Kruger's Farm

Today we went to Kruger’s Farm, just outside Portland on Sauvie Island.

Here is a video of Oliver almost getting his hand bitten off by a ferocious swine. Close call!




This is a long Labor day weekend, and we’ve been surprised by some rainy weather. We left the farm shortly after these photos, when the rain started to pour.

Around the house, we’ve been focusing on painting the kitchen. The flooring should go in this week and hopefully, the piece to fix our cabinets will come in, so that we can get our countertops ordered.

A Little Kid Comedy Classic

Trying on everyone's shoes!

Hot August Days, Singing and Counting

A couple days ago we received a surprise visit from our old friends Dan and Victoria and their beautiful children, Esther and Elliot. Dan and Victoria used to live next door. It’s funny, but it doesn’t seem that long ago that they bought a house in the next neighborhood and moved away, but in that time, we’ve all started families and suddenly we have three kids on the sidewalk saying Hi to one another when it used to be just be our dogs!

We’ll post more on the kitchen when it’s finished, but we’ve met with a snag; our cabinet designer and installer messed up a key measurement, and the result is that the passageway to the side door and the basement is much too narrow. Fortunately, they’re working to make things right and we should soon have an adjustment to fix the situation. All the other cabinets look great. We’re ready to do some painting, and we’ve selected our flooring. But the cabinet fix, floors, and countertops will take some time, so it looks like we’ll be using our makeshift kitchen for a bit longer. We eat out a lot.

Oliver is talking and singing all the time. Here is a clip of a song he repeats over and over again. It’s to the tune of the ABC song, and it usually starts off with “Now I know my…” before it goes off into his own language:



He’s also really into trains. Every time we hear the train whistle a mile away, he gets excited about the “choo-choo.” Yesterday we decided to take him on the train at the zoo, which we did earlier this summer, but that was before he knew the words “choo-choo.” Now that he knows what he’s talking about, he's much more enthusiastic.
So we took the train from the zoo to the Rose Garden and had a nice picnic there, as we’ve tried to do each year around our anniversary. There is a little amphitheater with a grassy area below and a wooden stage where you can various performances. Yesterday it was empty and kids where playing on it. Here is Oliver running on the stage (and tripping) while demonstrating his ability to count to 10:



And a couple pictures of the pool in the backyard. We had a couple 100+ degree days recently!

Eating Outside

Here is Oliver, snacking on a fresh cucumber (he was just supposed to take it inside). The cucumbers have done OK in our small potted garden out front. The squash, which usually become fruit producing monsters by this point, haven't done as well. I think next year we'll give them more room to breath.

I think a better title for this post would be "Eating out" because we're doing a lot of that these days. We're in the middle or remodeling our kitchen. All the old cabinets are out (see them out in the front yard behind Oliver? Classy, huh?) and as soon as I'm done with this post, I'm going remove the old plumbing lines and put in some new copper pipe. Right now, the delivery time frame for our new cabinets is unclear, but we're assuming the install could start next week, so I need to keep busy!

Going without a kitchen is tough. Here is our temporary cooking area, formerly the dining room, with a tiny dorm fridge and butane cooking stove. I'm tempted to unwrap our new fridge in the corner, just to have more room for food, but for now it will have to wait.

Here is where I mounted our old cast-iron sink over the bathtub for a dishwashing station. Yes, we do a lot of walking between the dining room and the bathroom.

Getting the kitchen finished will take some time, so I'll post the "after" pictures when all is done. I also need to post the "after" pictures of the garage project, but it will be winter before I've completed the interior.
-Keith

Oliver in California!

Oliver spent this last week with his grandparents, Kim and David, in the Northern California town of Fortuna. Being an 8 hour drive away, they don’t get to see him as often (though they try very hard to get up here every chance they get!), so they kept him last week for some extended fun. It was really tough for Jenny and me to let him go for a whole week. We plunged ourselves into house projects and work and tried to keep busy. We were thankful for the many updates, pictures and phone calls from Kim and David, letting us know our little guy was doing well (he could sort of tell us so himself on the phone).

So here are some pictures from his week; he met many people his grandparents know, got reacquainted with some family and distant cousins, experienced a rodeo, a penny scramble, a pony & a horse (!), and lots of other stuff. We’re glad to know he had so much fun, but we’re also glad he’s back and amazed at what a difference a week makes in his vocabulary!

Abbie eats bananas???

Here are a couple videos over recent weeks. It’s surprising the difference a couple weeks can make with his language development!



Though he's never exchanged money for anything, Oliver realizes it's power. He's surprised the family pets aren't as fascinated by it.

Price Family Reunion

Last weekend we joined family in Seaside for an overdue family reunion. We all had a great time and wished we had stayed the whole week and not just a long weekend. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Oliver in the pool with his dad.


The weather in Seaside was beautiful the entire time we were there but it was windy at times. Here is Oliver on the beach. It had been over a year since Oliver was at the coast. He loved the beach and the ocean. It was all we could do to keep him from running into the water.

Oliver enjoying his first s’more.


Oliver does not like carousels. We have tried a number of times and he is fine once until he is on the horse and the carousel starts. Here is a picture before the death grip.

Oliver was the youngest person at the reunion but there were a few kids just a bit older. They were all really good with him. He loved playing with everyone. Here is a group of us on a group bike with Cami and Oliver leading the way.

