More cousins...

On our way home from a week-end where our kids got to play with their cousins, we decided to stop by to see one of my cousins. We grew up three miles away from each other in Minnesota and now we live just over an hour away from each other in Washington state. We don't get to see each other very often, but I'm comforted to know she's there. And if you happen to pop in on her say, right at dinner time... she'll quickly throw some amazing food in your direction. She's that kind of cousin and friend! We had a fun visit with her, her husband and their little 2 year old cutie pie!

I think he likes Handy Manny! Ha ha! 

Oh, look at him!

  So cute! 

Remember this seed bag I found at the Junk Show... well, I picked it up with this little man in mind.

His name is Dawson! How perfect is that!?!

I'm going to do a little sewing project with this bag. Oh, it's going to be so fun!

And of course, I'll be sure to show you pics when it's done.

I'm having so much fun tinkering with these photo collages. I guess I made a shorter version of the post "Cousins..."   Oh my goodness, this is so fun!   

Bubble fun...

Ooh... I'm so excited that I figured out how to do this!
Tons of photos with minimal scrolling... yeah, this is going to be fun!

Cousins...

Last week-end we ran away to my sister's house in Oregon. Here are a few pictures from the week-end.

 Holding a teeny, tiny baby is the best invention ever! Oh, I love that little peanut!

Another one of my sisters (and her family) stopped in for the afternoon.

  

The kids had so much fun blowing bubbles.

I love how seriously he is taking his bubble blowing.

Here are all of the cousins (in a two-state area) on one couch.

 There are two more cousins in Michigan and one in Minnesota, all three of them are boys. 

My parents have 10 grandsons, 1 granddaughter and one more grandbaby on the way.

 

Zedekiah, Reuben, Obadiah (Linda and Seth's) Mick, Jack, (Nora and Alan's) Deacon and Elena is holding Hank (Nora and Alan's).

Oh, he's so cute! Here's a little video clip of him, kicking his little bitty legs and moving his little bitty arms.

It was so nice to see my sisters. It was so nice to see the cousins play together. It was so nice to get away for a few days. It was just so nice to be with family.

Thanks for stopping by the Lundby Hive!

Local Events, Museums, Etc.

I have houseguests coming, and the kids will be on spring break soon, so I thought I'd check the local community event calendars to see what's going on within (about) a 2 hour radius from my house.

Here's what I have found so far... (click on the links if you want more info).

Maryhill Museum re-opens March 15th
Free admission (with library pass) for household plus up to 4 guests.

March 19th - April 10th
Free kids admission with paid adult to The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles, OR

March 25th - May 1st
Tulip Fest in Woodburn, OR

Friday, March 25th & Saturday, March 26th
Community Garage Sale and County Surplus Sale, 6-8 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Skamania County Fairgrounds in Stevenson, Wash. Admission is $2 Friday, free on Saturday.

Friday, April 1st
First Friday in downton Hood River

Friday, April 1st
Free First Friday at the Portland Children's Museum, (4-8 p.m.)

Saturday, April 2nd
2011 Women's Expo Date: 4/2/2011 Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Location: Hood River Alliance Church
Join us for the 2011 Women's Expo- Celebrating Women of the Gorge!- a festival for the amazing women in our communities! 43 vendors from businesses such as Hood River Re-Design, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Scentsy, Arbonne International, Avon, professional card makers, Stamping Up, local artisans and crafters and more!! Speakers! Classes! Workshops! Amazing giveaways! George Evans will be teaching a women's self defense class at 1pm, FREE WITH GENERAL ADMISSION. $10 Adults and children age 10+ children under 10yrs are free!! proceeds from ticket sales benefit The Columbia Gorge Pregnancy Resource Centers For more information call 541-386-1050 (MON-FRI, 10-5) or email cgprcs@yahoo.com

April 2-30
Tulip Festival in Woodland, WA. Free admission.

Sunday, April 3rd
OMSI, $2.00 admission (1st Sunday of each month).

Friday and Saturday, April 8th and 9th 
“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,” 7 p.m. at Horizon Christian School, 700 Pacific Ave., Hood River. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. There will also be performances April 14-16. Tickets are $7 adult, $5 children 12 and under, available at the Horizon Christian School office and Waucoma Bookstore in Hood River and Columbia River Music in The Dalles.

Saturday, April 9th
WAAAM, Hood River, OR Driving/flying of cars and/or planes from the museum (2nd Saturday of each month).

Tuesday, April 12th
$4.00 Tuesday at Oregon Zoo 9 am to 4 pm (Second tuesday of each month).

The week of April 16-24 is National Park Week. No admission at National Parks.
Free admission at Fort Vancouver

Saturday and Sunday April, 16 & 17th
Blossom Fest in Hood River, OR
Craft Show at the Odell Fairgrounds

Saturday, April 16th
Oregon Historical Society Museum in Portland, OR. Two children free with each paid adult admission.

Thursday, April 21st
Homeschool Day at Evergreen Air Museum in McMinnville, OR.

Saturday, April 23rd
Egg Hunt and Potluck Brunch at the Mill A Church at 10:00 a.m. Free.  :)

Saturday, April 30th
Women in Aviation Day at Evergreen Air Museum in McMinnville, OR.


I'm not sure how many of these events we will take in... but rest assured, our guests will have a lot of options!  If you know of any local, "free-to-cheap" events happening in our general area, I'd love to hear about them!

Thanks for stopping by the Lundby Hive!

St. Urho's Dinner

We decided to have a special dinner in honor of St. Urho's Day. 

We had a salad; green spinach, cucumbers and purple grapes.

No Finnish flatbread to be found, so this sourdough and rustic french bread, did their best to fill in the gap.

Elena prepping potatoes for the Makkara Mojakka. She really doesn't do very many things without a book nearby.

The final product.

Elena loved the soup mojakka. And so did I. Felt like Minnesota in a bowl.

Deacon helped me make a Rhubarb Crunch for dessert. Click here for the recipe.

Oh my goodness, the whole house smelled so good! Mmm! And thank you kind man, who showed up at the church last summer and asked if anyone wanted a big bag of rhubarb! Um, me! 

Deacon loved the rhubarb crunch! Elena liked the crunch, she could do without the rhubarb.
Deacon only ate one bowl of the mojakka. Elena had three.

A couple more scenes from our dinner...

 

"Where did all the grasshoppers go anyways?"

An 8 year old boy's interpretation of wearing green and purple. Ahh, life with boys!

We had such a fun dinner! St. Urho was a good excuse to get the kids involved with making dinner. And it was really nice to sit down with my family and share a typical meal (except for the spinach salad) that I had growing up. 

Culture, that sounds elegant... I guess I shared a bit of "Finnish culture" with my kids. My kids are growing up so different than I did, so I was thrilled to eat Finnish food with them. 

Thank you St. Urho for a fun evening with my family!