When I was growing up, my parents took us camping a lot. My dad did not care for hotels, so whenever we traveled, we spent the night out under the stars. My dad also did not like campgrounds. It wasn’t real camping if there was a bathroom and people all around. In fact, it seemed the more inaccessible the roads and the more rugged the terrain, the better the camping spot. My dad was not a fan of tents either, and when the weather turned rotten, his solution was to fold a tarp over the top of us to keep us dry. I remember many a night spent shivering under a tarp listening to the rain and thunder pounding all around. To be fair, I think he skipped the tent to save space in the car. With four kids and two adults, there wasn’t much room with extra stuff when we were packing for a trip.

A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Museum has lots of fun summer camps for children from 3 to 10 years old.

www.acgilbert.org
116 Marion St., NE, Salem, OR
503-371-3631

Camps include exploration of the Museum, arts and crafts, games, play time, story time, science, and more. An assortment of interesting topics are available to choose from.

Camp Topics:
Art
Crafts
Nature
Science
Sports

2010 Camp Dates:
July 5-9
Science in a Bag
Age 3-6, 9 a.m. – noon, M, W, F

July 5-9
Five Senses
Age 3-6, 9 a.m. – noon , T, Th

July 6, 2010

It’s summer again, and the weather is perfect for a picnic in the park. If the warm sun and green grass are not enough to lure people outside, Portland offers the extra incentives of free concerts, movies, and activities in the parks during summer months. The first concert of the summer at Mt Tabor Park featuring Paula Sinclair and the Pistols took place last night. My husband, Alex (the baby), Alex’s grandparents, and I packed up a picnic and headed out to the park.

The Portland Children’s Museum is a Great Place to Visit with Children

June 19, 2010

Alex just turned nine months old and I wanted to do something special to celebrate. I had been meaning to take him to the Portland Children’s Museum for some time now, as I had heard lots of good things about the museum from my cousin who has a 2 year old. This seemed like a good time to finally go.

May 12, 2010

While I sit at my computer typing I can’t help but look out the window occasionally and wish I was outside enjoying the nice Spring weather. Alex, my 7 month old, gets pretty antsy too. If he could talk, I am sure he would sometimes ask to go play outside.

I have been thinking about taking Alex to one of the Honeybee Hikes at the Leach Botanical Gardens for quite a while now. Unfortunately Alex is usually napping at 10, so we miss the opportunity. Today he woke up from his nap at 9:30, I tossed his stuff in the car, and we were out the door. In my hurry to make it to the garden in time, we left his diaper bag at home. Oops! Luckily he did not need it this once.

May 8, 2010

Children’s birthday parties are a lot of work for whoever is hosting them. After year’s of holding her sons’ parties at her own house, this year Michelle decided she wasn’t going to do it. No more working all day to get the house ready. No more worrying about the damage the guests would inflict. No more spending the next day cleaning up. And definitely no more worrying about whether or not the kid’s would have a good time at the party. This year would be the boys’ best birthday party ever. This year, they were going to have their party at the bowling alley.

May 2, 2010

A tractor is considered an essential piece of equipment for most farms today, but that was not always the case. Before tractors, heavy horses were responsible for pulling equipment to disc, plant, and harvest the fields. Even today, some farms continue to use draft horses for farm work preferring the gentle hay eating giants to the gas guzzling machines.

Still, there are not many opportunities to see draft horses working fields for the average person. Champoeg State Heritage Area hosts a plow horse competition and exhibition during the parks Founders Day Celebration. Along with watching the heavy horses, visitors can see 19th century reenactments, and visit the visitors center and museum.

April 25, 2010

I have been interested in seeing Portland Cello Project perform ever since I first heard about them. My father is a cello player, and I grew up listening to him and my brothers play. I’m not making it to a lot of concerts since Alex was born unless they are baby friendly. So when I heard that Portland Cello Project was going to perform You Who, I bought a ticket and went to the show.

April 17, 2010

Having been unsuccessful last weekend in our quest for the perfect baby walker, My husband, Alex and I decided to try another consignment sale. Saturday morning we stopped at Pass It On consignment sale on Sandy Blvd on our way to a rainy day at the beach with Alex.

The sale had started on Friday, but there was still a lot of stuff on Saturday. There was even a baby walker, but not the one we wanted. There were racks and racks of clothes, there were toys, books, cribs, strollers, baby monitors, and more. We’re pretty well set with Alex, so we just bought a toy and a car window shade to shade the baby during car trips.

April 11, 2010

Kids grow so fast. Seems like only yesterday, I was out shopping for a newborn. Alex is 7 months old now the size 3-6 clothes are just getting too small. It’s time for him to start wearing the 6-9’s. On top of that, I am considering getting him a walker, but the price on the new one I like seems a bit exorbitant since he will only use it for a few months. Considering how much new items can cost and how short an amount of time children actually get use them, children’s consignment sales are a great place to purchase and sell children’s merchandise.