And we have a picture to go with it!

He had already started scribbling on it at this point, but you can see the smile and the feet at the bottom. So cute!

Orion drew a person!

Today was an exciting milestone for Orion. He drew a picture of Ron all on his own with several elements. He brought it in to show dad and pointed them all out. He had a big circle for the head, three dots for the eyes and nose and a great big smile. But the really cool part was that it had little tiny legs and feet. He told Ron he needed help because he couldn't draw toes. :) The cool thing about this is that he has never even drawn a face before, at least that I saw or knew about. He must have been doing it, though, because I don't think he would skip straight to a face and legs, but who knows!

Two Dollar Tuesday!

Woohoo! We finally made it to a Two Dollar Tuesday. They have these every second Tuesday, and this one just happened to coincide with Ron being home. I had heard they were swamped in the summer, so we thought it might be better now that school is in. I am so glad we went! It was super mellow and uncrowded. Ron had only been to Zoolights before, so this was his first time really seeing the zoo.

Cute swimming buddies.
I don't know this lady, but I thought it was a cool picture.
Orion was so excited to go stomping in the leaves!
Running around the spiral path.
I thought these baby bears looked like they were nursing. :)

Trying to climb on the elephant - he couldn't quite make it!
With a little help from mom.

Random silly faces.



Meerkat! There was this big group of kids watching the meerkats the same time as Orion, and they kept calling them "Timons". So Orion decided it was really important to go around to each and every one of them to say, "They're called meerkats."
I love bats. I could have watched that exhibit all day.


Ah, the lorikeets. This was actually round two. When we went through the first time, he tried to take the juice cup from me and got bitten. :( He cried for a really long time, but when he stopped, he decided to try again. We had him hold the cup right from the time he went in. He kindof freaked a bit when they first started landing on him, but he stuck with it for a minute or so. Then he wanted Dad to take the cup back.

He is still not too sure.... Right after this he asked to go out again. Hopefully he won't have any bird trauma from this.
These two were sitting on my hand and squabbling a bit over the food.
One last shot on the way out. These guys really like hanging out on heads.
Mandatory tiger shot.
And I had to take a picture in the parking lot of all the gorgeous fall trees. Mighty impressive for a parking lot to be this pretty!

Lazy Day

Today we had Nora over again, and Orion spent the day in his PJs hahaand hamming it up for the camera.
Peekaboo!

Chris Mercogliano

Tonight we went to a talk in Portland with Chris Mercogliano. He is the director of the Albany Free School and has written several books. His latest book is called In Defense of Childhood: Protecting Kids' Inner Wildness. As soon as I heard about the book, I knew Ron would enjoy the talk. Here is a blurb from the website:

As codirector of the Albany Free School, Chris Mercogliano has had remarkable success in helping a diverse population of youngsters find their way in the world. He regrets, however, that most kids' lives are subject to some form of control from dawn until dusk. Lamenting risk-averse parents, overstructured school days, and a lack of playtime and solitude, Mercogliano argues that we are robbing our young people of "that precious, irreplaceable period in their lives that nature has set aside for exploration and innocent discovery," leaving them ill-equipped to face adulthood. The "domestication of childhood" squeezes the adventure out of kids' lives and threatens to smother the spark that animates each child with talents, dreams, and inclinations.

Ron and I have talked lots of times about how kids need to have unstructured time to play. He loves to quote this George Carlin rant. But the interesting thing that came out of this talk was that Ron started saying how awesome it would be to start a free school on the Westside. It has always been a dream of mine to start at least a coop if not a school, but I know that would be something way in the future at this point. It is just great to know he would be supportive of the idea!

Philip Foster Farm

Today was the annual homeschool day at Philip Foster Farm, the first destination resort in the Oregon Territory! That is from their website, and I thought it was really funny. This place was the first real civilization people on the Oregon Trail saw after ages. There was so much going on, and Orion loved it! Woodcutting, a blacksmith, covered wagons to climb on, and so much more!

Extreme close up!Building with giant Lincoln Logs
Riding a hale bay.
Croquet monitor.
Cuteness.
This thing was pretty crazy. It is a weaning headgear for poor baby calfs. :(
Egg tossing! That is Emily's son Seth just missing one.
And his partner Leif.
Whoa!
Goin' for a ride.
Orion and Jakey looking like they are dancing haha.
More cuteness.
I think this was an, I'm eating candy face.

It's Catching After All

Haha, so I did catch the epidemic.
And the funny thing is, I was pregnant at the Expo but didn't know it yet! We had a pretty good hunch, but I didn't want to test until a good few days after my period was due. When I almost threw up over tuna smell, that was a good sign.

I don't think it has really sunk in yet. I am superstitious and going to wait until the three month mark to make any serious preps, but I did write to my favorite midwife already. :)