Memorial Weekend

This weekend was a long weekend for everyone and an extra-long weekend for Greg (he got Friday off).  With so much time available, Greg decided to take the kids for an overnight adventure to explore some of the Columbia gorge.  Greg picked the kids up from school and then they went down to Oregon and enjoyed some really yummy pizza and dessert before staying in a hotel (even though the kids usually get bored and sleep poorly in hotels they always get super excited any time they get the opportunity).

On Saturday, we went for a drive through the gorge and saw three waterfalls, did a short hike, and visited a museum focused on the natural and human history of the area.  It was a pretty fun trip!

Throughout the weekend we have had awesome weather with blue skies and warm afternoons.  Debbie loves evening campfires and s'mores and there have been plenty of opportunities.  We also got a hammock for Christmas and finally put it to use this weekend.

We have a tradition of learning about a new culture each month and on the last Sunday of the month, we have a feast with food from that country/culture.  This month it has been Japan and for our feast, we learned how to make sushi and tried out making vegetable sushi (with sprouts from our garden!)  It turned out better than expected though it will probably not become a regular staple.  Since we had 5 Sundays this month we also did a teriyaki chicken which probably isn't very authentic but it was yum.

We celebrated Memorial day the same way we have for as long as we can remember - with grilled burgers and family time outside.  Before dinner, we were working on a new zipline platform and putting in a new zipline system (the previous zipline was snapped when an excavator accidentally clipped it).  The new zipline is fun but just a little too zippy. 

It's been a great weekend and we're a little sad to see it end!  At least just a short week ahead.