an hour or so before continuing on to where we'd be stopping for the night. 

Craters of the Moon formed during eight major eruptive periods between 15,000 and 2000 years ago. Lava erupted from the Great Rift, a series of deep cracks that start near the visitor center and stretch 52 miles (84 km.) to the southeast. During this time the Craters of the Moon lava field grew to cover 618 square miles (1600 square km.).The smaller Wapi and Kings Bowl lava fields also formed along the Great Rift during the most recent eruptive period (approximately 2000 years ago). - Source

"Heavy, black ROCK!" says our little rock lover! 

These pictures were taken at the beginning of our 25-Day and 3,500 mile Summer Road Trip through Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Washington.  If you are interested you can find our RV Road Trip Check List & Tour here. I'm still working on sorting through the pictures of our visits to Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and the kids' summer camps! 

Bandon-by-the-Sea

{We've been stuck indoors since last Friday, due to a local wildfire that has caused smoke filled skies and unhealthy to hazardous air quality, so I'm sorting through pictures today and trying to finish up a few posts that have been sitting in my drafts folder. Looking at these pictures has me wishing we could go back to the ocean (or anywhere with blue skies!), and praying that this doesn't happen anytime soon!} 

We began our 2014-2015 school year with a camping trip to a little seacoast town and ended up finishing our school year by heading back to Bandon-by-the-Sea! One of our favorite priests in our diocese was planning a Corpus Christi Mass & Procession at his parish and had asked Sean and our older boys to help so we quickly packed for the trip and left immediately after our End-of-School party!

Despite the crazy coastal winds, it was a beautiful day and it was such a joy to have the opportunity to attend a Corpus Christi procession this year.  Here are the rest of the pictures from our weekend at the coast.

Morning Prayers with Dad while Mom makes Breakfast

Veggies sautéed with Coconut Oil and Trader Joe's Garlic Salt and Sausage ... one of my AIP breakfast staples. Yum!

.: Coquille River Lighthouse :. 

It was way too windy and sand kept getting in her eyes... Time to head back. In the meantime borrowing my sunglasses helped put a smile back on her face. 

After the Corpus Christi rehearsal we visited the lighthouse and beach. You can see additional pictures from last year's visit to the Coquille River Lighthouse here. 

.: Bike Rides :.

We are able to pack along 5 bikes with this bike rack! 

The coastal winds (35 mph gusts!) made it incredibly challenging (and we were just little sore the next day!) but our three oldest children and I rode our bikes (against the wind most of the way) the three miles back to our campsite.  It was a great workout! :) 

.: Campfire, Crock Pot Chicken, S'mores & Roasted Bananas :.

Quick and Easy Crock Pot Chicken (chicken tenderloins covered with BBQ sauce) cooked in the tent while we were out playing all day! Not AIP friendly for me, but the rest of the family enjoyed it along with the grilled veggies. 

While the kids roasted marshmallows I stuffed a couple bananas with cocoa nibs and coconut.
They were, um, definitely not s'mores...  ;) 

.: Face Rock Creamery :. 

On Sunday, after the Corpus Christi Mass & Procession, we all went out for Ice Cream at Face Rock Creamery! 

.: At the Beach with Father :. 

.: Another Campfire :.

.: One Last Visit to the Beach :. 

After four days of camping at the coast... All camped out!