More photos of Fall in Scappoose, October 26, 2008

It's Fall in Scappoose - October 24, 2008

It's Fall.  It may not seem like much to Oregonians, but to we two transplanted Southern Californians, the colors are really something to see.   Two photos below show a row of trees on High School Way, directly across from Scappoose High where Hanna attends school.   The single bright yellow and orange tree to the right is on 6th St, just a couple of blocks from us.

The Highest Point in Portland - October 24, 2008

One day last week when Hanna came home from school after Cross Country practice, she told us they had gone to the "highest point in Portland" to run some of the trails there.   She talked about a large compass on the ground, from which you could see all four volcanos, Mt Ranier, Mt St. Helens, and Mt Adams in Washington, and Mt Hood east of Portland.

Jen, Ian, and Emily went home today, Friday the 24, so on the way to PDX, we went to Council Crest Park, which I discovered is the highest place in Portland (1,040 feet) and where Hanna's XC team went last week.   We could, indeed, see all four volcanos.    It's not easy to see, but Mt Hood is in the center of the landscape photo and above Emily in the group photos.   From here we went on to PDX and the Robertsons flew home on Alaska/Horizon Flight 2533 at 3:50 PM to the Fresno Airport.

We really enypyed the Robertsons visit.    The next time we see them, there will be a new little Robertson grand daughter, who is due in late February/early March 2009.

The Korenthals visit the Robertsons - October 23, 2008

Ian and Emily met Isaac, Abigail, and Christopher (who has not gone to work yet) on Tuesday the 21st when DeeDee took them with her while she was babysitting Isaac, so Amber could go out with Abigail.    After Amber and Abigail left, the kids could not play much, since Isaac was not feeling well.    So, on Thursday the 23rd, a day off for Christopher, all four Korenthals came to Grandma and Papa's in Scappoose so we could all visit.    The kids had fun playing and the adults visiting, especially Jen and Amber who had not seen much of each other for several years.

Above, we see Amber and Ian watching something on the TV in DeeDee's Quilt Room; Emily, Jen, Abigail, and DeeDee enjoying some afternoon Vitamin D time on the front porch; and Emily riding Isaac's tricycle.

This time, it's Chocolate Chip Cookies - October 22,2008

For lunch today, Jen, Emily, Ian, Hanna and I went to Burgerville for hamburgers.     We brought a carmel apple milk shake home for DeeDee.   

But, Burgerville was not the only great thing we did today.  Last Friday night, we had pizza from Papa Murphy's and I used a coupon to pick up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough when we got the pizza.   Today, after we got home from Burgerville, Hanna and Emily made up two batches of cookies.    After the first batch was out of the oven, Emily sampled one and said it was "very, very good".    So, now we have a choice of goodies to have with our mid-evening, after-dinner ice cream tonight - doughnuts or chocolate chip cookies. 

Eat your hearts out!!!!!!!  

Making Doughnuts - October 20, 2008

After the adventure with the climbing squirrel, Jen, Ian, Emily, and I made doughnuts, using my grandma Gommy's recipe.   We had a lot of fun and only made a medium size mess, but it was worth it, as the doughnuts sure tasted good.

However, at one point Ian asked about sugar and cinnamon on the doughnuts.    Never have I heard of such a thing with Gommy's doughnuts and I refused to defile the doughnuts.   However, DeeDee said we should let Ian have a few of his doughnuts any way he wanted, so she prepared a plate with cinnamon and sugar on it.   I put a few doughnuts right out of the hot oil onto his plate so they would get covered with the mixture, and then, horror all horrors, DeeDee sprinkled powdered sugar over them also.

I told Ian he was free to do with doughnuts as he pleases when he makes them at his house, but as far as I am concerned, AT MY HOUSE, WHEN I MAKE DOUGHNUTS, EXCEPT FOR THIS ONE SPECIAL TIME, THEY WILL BE PLAIN BUTTERMILK DOUGHNUTS WITHOUT ANY "STUFF" ADDED TO THEM OR PUT  ON THEM!!!!   IF SOMEONE WANTS THEM WITH STUFF ON THEM, THEY CAN MAKE THEIR OWN DOUGHNUTS!!!

