A Birthday - A Movie - A Fire!

It's been another busy week in the Boondocks.

Tuesday was Nathan's 12th Birthday which meant we were busy with preparations for several days ahead of time. We like to take the kids somewhere special for their big days , which usually means an outdoor outing. Due to the uncomfortably warm weather on Tuesday, we made an exception this year.

Shortly after noon we all piled into the truck and headed for town, and proceeded to the mall, and the Cinema. The kids had never been to a movie theatre before , and it was a nice cool place to spend a hot afternoon, so we thought it would be a good choice for the special event.

Turns out we were right. Nathan and Lindsay both thoroughly enjoyed the cool air, as well as the movie we chose to treat them to. We were pleasantly surprised at the price of admission, but were quickly shocked back into the present time by the prices at the concession stand. It cost more for popcorn and sodas than admittance! It was worth it though, to see the kids eyes widen at the site of the huge bags of popcorn and the large cups of soda. We ordered small of each and they were the size of large that I remember when I went to the movies as a youngster.

The film we saw was Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. As with the first two Ice Age movies, it was an excellent film! Including us, there were maybe 15 folks watching this particular showing, and most of those were adults, in their 50's and older. Including our two, there was a total of three children, and the chuckles and outright laughing could be heard throughout the film, from both children and adults. I would highly recommend this film for the whole family!


After the movie we headed to Albertson's where we picked up Nathan's choices for dinner, Macaroni and cheese, Broccoli and fish, and his cake, which he was tickled to note was an Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs theme.

Back at home the kids played outside for a bit while Pa and I blew up balloons and set the table up with gifts, balloons and the cake. Nathan was thrilled with his gifts, which included books (he loves to read!), archery equipment, a dissecting kit (that was the closest thing I could come to his request for something having to do with bones) and cash. The kids then headed back outside where Nathan practiced his archery skills until dinner time.


Yesterday was another exciting day, which included a surprise visit from the head forester for our area. The kids were wandering around their paths in the woods on our property when they smelled smoke and investigating further they discovered a fire. They immediately ran back to the house to inform us. Pa grabbed the shovel and we followed them back up to the fire. Fortunately, it was still small enough we were able to deal with it. While Pa was busy doing what he could with the shovel, the kids and I set up a relay of sorts, to get jugs of water up to the site.

Once we got the fire out we came back down to the house and called the forestry dept, and the forester came out to take a look. He was great! He praised the kids multiple times for finding the fire, and taking the correct action, then proceeded to show his trainee, as well as the kids how to determine the cause and path of the fire. He determined it was airborne, and the most probable direction of origin. His theory was the same as ours, and once he'd finished on our property our neighbors got a visit as well.

It turns out this forester lives in the neighborhood as well so he was doubly grateful for the kids' discovery and actions. We were all shaking our heads, feeling our hearts pounding as we realized how fortunate we, and the whole neighborhood were that the kids discovered it when they did. It was just getting a good blaze going. Mere minutes, or a good gust of wind later and it would've been raging into a wildfire beyond our control with dozens of homes, including ours in it's path.

Today, we're heading to town for our weekly visit to the Library and some shopping, including a search for Nathan's last Birthday gift from us, his choice of a quiver for his archery pursuits.

Hope you all are having a safe and fun week, and that you are able to stay cool!

Bouncing Back

A Boondock Hangout
Originally uploaded by boondockma

I guess it's been awhile. Time to shake off the haze and post an update.

After better than two months of trading illnesses back and forth between my family members, I was left feeling more than a little worn out. It all started with me, the last week of April. Then Lindsay caught it, followed by Nathan. Then I took another turn and the circle began all over again. Finally, Pa got his fair share, then back to me once again before it all ended. We've all got the sniffles now, but other than that we all seem to be healthy once again.

This bout with illness really has me baffled, as we are generally a healthy family unit. Sure, we have the seasonal downs, but they usually make their relatively quick rounds through our bodies and leave. We've never experienced so long a battle as this one. I'm figuring there must be a reason it was different this time but I can't figure what that reason may be with one possible exception. The day after our last trip to the beach, they posted warnings to stay out of the water due to high levels of fecal contamination. Ah well. We're just feeling grateful it's all over and done with, and looking forward to healthy, fun days ahead!

To celebrate feeling better, and taking advantage of a sunny day, the kids took me on a little stroll along one of the paths they've blazed on our property. Although it was a bit more intensive than they had let on, it was an enjoyable little hike and I enjoyed the opportunity to put the camera to good use once again. I must say, I was quite impressed with the trail they had created. A lot of work went into it's creation through the years.

