Happy Monday

I think I am as excited as the kids. I remember this time of year when I was a kid. The promise of an exciting summer, sleeping in and no homework. This is the last week I will have kids in the same schools. Next year, Anthony will be in high school, Megan in Middle school and Jason will be in 2nd grade. I won't have kids at the same school until Anthony is a senior and Megan a freshman.

This weekend the kids and I drove up to an Oregon Trail Interpretative Center. It was supposed to be very cool with a neat museum and lots of trails. It took us 45 minutes to get there only to see the storm clouds moving in. They had to close a couple of the trails because of the high winds. Now, I love to do these hikes but not in the middle of a thunder storm. Megan really enjoyed this trip. We have just finished reading "Little House On The Prairie." So it was fun to see the covered wagons up close. Plus she knew the names of the cooking pots and tools. She did look up the buffalos nose to see how big buffalo boggers can be.

We haven't done much hiking around here. There have been a lot of cougar sightings in town. We also have to really keep an eye on the kids during Anthony's baseball games. Because they have seen several cougars near the park. They teach the kids in school about what to do if they see a cougar or a bear. Steve sees lots of bears when he is on his train. We also get coyotes in town, but not to close to our house. I have animal mace on order so I will feel a little more comfortable when we do hike. I really don't want to start carrying a shot gun, but lots of people do. Especially when we start hiking up to get mushrooms. Last year the kids found a bear den. Speaking of mushrooms, it is that time. The weather has been so bad that I am not sure if we are going to make it up there this year. Also, we are hearing that they are just not finding very many. In some spots there is still snow on the ground. I hope we get up there, because it can be a lot of fun.