A Surprise Visitor - October 20, 2008

There is a small woods in some undeveloped property on the west side of our house, in which live numerous birds and squirrels, and at least one skunk. There are also some neighborhood cats who think they have the right of way through all the back yards, including ours, to get to the woods. This morning, one of the black & white cats that frequent our yard came through the yard at the same time a squirrel was near the house. Before the cat could react, the squirrel ran to our back door and scrambled up the screen door to the metal door frame at the top of the doorway. He, or maybe it was a she, then started walking across the door frame, but at some point either slipped or something, cause the next thing we knew, the squirrel was hanging by his/her back feet from the tract. Apparently, his/her claws must have gotten stuck in part of the tract. He/she hung there for a couple of minutes, then all of a sudden he/she dropped to the ground and made for the woods as fast as his/her could go.

Tillamook and Oceanside - October 18, 2008

It's Saturday the 18th.   Hanna, Jen, Ian,  Emily, and I drove to Tillamook, where we visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory and we also stopped at the Blue Heron Cheese tasting outlet.  Since it was Saturday, most of the operation at the Tillamook Cheese Factory was shut down, but at least we did get to see 50 lb blocks of cheese being wrapped and moving off on roller tracks to storage somewhere.    After helping to deplete the trays of cheese put our for tasting, of course we all had to stop at the Tillamook Ice Cream portion of the factory for an ice cream break.  

One of the reasons for going to Tillamook was to also go to the beach.    The map showed that if we followed Oregon Highway 131 to Netarts and Oceanside, we could find beaches.   After a short drive to Netarts we decided to push on to Oceanside a few miles farther along, as the only beach we could find in Netarts was at a resort.   But, at Oceanside we found a beautiful public beach with a wonderful view of Arch Rocks.    As we scrampled down a rocky path to the sand, Emily said this was not a good beach cause it was too windy and cool.   She is used to Southern Calif beaches.   But as we walked along the sand to the north end of the beach, a huge cliff that juts out into the ocean sheltered us from the wind.   We stayed there for about an hour and we had a great time.    There is a tunnel that goes through the cliff from the south side where we were to the northside of the cliff.   Hanna, Ian, Emily and I went through, but didn't go on farther onto the rocky beach on the north side, as the tide was too high and the footing was too uneven for Emily.     We returned to the south side of the cliff, where Emily and Ian had fun building sand castles and looking for stuff in the sand.    Hanna decided to go back through the tunnel and explore the beach north of the cliff.  When she returned, she mentioned that she had talked to some people who had visited Germany.     Once again, we were blessed with beautiful weather, full sun, no clouds and all-in-all, a great day.   

An Oregon History Lesson for Ian - October 17, 2008

On Friday, Jen, Ian and I went to Oregon City so Ian could see some of the history of Oregon.   We visited the End of the Oregon Trail museum and interpretative center and then went to the Museum of the Oregon Territory.   Jen and Ian posed as frontier mother and son, aren't they cute?

At the End of the Oregon Trail center we listened to a presentation on how the pioneers dressed in that time period.   Then we checked out the different exhibits, including a quilt exhibit that DeeDee would have really enjoyed.    At least this time I had the camera with me, so I was able to take photos of the quilts for DeeDee as well as photos of Jen and Ian as we visited the center.

At the Museum of the Oregon Territory, we saw a lot of interesting exhibits, including a replica of an old fashioned drug store with the hundreds of bottles of "stuff" they had for medicine and equipment doctors and dentists used back then.    I don't relish going to the doctor or dentist now, but am really glad I was not around back 150 years ago after seeing some of the things they used back then.

The Willamette River is just across the road from the Museum.   We went to the lookout at the side of the road and had a wonderful view of the Willamette Falls and Dam.   The dam is there to provide for hydroelectric power and, in the past, water for a lumber mill and several other businesses no longer in operation.    There are also several fish ladders for the salmon to use to get up-river.    Again, the weather completely cooperated and we had a wonderful, sunny, clear day.

DeeDee and Emily spent the day back at the house in Scappoose water coloring, rubber stamping, and doing all sorts of craft things.