Since I've been negligent in posting updates, I've missed a couple Saturday movie reviews! We've seen several good ones and want to share a couple of the best with you today.

Saturday Night At The Movies

Last Saturday evening we all sat down together and enjoyed a really fun film, Bedtime Stories, starring Adam Sandler. I wasn't too sure about this one when I first saw it, but the kids had seen previews and were quite insistent and so I gave in. What a delightful film it turned out to be! All four of us were laughing and exclaiming our "Oh No!" comments throughout the film. I would recommend this film for families with children aged 7 or 8 and older.

Three weeks ago we watched The Spiderwick Chronicles, A magical adventure filled with excitement, mystery, danger and the incredible power of family it had all four of us riveted to the screen. I will note for those who would shy away from anything hinting of "wizardry" (although I don't recall any actual "wizards"), or if your child is prone to nightmares, this film does contain some pretty scary scenes including some violence, which I suspect is the reason for the PG rating, you may want to read the more complete description and reviews before renting this one for your family. Taken in it's context as a fantasy adventure and nothing more, it's a wonderful film I would recommend to families with children age 8, or maybe 10 and above.

I will try to be a bit more diligent in posting here, and will try to get around to visiting all of you soon. As we are still playing catch-up with yhousehold chores around here, I'll have to make it a little at a time, but will make it around to all soon!

Hope you're all having a wonderful summer!

Happy Bumblebee

Sweet Clover
Originally uploaded by boondockma

Bumblebee oh so happy
In the clover field so sweet
Flowers white filled with pollen
She'll drink deep to sate her needs

Her bags full with golden nectar
From the many flowers about
Pollinating as she twitters
Between blossoms one by one

Somewhere near a hive awaits her
At days end she will return
To deposit her golden bounty
The treasure oh so dear

Bumblebees oh so busy
In their hives at end of day
Turning all collected pollen
Into waxy honey sweet

Yesterday, Pa mowed down our little field of clover. Before he did that I managed to get a couple pictures of the bees that were making the most of the pollen those flowers contained. It's no wonder there were so many bees, as walking out into the area I was almost overpowered by the sweet aroma eminating from all those flowers!

The month of June has certainly had it's ups and downs at our house.

We have enjoyed a couple trips to the beach, the memories of which we especially relished as illnesses took over. Lindsay managed to get over her illness, but not before sharing the bugs with her brother. She has always been such a generous girl. Nathan got over it with amazing speed, but that only lasted one day, before it returned with a vengeance!

Naturally, as a Mother I responded by worrying and getting less and less sleep each night. Last night I finally managed to get more than 4 hours of sleep!

Today the kids and I are all feeling much better, which is a very good thing as it means we can go to town, get more books at the library, check our mail, and stock up on groceries!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the end of our family illnesses for the season and that I will continue to catch up on sleep. I've found as I've gotten older it takes me longer to recover from those sleep deprived nights than it did in years past.

Tardy In The Boondocks

It's been another busy week at our house. For some reason I've been having problems sleeping long enough to keep my mind and my body happy. In addition to that, Lindsay came down with something, which meant I lost more sleep, both due to my concerns for her, and her wakefulness during the night.

Prior to all this, last Thursday we went in to the Library. It was a particularly nice visit this time! First off, I noticed Gary, the head Librarian, and admin for the library, had his photo display up in the room set aside for such events. He chose some great photos, which I had already seen on his flickr, but they were even better in person!

We had a fine chat with Gary, including some "camera talk", then we noticed the kids were all done selecting their books to check out. We headed over to the counter and were surprised when one of the Librarian's said they had some new book bags for the kids. They were really nice ones this time, and as a bonus, they gave me one too!

As a result of this latest gift from the Library, we have a surplus of book bags, several of which will be great for grocery bags! Yes! At last I will be able to go through the checkout at the Grocery store without feeling pangs of guilt over choosing between plastic and paper. I can just hand over my wonderful canvas bags and say "Fill 'em up!" :)

Today we just couldn't put it off any longer. Pa and Nathan headed into town to pick up some groceries, as well as batteries for my camera as my 4x specials had run dry and I had managed to go through all the regular AAs in the house, including those I plucked out of the flashlights!

While Pa and Nathan were gone on their little errand, I stayed home with Lindsay who is still recuperating. She was feeling better enough that I was able sneak outside and grab a few photos though. I used up the very last of the batteries from the flashlight on pictures of a squirrel that had managed to find his way past the birds that were giving him a very hard time, guarding their feeding station. He somehow climbed into the feeder and was happily munching away as I inched in closer and closer for better and better shots. I even managed a couple macros of him! The very best though was the one I snapped after he'd had enough and hopped away onto another tree and looked back at me. After cropping this picture I was quite pleased with the result!

