Our First Movie in the Park

logo courtesy of Pictures in the Park

Last Friday night we drove into Gresham, Oregon and took in a movie. Not one in a dark, air conditioned theatre, but one in the park under the stars. Ever since hearing my girlfriend talk about the movies they showed during the summer down in LA, I have been enthralled with the idea.

We arrived right on time, but they were running late. They had a band ready to play before the movie, but they were still trying to find electrical outlets. Once the band started, Joe perked up. Since they were playing a family friendly movie, there were lots of kiddos there and the band played some cute kids songs along with an assortment of old classics and newer songs. Joe enjoyed the music, but he was clearly anticipating the movie. Right before dusk the announcement came that they would be starting the movie soon. As the summer heat turned to a cool breeze. the highlight of the evening "How to Train A Dragon" appeared on screen. With kids giggling and chatting in the background, traffic whizzing by the park, planes soaring overhead and the stars twinkling, it was a magical night. We were sprawled out on our blankets, shifting positions often to lessen the aches and pains these unfamiliar conditions were producing in our old bodies! But we enjoyed it nonetheless. After the movie, we packed up what we had brought, shaking out the kinks and limbs that had fallen asleep.

I don't know if we'll attend another movie in the park as it was a bit of a drive for us and Michael and I aren't really into sprawling on the ground for 4 hours, but as we walked back to our car I realized that it was something I had really wanted to do for a long time and I'm glad we did it. I guess it was on my "bucket list" without me even knowing it was there.


photo courtesy of Pictures in the Park

So how 'bout you? Have you ever seen a movie in the park in your neck of the woods? Til next time ....

Games People Play

hubby and i have always been game players. we enjoy group games as well as games just for the two of us. we've recently resurrected our habit of playing backgammon. early in our marriage, before #1 son came along, we played a game or two of backgammon every evening after dinner. this year, hubby comes home midday from school, we eat lunch and we play our game. we stick with one a day. and we don't actually play backgammon, but a variation of the game called acey-deucey. there's a bit more luck involved which is either great (if you're winning) or awful (if you're losing) and can change the winds of the game at any moment!



when we're with other couples we enjoy playing pinnocle, a great card game. we've also played hearts, and spades. one couple that we know always seems to have a new card game to show us how to play. which means they know how to play and we don't. guess who wins? every time???



if we're visiting hubby's family we'll play sequence, mexican train, or pinocchle if its just the inlaws and us. can't really play pinocchle with more than 4 people. my mother-in-law and i make a great team and win over the guys alot.

how bout you? i noticed around the blogosphere that lots of folks play games over Christmas and New Years. i even saw some games that i had never heard of before. i'm feeling the urge to learn some new games to play. so, what do you and your spouse like to play? what games do you play when you're with a big group?

bar-b-q in the woods

monica over at the homespun heart is such an inspiration to me in all the great meals and activities she does with and for her family. so wed nite i packed up some food and supplies and our family headed up to the south hills. we are blessed to be within 30 min of a national forest where there are picnic and camping sites. on the way, i realized that i had forgotton the charcoal! aaaaccckk! you can't have a bar-b-q without charcoal so we stopped at the last little gasmart on the way to the campsite and bought 9 lbs of charcoal for $10!!! highway robbery, if i do say so. it was so funny, cuz right as we were leaving the gasmart a commercial for walmart charcoal came on: 18lb for $6. boy, do last minute purchases hurt the budget!



but onward, we got to the picnic area and as i suspected, we had it to ourselves. hubby grilled the burgers and corn on the cob, i set the table and our son played and our daisy dog romped around the campsites. while hubby grilled i read to him out of a frugal book we've been reading together and we talked about whether we could actually live without a car.




it was so relaxing to be in the outdoors, to only have the sounds of nature around us, to be away from cellphones, computers and tvs. what a blessing!

we will definitely be doing this again this summer and we will definitely be looking for a similiar area once we move to boise. and next time i will remember the charcoal.

sat afternoon drive

Sat we decided to get out and take a drive. We have always loved going for drives and just becuz I’m the driver now that hasn’t changed. we are a bit limited in the hinterlands of Idaho as to where we can go that is a short drive away, but we decided we’d head north to sun valley. It was a somewhat cloudy day, but a great time nonetheless. Mike and I had a great conversation as I asked him: what spiritual gift would you ask from the Lord if you could have anything?

We hunted down the side streets to find the tulley’s coffeehouse---mmm, good! A decaf carmel macchiato and all is good in life.