Robertsons invade the Oregon Zoo in Portland - October 15, 2008

On Wednesday, Jen, Ian, Emily and I went to the Oregon Zoo in Portland.    The weather was great, cool, but at least sunny with little or no wind, and best of all, there were no large crowds so we were able to get around easily and see the animals without any wait.  And, or course, Papa Tom forgot the bring the camera.   I had charged it up the night before and just plain forgot it.   DeeDee usually carries the camera in her fanny pack, but she didn't go with us, and since I was not used to carrying the camera, didn't miss it until we were at the Zoo and Jen asked if I had the camera.   So, no photos, but we had a great time looking at elephants, including the new baby, polar bears, eagles, bears, seal lions, otters (both sea and land), tigers, the leopard, a lot of monkeys, and all kinds of other animals.     

Visitors from California - October 13, 2008

It's Monday, October 13th and I am off to PDX (Portland Int'l Airport) to pick up daughter Jennifer Robertson and the two youngest Robertson grandchildren, Ian - 12 and Emily Jane - 4.   Hooray, the plane actually landed early.    I was thrilled that Emily actually was happy to see me and didn't hide her face and say, "I don't like that man" as she had done so often in the past.   The only time she really sat with me before was at her 2nd birthday party when I was feeding her ice cream and cake and for the rest of that day, she would at least look at me and not run and hide.   I guess being four now makes her a big girl and she likes Papa Tom now.   Jen, who is 5 months pregnant with our Robertson grandchild #5,  somehow maintained a brave face as she came through the terminal with Ian and Emily, although I could see that she was tired, even though she had been sitting for the past two hours on the plane.     We got the luggage without any problems and headed for Scappoose.  

Riding, Jumping and Quads - October 12, 2008

After church today, Chelle Grabhorn, who is a senior at Scappoose High, is in Hanna's Spanish class, and who also attends Grace Lutheran with us, invited Hanna to go horseback riding with her.  Hanna came home Sunday evening totally excited with the wonderful day she spent with Chelle, not only riding one of Chelle's horses, but jumping with the horse, and best of all, learning how to drive a "quad" four wheel off road vehicle.   Chelle's mom took photos of the girls as they rode around the Grabhorn property.    The photos are of Hanna and one of Hanna and and Chelle.  My favorite is the jump in progress.

Visiting the Pumpkin Patch, Friday October 10, 2008

Friday, Oct 10th was a school holiday, so when the kids called to ask us if we wanted to join them at the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island, we said, "Sure".   We had not yet been to Sauvie Island, which actually sits between the Columbia River and Scappoose on the mainland.   The island is about 27 to 30 miles long and starts just at the northwest end of Portland (20 miles south of us) and goes north, in the Columbia River, bordering the mainland to St Helens (8 miles north of us).   The island is separated from the mainland by the Multnomah Channel, which is the one of last parts of the Willamette River that comes north through Oregon to Portland, before it empties into into the Columbia River.

We met Christopher, Amber, Isaac and Abigail at the Pumpkin Patch.    The first order of business was to get into the wagon being pulled by the big tractor so we could be pulled around the Pumpkin Patch.  Isaac loves trucks, tractors, and basically anything with wheels, and was so excited to see the tractor up close.   As you can see from the top photo, we were right at the front of the wagon behind the tractor and could see all the mud and gook we were being pulled through.    It was fun, and fortunately the driver went very slow and the tractor's wheels did not throw any mud up on us.

After being driven around the patch once, we took the ride again, but this time we got out when the driver stopped at the half-way point, so we could walk around in the patch and pick out our pumpkins.    We brought home three, along with some Indian Corn, gourds and lots of apples for eating and pie making.  Then, Hanna, DeeDee, and I walked over to the corn maze and promptly got lost inside the maze.    We wandered back and forth, around and around, and finally after about 45 minutes came to the exit.   We had not expected the ground to be so muddy and were only wearing tennis shoes on our feet, and boy oh boy, did we get muddy.  We stopped to sit on some hay bales to try to clean some of the guck off our shoes.    And, as you can see, Hanna is wearing the cap and scarf DeeDee made for Hanna as a birthday present.     

All in all, we had a great time, which actually concluded on Saturday morning Oct 11th, when Hanna and I made an apple pie with some of the apples we brought back.    Another culinary delight to add to the food Hanna likes here, as she had not had an apple pie with a top crust on it before.