Magic Woods

When we first drove into the woods in Washington Jeremy told the boys that these are the kind of forests that trolls live in.

Everything is green and damp and covered in moss.

The forests in Washington reminded me of the forests in Germany.  Deep, dark and full of secrets.  You can understand Grimm’s fairy tales when you walk through these forests–it’s only to easy to imagine a trio of goat brothers traveling down the trail, or imagine a hobbley old witch finding a small clearing in which to build her candy house.

And your eyes play tricks on you –an enchanted cat is surely hiding above curiously watching your course.

Indeed, certain sights in these woods seem to defy logic and the only explanation can be. . . magic!

These are the woods I want my boys to play in–woods where their imaginations will run free.  Where they can gather snails and moss, search for fairy rings, and walk the soft mulched paths in search of gnomes or even a will o’ the wisp.

It seems like childhood just wouldn’t be complete without it.

Portland Waffle Window

When we heard my sisters family rave about the “Waffle Window” we knew we’d have to give it a try.  And we were surprised to see that it actually is, simply, a window– and there is an outdoor seating area under a awning.

Choosing what to order off the menu was a bit difficult–there were so many interesting-looking treats.  And we were happy to see that there were both savory and sweet waffles.  Jeremy declared that’s what made the place a legitimate restaurant, not just a novelty thing.

The first waffle we got was called “The 3 B’s”.  It had brie, bacon and basil on it served with a side of peach jam.

I can’t even describe how delicious this waffle was.  It was my favorite of the day.  The saltiness, along with the deep herb flavor, topped with just a hint of sweet jam–delicious!

We’re seriously considering making waffles like this at home.

We also got a sweet waffle called the “Banana Rumba”.  It had bananas, granola and a banana caramel sauce topped with whipped cream.  It was very good as well, though it was not very sweet.  That would be perfect for eating as a meal because you don’t want to get sugared out, but we got this one as “dessert” so I felt like I wanted a bit more of the banana caramel sauce on top!

The real treat was these chocolate-dipped waffles.  These were what we ordered for the boys.  They are dipped in chocolate on one side and then frozen and wrapped in paper.  They call these (and their plain pearl-sugar option) “walking waffles”  because they are portable and ready to eat on the go.

After living in our town for 6 years we’ve worn out our local restaurant options, it was a lot of fun to try some new places on vacation.  If When we  move to the Pacific Northwest, we will be visiting the waffle window again!

Kuplink, Kuplank, Kuplunk!

We visited a blueberry farm in Washington to pick our own blueberries.

The boys were just like Sal in Blueberries for Sal, dropping them into their buckets, “Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk!”

Owen and I decided that our plastic buckets made more of a “Kuthink, kuthank, kathunk,” sound actually.

The boys loved going off on their own down the rows to find really good bushes.

My dad was the one who footed the bill for our family reunion farm adventure, paying for the berries we collected. . .

All TWENTY FOUR POUNDS of them!

And what did we do with 24 pounds of blueberries?!  Well, that will have to wait until tomorrow.