Yes...I'm Still in Oregon
I'm starting to miss my bed a little. Not that my hotel bed is not comfy, I'm just missing the familiarity of my pillow.
Of course my hooligans don't want to return home at all. They want to continue to explore our land every waking minute. There are some areas we haven't even ventured to yet. I think the boys will actually be disappointed once a vineyard is planted, it will be too monotonous for them.
So since my days have been spent roaming the hills of the Willamette Valley, here's whats been happening.
As you turn from the main road onto our street here is the view to the left. It's breathtaking.
The view to the right is a completely different scene but equally picturesque.
The road is dotted with beautiful old barns like this one. It makes me feel as if I've stepped back in time.
Then once you step foot on our property, this is all you'll see...HOOLIGANS WITH STICKS!
The bigger the better.
But sometimes smaller is key...as long as it's shaped like a slingshot.
The sticks are used to shove into snake holes.
Or as machetes to chop down vegetation.
Mostly, the hooligans just want to look cool with their sticks.
Sometimes the sticks are used to point out a bug on the raspberries.
And forgotten while eating a sweet treat.
But the distractions don't last for long because the sticks would quickly reappear along with a rock to throw.
I would try to point out my perfectly sloped Pinot Noir hills...
Nobody cared. They just wanted me to take more pictures of them with their sticks.
Could someone please tell me what is it with boys and their sticks? I'm feeling a little left out.
Your land looks gorgeous! It's not just boys and their sticks - my daughter is 14 and STILL picks them up whenever we're out hiking.
Reply to this
WOW, your land is so beautiful! Those pinot noir hills, just gorgeous, even if the boys with sticks don't see it just yet. You're going to be living in heaven!
Reply to this
Mmm.... great looking berries! And boys with sticks - sticks are important! You can do about a million things with a stick
Reply to this
Your land is beautiful! How different it will look with the tall grass cut and the soil planted to grapes, beautiful, yet sad. The berries look so good!
Reply to this
Boys and sticks- probably goes back to Biblical times. Your land is gorgeous!
Reply to this
What a beautiful spot. And is it just me, or does the wee hooligan look just like mommy?
Reply to this
Oh goodness, your land is amazing! Yes, sticks are important! Boys need them..
Your boys are so good looking...you are so blessed to have such an amazing life and family!
Take care!
Reply to this
It just goes to show you that we don't really need to buy them all these expensive toys and things made out of plastic. They're perfectly happy with sticks and rocks and bugs and frogs and maybe a puppy.
Are all the country roads paved out there? I love where we live, but living in the country in Kansas means dirt roads. There are even some dirt roads in the middle of Wichita!
Those blackberries look delicious. Blackberries are my favorite.
Reply to this
What a positively lovely place you have there! And the berries! Fantastic.
Reply to this
What a little slice of heaven you have there.
That sling shot could be a divining rod....maybe your littlest hooligan will find water on your land!
Reply to this
LOL Boys and their sticks.. who knows what lies in the minds of men.. even small hooligan types
The land is beautiful and I love the picture of the old barn.
Hope you get home safely to your beloved pillow
Reply to this
All that space--I'm envious. My kids would love all that space to play with sticks. And to throw stuff--anything, rocks, dirst, sticks....boys are bizarre.
My friends own a wine shop in Portland. I will connect you two when you are ready.
Reply to this
Wow--the scenery there is just breathtaking! Your new adventure is so exciting!! And I don't know what it is about boys and sticks (and rocks)--but I have group here that would be totally jealous of the stick-finding possibities on your land!!
Reply to this
From the look of things the desire for sticks is certainly hereditary!
Reply to this
Looks lovely. Though my whole body just gave me a histamine blast from the looking (hay fever {sigh})
Reply to this
Very nice!! What is your timeline with this project?
#1
Reply to this
Sticks are a big deal. It's easier to hike up a hill (or down) with one. Beyond that, I guess it's a guy thing. I've never been one to poke at snake holes!
Love the Hooligan pics, as always!