Father’s day

Catching up on recent weekends here…

We had a wonderful father’s day the weekend before last. We met my mom, dad and brother at our family farm outside McMinnville. A little history here: The farm has been in my family many generations and the farmhouse itself was built by my great-grandfather. So, when we set Oliver down to run around, my dad remarked proudly that he was the fifth generation Evers to be at that farm. My brother Joe lives there now and takes good care of the place. Mom and Dad are putting the finishing touches on a new house they just built in the hills on the other end of town.

The big event of the day was to visit the new Evergreen Space Museum, next to the Aviation Museum (home of the Spruce Goose) and IMAX theater. It’s strange to see these amazing new buildings standing just across a field from the family farmhouse, less than a mile away! The farm used to feel so remote to me, like were miles and miles from civilization, in the middle of nowhere. Now we could walk a few minutes to see NASA space capsules and missiles!

Oliver got to spend more time with my brother Joe, which I think they both enjoyed. Afterward, we met my other brother, Darren, and his kids for a big lunch. It was a great day. My mom bought Oliver an astronaut costume that he’ll fit in a year or so.


I should mention that it was nice father’s day for me too. Jenny made a nice breakfast and Oliver and I got to read the Sunday funnies together.

Night Night Abbie

Oliver decided to tear all five clean bibs off his highchair and drape them over our dog, Abbie. When he was done he said, "Night night" to her.

He did this several times. She'd get up and shake them off, then sit patiently while he covered her up again.

Portland Zoo

Last Weekend we went to Portland’s wonderful zoo. It had been 6 or 7 years since Jenny and I had gone, and there were many new things to see. Of course with Oliver, it was a whole new experience. On the advice of our neighbors Dan and Kathy, we bought a yearly membership. We plan to get a lot of use out of it, with concerts in the summer and events in winter.

In the morning Oliver insisted on wearing his broken sunglasses, but the day turned out cold and rainy. We soon realized it would have been a good day for Oliver to wear boots. He still likes to stomp in those puddles. I have many photos of Oliver standing in front of Plexiglas, staring excitedly at some critter or another on the other side.

Next time, we’ll let him pet the sheep and goats in the farm area. I really love the old tractor they’ve parked out there! The aftermath of a much-enjoyed cinnamon-sugar elephant ear

Puddle Splashing

Keith went away with his brothers to Hood River over the weekend so that left Oliver and I to spend some quality time together. The weather was pretty rainy on Sunday but I couldn't stand the thought of staying inside with an active toddler. Whenever Oliver hears a plane overhead, he stops whatever he's doing and looks to the sky. I thought it might be fun to head out to Marine Drive, near the airport, and watch the planes come in. I figured a little rain wouldn't hurt us--this is Oregon after all. Marine Drive has a walking path and as long as it isn't windy, it's really a quite pleasant walk. I thought I was being really smart when I reasoned that we would head to the grocery store after our little excursion. No reason to make more than one trip.

It had been awhile since I had thought about mud puddles. I don't search for them and when I come across them I don't have the urge to splash in them. This is where Oliver and I are different. We didn't get very far before Oliver started playing in one small puddle and promptly fell in. I grabbed him quickly and figured I could wipe off the mud and he would dry out before the trip to the store. At this point, I still had hopes that we would make it to the store. But as you can see from the video, Oliver found a bigger, better puddle to play in. I thought about whisking him out of the puddle and back to the car but I'm glad I decided against it. Oh, did I mention that I had just finished his weekly load of laundry that morning? We didn't make it to the store that morning. Instead we headed home for a warm bath, lunch and a nap.

Guitar Man

I recently strung up a little ukulele that I've had for a while, but the tuning pegs wouldn't stay in tune, so I gave it to Oliver as his little "guitar." That gave him a sense of entitlement to all guitars, so when I was playing my full-sized guitar the other day, Oliver made it clear that he wanted to play it, so I let him have it. He took it out of my hands (it's taller than he is) and managed to carry it across the office and set it on the little sofa. Then he pulled himself up on the sofa, positioned himself under the guitar, and played us this little song. The lyrics are simple.

-Keith

PS: Happy Mothers day to Jenny and all the wonderful grandmas!

Home Haircut and Discovery Walk

Last weekend we cut Oliver’s hair. Unlike his last (and only other) haircut, where he was a model of stillness and cooperation, this time we were just chasing his squirming head. I was afraid I’d cut him. He ended up with crooked bangs and a weird diagonal chunk of hair removed over one ear. Could've been worse.
A momentary distraction from photographer, Nana.

Clean up.

This morning, Jenny took Oliver to the Discovery Walk in Vancouver, where he apparently slept in his stroller through most of the “walking” part and finally woke up in time to splash in a fountain in the park and soak all his clothes.

Excitement at an airplane overhead.

This afternoon, he helped me in the yard by collecting dandelion heads and manning the lawn aerator. His 21 pounds wasn’t enough to really sink it in.

This afternoon we had a scare when Oliver and I were walking up the stairs on our hands and knees. We were only on the fourth stair when he suddenly sat up, leaned back, and went rolling down before I could grab him. He wasn’t hurt, but it clearly scared him (and me!). Hopefully, this will make both of us a bit more cautious!

-Keith