Finally, Pa and Nathan returned home with their purchases. The first thing I saw was Nathan happily bounding into the house with a long rectangular box. He informed me I was going to be very unhappy with this purchases, then handed me what turned out to be something I've been wanting practically since I got my camera. A tripod! Oh my! Oh my! I'm so excited! Pa helped me get it set up, and it is now sitting here, in the middle of the living room waiting for me to decide just how I am going to use it for it's maiden photo shoot! Hmmm. Wonder if the clouds will part this evening so I can give my lunar experiments another go? Hehe.

Saturday Night At The Movies

I know. I feel so guilty! Two weeks without a movie review! I'll get on that right now! Last Saturday evening we watched The Last Starfighter. The kids really enjoyed this film, which had minimal romance, and plenty of action. If your children enjoy Space adventures, and/or video games, and are a bit older (I'd say 8+) then chances are they'd enjoy this film.

This Saturday we watched Back To The Future, starring Michael J Fox, and Christopher Lloyd. I'd seen this film before, but it had been such a long time that I'd forgotten most of it. We all thoroughly enjoyed this film and I would recommend it to anyone with children in the same age group as the previous film mentioned. The difference being I think the adults in the family enjoyed this one more.

I'll try to get back later on, or early tomorrow to visit with everyone, but right now I need to run and get some jello made for Lindsay. She's hungry! Yes!

Fun In The Boondocks

This has been a busy week for our family. Sunday, the kids played with the cats, and I busied myself taking pictures. My favorite of that day was the Ladybug with the Aphid

Monday was a fairly sunny day, and according to the weather report, it was the only promising day of the week. In addition to that, it was also getting awful close to tourist season so we decided it would be a good day to head to the beach once again.

This time we decided to head to Sunset Bay. Since this particular location includes a fair amount of tidepools, we were able to count it as a Science Field Trip. I was tickled to manage some photos of some of the life residing within those tidepools.

Once the Science portion of our trip was done, school was over and the real fun began!


The kids ran and jumped


They played and they laughed


They explored



They stopped and said hello to the gull on watch

They waved at the floatplane that happened by

At the end of the day we all stopped and looked back for one last glance of the bay as the sun began descending.

Tuesday morning I began going through the 178 photos I had managed to take. I narrowed them down to about half that number, then went through them again. It took me all of Tuesday, then yesterday, and finally I finished loading the 40 chosen photos to load on to my flickr.

This afternoon, we're off to town. The kids are in need of more library books!

Hope this week is turning out to be as fun for you and your families as it has been for us!

Loony Moon

Lately I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out how in the world I'm going to manage to gt a really good picture of the moon. While it seems a rather elusive dream at this point, I'm determined to push my camera to it's limits. I'm just sure there's some creative means of manipulating what I've got to realize my rather lofty goal.

Last night I headed outside with my little Powershot and began fiddling with some of the options available within my camera. While coming nowhere near my ultimate goal, I did get some interesting shots!


I was quite upset after seeing this one, and realizing I had somehow managed to break the moon!

Fortunately, the moon recovered, and began having fun.

The moon then decided to start playing with different shapes!

After a good hour of playing in the sky, the moon got tired and decided to lie down in a branch of our fir tree to take a nap

If you want to see more proof that the moon has a playful side, click on any of these pictures, for a full size view (these smaller photos really don't do them justice!), as well as access to more pictures. I even placed them all together in their own little set, called Lunar Whimsy!

Rain In The Boondocks

A likely puddle
Originally uploaded by boondockma

Any time of year
If you visit here
You'll most likely find...
Clouds and
Rain in the Boondocks

When the sun comes out
Folks don't fear a drought
They know it's close behind...
Refreshing
Rain in the Boondocks

Don't bother waterin' the garden
It's June and so we know
The clouds, they soon will gather
and bring
Rain in the Boondocks



We make the most of the sun
But we know clouds can be fun
Anything goes in our backyard
When there's
Rain in the Boondocks


If for Oregon you're bound
Bring an umbrella along
Grab Galoshes too
'cause there's
Rain in the Boondocks

The air is fresh and clean
I hear the Robin's sing
May as well join in
It's just
Rain in the boondocks


The folks around our town
Laugh and splash their way around
All the puddles to be found
When it's
Rain in the boondocks

As the drops come falling down
Children gather round
Catching drops upon their tongues
Gotta love that
Rain in the boondocks