Bowling with Bo and Music Instructor

Bo and I had our Friday adventure, bowling(we did terribly)and Dairy Queen. I got a smile when he became curious about the new feature on my camara.

It has been a crazy month. The class that I thought would be easy, a Music Fundamentals class, which is music theory, almost turned out to be the fall of my grade point average to below honor roll status. I thought it would be the easier of the two classes, this and Cultural Anthropology, but not so. First it was a five week course, so excelerated, and instead of basics, it was more like a math class, and you know by now that I am not a mathmatician. I ended up with a B, which was very generous on the part of Mr. Dave Barduhn. This is our famous Jazz director at Mt. Hood, whose program is one of the top in the nation. He probably went crazy teaching us beginners, not even musicians, but teachers, at an accelerated pace. I learned about intervals, circle of fifths, formulas for chords, etc. Math disguised as music. lol

Waterfalls and Uncle Mikes

from the picnic table

fun water playground for a three year old

and a fabulous......

the base of WahKeena across the street in the park...

swirling waters

WahKeena Falls and Verlene in contemplation

WahKeena(love that name)

La Tourelle Falls

Koda goes down the marble stairs

Koda and mom enjoying the view at Crown Point

Koda goes up the marble stairs

Inside Vista House

Vista House and Koda on the way to the Crown

Women's Forum

Koda and the view

Nick the EMT and Fireman and Rochelle, Brandons wife

Uncle Mike and Dawna

Ariel Beaver Fan and Sophmore at OSU

Tiff and Xavier and Hubby

Lucy lu

Tired Ironman and Verlene

Ironman(Koda)

Verlene, Koda and I had a great weekend. On Saturday we went to Art Walk in down town Gresham and Koda got his face painted as Ironman. The pics shows how tired he was.

Then on Saturday Night, I spent 2 1/2 hours on the freeway trying to get to Uncle Mikes house. The ice cream I brought was virtually soup by the time I got there. I had a great time seeing the nieces and nephews(and great niece and great nephew lol) It took me only 20 minutes to get home. We had a great smoked turkey Mike made. Brandon couldnt make it cuz of the traffic, and Sam?

For our Sunday summer expedition, Verlene, Koda and I did the waterfalls in the gorge and picniced at WahKeeNa Falls. Perfect weather.

Koda and Bo's Trip to the Gorge July/2010

Mary Ann, Bo, Myself, Koda and his mom Verlene took a Sunday drive to the Columbia Gorge. This brought back memories of doing the same with my kids. Nothing much has changed, but it was so green and beautiful.

We took a picnic and started at the Fish Hatchery. Years ago some teen agers killed the 100 year old sturgeons that lived there. Now there are a couple that are 10 feet long. We fed the trout.

We then took the tour at Bonneville Dam. Koda loved it.

We also drove down to Cascade locks and bought some fresh salmon from the natives. The Sternwheeler is broken this summer. They had the Portland Spirit there, not the same so we didnt go on it.

Chicago, Chicago

Erin and Roy at hotdog shop
Chicago, a beautiful mix of old and new
View of Tribune Building one of my favs
Dave Roy and I on the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel
Dave in his favorite lecture hall, the Lincoln Hall
Dave and I enjoy a Chicago Hotdog with the works.
Dave Erin and Roy Boy at the top of the Sears(Willis)Tower
Yes, me sitting in the window of the 103rd story of the Sears Tower now known as the Willis. Whew, you can see I am a little nervous trying hard to smile.

So what can I tell ya. A great trip and adventure. We covered a lot of ground. We saw Shedd Aquarium, which incidently has more Pacific Northwest displays and sealife in it then anything.
It has a new (cheesy as Erin puts it) show with Belugas, dolphins, seals, etc showing off along with fantasy characters in it. I liked it. I loved the beluga whales. Erin and I went to the Art Institute which I loved, they have an amazing collection. Dave and I went on the Architecture boat tour, and sat front row center at the Broadway Show 'Jersey Boys'. We were more under the stage in the front row, but saw a great show at a great price. I love love love the buildings, especially the old ones. We all enjoyed the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier, and Dave and I were there for the fantastic fireworks on Wednesday night. I really had fun roaming the city, taking pics and listening to live music at Millenium Park.

I have a hundred great pictures, and Dave says he will send more on a disc. So maybe I will embellish a new blog with them.

Spring and early summer

Springtime

Angelie and Richard were married on April 29th in the Portland

We enjoyed a trip or two to the Columbia Gorge with Richards family during their visit.
Siebe, Elly, Richard, Ange and Sylvia

I taught after school this year. Here I am with an old face Ryan Dornfeld who coached our undefeated soccer team and some of my crazy little freinds. I taught two classed of Chemistry on Monday and Tuesdays, two more Environmental Science classes on Wednesday and Thursday, and Oregon Trail (pictured) on Fridays. I have a blast.

My neighbor freinds Corrina and Tatiana helped me make mock ups of the pigs for Summer Buzz. It helped me figure out how long it takes to make them.

Then..

My students and I made almost 100 pigs for my art class at Summer School

We had so much fun getting gooey and being creative!!

Last Saturday downtown Gresham had an Art Walk, and as it happens, my friends Zidan, Sassinac(Sassy) and Avion(Avi) were visiting. We snuggled puppies, saw a puppet show, made puppets and drawings, and the balloon guy made some fairy wings and jet packs for them. I live very close to old downtown Gresham, so we walked, taking a shortcut through the park. Fun Day.

That evening I scored two tickets to the Chicago/Earth,Wind and Fire concert from the Schumachers who decided to not go at the last minute, so Leah (the kids mom)and I went. Very nice!!

Last but not least, the new pups are one month old last Sunday.

Well Folks, that is all for now. Update soon.