Fiddler on the Roof

 Leila is really becoming quite the savvy theatre-goer! She is loving every new musical she gets to listen to. In our hotel room in Roseburg when we were traveling home, Chris found some scenes from various musicals (Fiddler, West Side Story, Singing in the Rain) for us to watch. Leila really took to Fiddler and Singing in the Rain! When we got home to Tacoma, Chris noticed one of the local community theaters was showing Fiddler. We had to take Leila! She LOVED it! Check out her theatre attire...she was so proud of her self-selected outfit! We are proud that she loves theatre!

Graham Fair

We spent a Friday evening in August at the county fair. Last year, we entered items in several different classes, but we didn't have enough time to enter things this year with our month down south. We went with the Simon girls and had a great time riding a few rides, eating some scones and walking through the booths. 

Growing Garden

While we were away in Oregon our garden exploded! What a fun surprise!

Blueberry Festival

Once we finally returned home from our summer in Ashland, we got to enjoy August here in Tacoma. My friend, Sarah, called and invited us to PLU's Blueberry Festival. I hadn't been to a PLU berry  festival in quite some time...probably since I was earning my graduate degree. So, Leila and I met the Simon girls for some sunshine, music and a berry treat! 

Mt. St. Helens Visit

On our last leg of the trip home from Ashland, we took a detour for the afternoon and introduced Leila to Mt. St. Helens. We stopped at the Visitors' Center and Leila earned a Jr. Geologist Badge. Then we continued the drive up the mountain. We stopped for lunch and then proceeded to Johnston Ridge Observatory. 

 Leila earned her second Jr. Ranger badge of the day! This time, the process was a little different than any of the other badges she has earned. She participated in a program with a Park Ranger, answered questions from the program and demonstrated that she had listened to the ranger. Then she earned her badge. I just love the Jr. Ranger Program!! Go ahead...make fun of me. My husband does. 

Jr. Ranger, Jr. Geologist Leila

A Two-Adventure Day!

 We left Ashland Saturday morning and headed toward Medford. Our plan was to check out one of the two Table Rocks and spend some time hiking. We ended up choosing Upper Table Rock (they get their name based on the Rogue River that runs past both of them, Upper is up river and lower is down river). We drove to the trailhead for Upper Table Rock, changed into long pants (to protect from ticks and snakes...yikes!) and hit the trail. It was quite steep! Leila was not too pleased at the elevation incline, but after about twenty minutes, she realized she could do this. When we got to the top, she was thrilled that she had stuck with it! The views of the Rogue River and Rogue Valley were amazing! These pictures really don't do it much justice. The smoke from the forest fires was pretty thick in the valley, but we could still see for miles!

We picked a great spot to eat lunch...on the remains of volcanic rock that makes the Table Rock special. The Native Americans that lived in the Rogue Valley region regarded Upper and Lower Table Rocks as sacred and holy places. The emigrants traveling along the Applegate Trail used the Table Rocks as landmarks as they were heading through Oregon. 

A few more looks before we hiked down. 

 On our way down, we almost stepped RIGHT on a snake. It was huge! He was stretched all the way across the trail. Thank goodness Chris spotted him before Leila took another step! Leila usually hikes in the middle of us, but she was ahead blazing the trail. Once she realized why her Dad calmly, but firmly, said "Whoa! Leila, back up. Back up." she burst into tears! All Chris and I could think was Thank God it was on the way down! If that had been on the ascent, the hike would have been over! We made it back to the car about mid-afternoon and continued north on I-5. 

 As we approached Grants Pass, we decided to pull off the freeway and try to make a jet boat ride. We had no idea if there would be any space available, but as we didn't have a schedule to adhere to, we gave it a go. We pulled into the ticket office at 1:30 and were able to purchase tickets for the 1:45 boat! We just barely had time to change our clothes and shoes before our boarding time. The next round of boats weren't set to head out until 5pm...talk about perfect timing! Chris was the only one of us that had been on the jet boats before. Oh my goodness, our ride was amazing!! Along with seeing countless herons along the Rogue River, we also got to see an osprey swoop down, grab a fish and fly RIGHT over our boat! We were so thankful that we pulled off the road!! 

We spent the night just a little while north in Roseburg. The next morning, we drove to Dad and Holli's for lunch together. From there we headed to Mom and Jim's for swimming in their pool, dinner and much needed rest. 

Farewell, Ashland

Our last full day in Ashland for the summer of 2014 finally came. Leila and I opted to spend our last morning and afternoon at the splash park. It was overcast (because of the forest fires in the area), which made the 94 degree weather feel chilly. 

For dinner, the three of us walked around the block for GAP Co pizza one last time. Then we walked all the way downtown to spend some time in Lithia. Of course we saw deer along the way. 

 We played at the park, walked around the duck pond, checked out what was happening on The Bricks and finally ended at Zoey's Ice Cream Parlor. We each had our usual - salted caramel for me, cookies and cream for Chris and vanilla for Leila. 

Thank you, Ashland! We had a lovely time. See you again in July!