Reply to this
Boys and sticks= warrior weapons, spears
so I am told by my boys
Reply to this
I love old barns like that - I've read a couple of books where they turned the barns into houses - I'd love to live there! How cool is it that age doesn't matter when it comes to hooligans and their sticks? Although I would be using mine as protection against the snakes. Whirling nunchucks - HAH!
Reply to this
Simply Gorgeous. I am blown away by how lovely your new home will be. And the sticks? They rock.
Reply to this
I am completely and totally jealous that you are moving to such a beautiful location. The pictures you took are just stunning.
And I love the ones of your boys (all three of them) with their sticks. I wish I had an answer for you as to why boys loves sticks so much...but I've only got a daughter so I don't have too much insight to the adolescent male mind.
Reply to this
What a lovely area! Soon enough you will have your own pillow there!
Reply to this
ROFL! I thought it was just my son who had this obsession! There must be a stick gene on the Y chromosome.
Your land is so beautiful. I grew up in Oregon and I really miss it sometimes.
Reply to this
I love old barns. We vacationed in TN last summer and most of my pictures are old barns. And Civil War cemetaries. Wow, I'm really weird huh?
Your hooligans are so cute.
Now you know what to get them for Christmas. Just think of all the money you'll save. You could probably add in some cardboard boxes and they'd be set for a long time.
Reply to this
Re: boys and sticks - we call it the "tree-beating gene" LOLOL
Reply to this
Give a hooligan, young or old, a stick and he will craft a tool. And then he will craft the tool into a weapon. It must be genetic. And your sticks look to be the coolest!
Reply to this
Give a hooligan, young or old, a toothpick even and he will craft a tool. And then he will take the tool and make a weapon. I think it's genetic. And those are some cool sticks you have on your property!
Reply to this
we could get all freudian with the boys and their sticks.
Reply to this
Everybody needs a good walking stick!
Reply to this
Everybody needs a good walking stick!
That looks like such a fun place to spend some summer days.
Reply to this
Nice pics. I am the same.....nothing like your own pillow!
Reply to this
What sweet pics
Reply to this
Boys and there sticks!! LOL
I think us mothers are just so sick of lugging around all of our kids stuff all of the time..we just opt not to carry around those massive walking sticks! By the end of the day my gang would have figured out a way for me to carry them for them!!!Always happens! I am the carrier of ALL things!
Oh and the Brocolli stems..no not for me..I feel like I am chewing on a tree!
Reply to this
Ahhh, the mystery of the stick... I hear comments of Freud, but my daughter and her friends loved to collect sticks also. Even driftwood sticks from the beach. My son would would too, then bring them home and paint them sometimes carrying the same one for days. My daughter is 12 and still insists on finding a walking stick when we hike or she won't continue! I think it's more the adventure of it all. Your Hooligan's are definitely adventurer's! Beautiful property! So envious! It looks so peaceful there! Looks like your boys got the adventurer gene from you!
Reply to this
Beautiful pictures and the boys are adorable.
The fascination with sticks and playing with them never changes no matter how old they become
Cheers
Cathy
www.wheresmydamnanser.com
Reply to this
Those are pretty cute hooligans! AND ... What a beautiful vineyard-to-be. (I'm so glad you pointed it all out!) Ummm ... sticks and BOYS? Well, my 9-year-old Rachel Kaye (yes, a girl) never met a stick she didn't need to procure, fully test, incorporate into all daily life activities, and then store right outside the door (for me to "meet" unawares). Sticks, frogs, snakes, bugs, rocks, flowers, kittens, field mice ... (well, you get the picture). I think it all boils down to child+object+imagination+energy=HAPPY! How wonderful to give our kids a happy childhood. : ) Love your place!
Reply to this
Ooooh, look at those hooligans and all their adorableness!!! And sticks, well, extension of self, maybe..*giggles*
Reply to this
Sticks are the all purpose, multifunctional, always findable and universally destructable toy of childhood. They can be a sword, a cane, a gun, a baton....anything at all. Even an empty box can't be as many things as a stick can be.
Enjoy it while you can. Sticks soon enough get replaced by skateboards, then by girls, then by cars, and it's not until they are married and fathers themselves that they remember what a stick is for.
