Holidays

October Traditions

Posted by Lisa Eirene

On Saturday Michael went for a run, I went to the gym and then we headed south to Dundee. We had to pick up our last case of Sokol Blossor wine (I cancelled the membership) and decided to make a day of it.

The hope was that Logan would split his naps into two: it’s 45 minutes from our house so it would be perfect if he could take part of his nap there and back. We recently turned Logan’s carseat around and I had worries that he’d be able to sleep in the car but…

He was so stimulated by pointing out all the cars we saw on the road, he didn’t fall asleep until we were 15 minutes away. Of course!

First stop: lunch!

We went to Red Hills Market for lunch. It had great reviews online. And they were right! The food was excellent. The service? Mixed. You ordered at the counter and then found a table and the line was insane. It was a bit stressful standing in line with a toddler to order a meal but the food actually came out really quickly, so that was good.

Now the food: it was really good! I highly recommend this place. Michael got the steak salad and said it was excellent (I had a bite and agree. The chimichurri dressing was to die for.) I got the soup of the day and a side of egg salad on toast topped with arugula.

It was a small cup but the perfect amount. The butternut squash soup was really good, slightly sweet, and topped with toasted pumpkin seeds. I really liked my lunch. I would definitely go back here.

The next stop was picking up our order at Sokol Blosser and then heading to Heiser Farms for the pumpkin patch! Last year we went to the pumpkin patch in Hood River and it was great fun, so I was expecting Logan to love it even more this year. I love this tradition!

Heiser Farms was about 15 minutes from downtown Dundee in Dayton and it wasn’t crazy busy or crowded. Bonus for us! We went early. 🙂 For $15 we got into the farms and could do a bunch of the activities. There were a few things that were extra money but we didn’t feel like we missed out not doing them.

The first thing was the hay ride to the pumpkin patch. Logan wasn’t quite sure about it but once the tractor started moving he was all about it!

It was a short ride to the pumpkin patch, the right amount of time for a toddler. 😉

The pumpkin patch was pretty big and well maintained. There were pathways and trails covered in hay, which was nice, and there was also a corn maze (we didn’t use it but next year I think Logan will love it).

We didn’t get any pumpkins because they were super huge, but there were a lot of good-looking pumpkins.

We went back to the main farm and checked it out. There was a band playing and they were really good! When we got there, they were playing Johnny Cash. They sounded great! I wish I’d gotten the name.

Next Logan and Michael climbed the hay mountain and went down the slide (I posted some cute videos on my Instagram if you want to see them) and I went down once with Logan. 🙂 And then Logan got to see A REAL fire engine! The expression on his face was absolutely priceless and adorable:

After all the sliding and firetruck investigation, we checked out the petting zoo:

And photo ops:

And then we shared two apple cider donuts–freshly made!

They were good donuts!

It was getting pretty late so we decided it was time to head home. Thankfully Logan fell asleep and got in a good little nap on the drive home!

 

Old Salmon River Trail

Posted by Lisa Eirene

We had a nice, low-key Labor Day weekend. I took a half day on Friday and went swimming,shopping and had some time to myself. Michael went out with a friend so Logan and I had a “mommy and Logan” date of pizza and playing at the park. It was nice!

On Sunday we went for a family hike up on Mount Hood. We did the Old Salmon River Trail. It’s near a trail we’ve done several times before, Salmon Butte Trail, and this one is one I’ve read about on several kid blogs. It’s very kid-friendly (and easy).

This particular trailhead is right by a little area that people do rock climbing at. We parked at the rock climbing lot and then walked a bit to the trailhead.

The trail was pretty easy and flat and right along the pretty river the entire time. Logan was able to hike about 85% of it easily. We had so much fun walking on the trail. He liked to point out and touch all the fallen trees.

The trail was well-maintained and not very crowded. We also saw some camping spots along the trail.

The river sounded so nice! We saw some people fly fishing in the river.

There were two small bridges along the trail. It’s funny because Bella hates bridges and gets kind of freaked out but Logan loves them!

We got to the end of the trail, which was the parking lot and trailhead for the other hike. We turned around and Logan was starting to slow down a bit. We hiked a little bit back and then he wanted to go in the carrier. So for the last 3/4 of a mile or so he was in the carrier. I’m glad we brought it.

Even if he’s getting a LITTLE too big for the carrier!

Here are the stats:

It was a nice little hike. Perfect for kids–flat, easy, lots of stuff to look at and touch along the trail but no cliffs or drop-offs that are sketchy. We will definitely do this one again.