Strawberries and The Cow Train

Today was a good day.  Well, except for the OKC Thunder not winning.  But other than that, we had fun!

We got up this morning, got ready and headed to Sauvie Island, just outside of Portland, Oregon.  We went to a u-pick farm called The Pumpkin Patch where we picked a lot, a lot, a lot of strawberries.  The berries were small, but really sweet. 

Here's some of our picking crew hard at work.

I believe there were many consumed berries during this process.  I told the lady that she should charge us for an extra pint, but she said that tasting goes with the territory.  At least I did try to pay for 'em! 

We ended up with a beautiful box of strawberries.  Yep, we got some skills at strawberry selection!!

After we picked to our hearts' content, one last thing was on the docket for The Pumpkin Patch visit:  A ride on the Cow Train.  And since it is Father's Day, Bryan got to ride for free!  Lucky, lucky him!

I have to admit that just watching this Cow Train zipping around in the parking lot and then off through the pasture was FUNNY!  

After we left The Pumpkin Patch, we stopped off a a little lavender field.  It was very pretty even though the lavender wasn't ready to be cut yet.  Apparently you have to wait until the bees arrive, and that's how you know it's really ready. There were no bees yet.  It still smelled good.  Talon sneezed and I had an itchy nose by the time we left.  But it was worth the view and the fragrance.

At the end of the day, we came home and Bryan and Cappi turned into yard working monsters!  I was so impressed and so thankful for what they did.  Cappi is fearless with the weedeater, and she got down to business.  Bryan worked on an area of the yard where there were some railroad ties that needed to be pulled up and dealt with and an accidental compost pile that needed to be removed.  Then Wyler jumped in and helped remove some rose bushes that I was so glad to see go.  Really, I am very appreciative for their doing all of the work they did. 

Afterwards, I had a couple of friends come over for a cookout.  Burgers and dogs as well as baked beans, zucchini casserole, and potato salad.  The squash casserole was a recipe of Cappi's and it was absolutely delicious.  I do love squash!

For dessert, we had strawberries and ice cream.  It was SOOOOOOOOOO good.

Lyn brought some interesting ice creams and cones from Salt & Straw, a specialty ice cream place that has become very popular in Portland.  They have a variety of unusual flavors like Sea Salt Ice Cream with Caramel Ripple and Honey Balsamic Strawberry with Cracked Pepper.  Everyone tasted, but with the strawberries, we all ended up having vanilla.  Chaini really liked the Sea Salt & Caramel one, just for the record. 

After dessert, we all sat outside and enjoyed the cool evening air.  It was a breezy 63 degrees and everyone thought it was freezing.  I loved it.  We sat outside and talked about good movies (Lyn is making a "must watch" list) and other fun things. 

The girls played catch with the dogs to the point of exhaustion.  A tired dog is a happy dog, right? 

Speaking of tired, it's time for me to turn the lights out.  I'm t-i-r-e-d.  Tomorrow was supposed to be the zoo, but the weather forecast changed a bit, so if it rains we may have to make some adjustments to the plans. 

Good night.
Over and out.
Austa la pasta.