Reply to this
I love the pics with the boys exploring, if you had a girl she would be right there doing the same thing trust me! My two would never want to come inside either
I just found your blog and am absolutely thrilled, you are too funny, delicious recipes and taking us along on your journey...Thank you
Reply to this
How cool. Gorgeous property, some of it need to be natural for the hooligans.
Reply to this
How much fun to plan such an awesome place.
Reply to this
Gorgeous family. Gorgeous land. Am officially jealous.
So...if this law thing doesn't work out, do you think I can work for you? Sure I will drink just about anything, but making things grow is a particular love of mine. What of a cross country move, when you're talking about a vineyard. *sigh*
Reply to this
Cathy, it looks like the most relaxing holiday anyone could have. Stunning photos of the area and your kids are adorable too.
Reply to this
Oh! Thanks for sharing more Oregon pics. You are fueling my dream to get back out west. *sigh*
Reply to this
It looks like a great place.
As I looked at the pictures of the boys I remembered playing with sticks when I was little, so long ago.
Reply to this
I can't travel without my pillow. Hotel pillows usually have too much bleach in them for me.
Reply to this
Whatever it is with boys and their sticks...it starts at birth! lol
Why didn't you take your pillow with you! I always have to take my pillow with me!
Reply to this
Can you leave them portions,of the vineyard to be, as wild, for them to play in until they get past that point ( if they ever do *smile*)... looks like Wild Boar, if thats who it was, was having fun hiking with his stick, too
Reply to this
Your Oregon pix are making me feel very sad and homesick. But keep posting them!
BTW, it's not just boys and their sticks. Darling Daughter has always been a fan of sticks too. And rocks. Good grief, when she was younger there was always a rock banging around in my dryer, that I missed when emptying pockets.
Reply to this
Oh wow - I can't wait to see your grapes growing and to sample the wine you will make
I had girls, so boys are interesting to me now. Taking my grandson out for a walk: if there is a puddle, it must be jumped in, if there is a stick it must be picked up and brandished, a rock must be picked up and thrown, preferably in water, and any water must have a rock thrown into it. It must some inner thing that tells them what to do - he certainly doesn't appear to have to think about it at all. fascinating!
Reply to this
If i had all of that beauty to look at, i would not be in a hurry to leave it either. You have very handsome boys!
Reply to this
I. Am. So. Jealous.
Beautiful! Have a great time.
Reply to this
I know this is not a desirable trait but I am GREEN WITH ENVY. Hooligans are cute and all but I want to come live on the land with you. Wow! breathtaking is RIGHT!!
Don't forget, if you need help planting I'm there for ya!
Reply to this
What a flippin' incredible adventure!!!
Reply to this
I live in the farthest, northern part of the Willamette Valley, and consider the entire region to be just beautiful. Have you been able to see Mt. Jefferson or Mt. Bachelor or the Three Sisters from where you are at? I see Mt. Hood and St. Helen's regularly, albeit from afar, and still get excited when they are "out"! I'm curious ... any more little, plastic figurines show up? Maybe they are afraid of the boy's sticks!
Reply to this
Wow. Just...Wow. What a gorgeous property! And boys and their sticks are like peanut butter and jelly, or wine and cheese. They're meant to be together.
Reply to this
gorgeous land, gorgeous berries, gorgeous kiddos.
and hey--what's your secret to finding a comfy hotel bed? i've yet to experience one that didn't make my neck stiff for the next two days.
Reply to this
Absolutely gorgeous property. I miss my boys being "little" boys - sometimes they revert back to that stage at their current age, but it's rare.
Reply to this
LOL what is it with boys and big sticks?? It's exactly the same with my landlords' kids and little cousin
Reply to this
Cathy, your new land is absolutely gorgeous--just stunning views! And the Hooligans are pretty cute, too.
Reply to this
Those pics with the kids are so sweet!!!
PS: I always travel with my pillows
Reply to this
This may be my favorite post you've ever done! I just love it!
Reply to this
You have captured the beauty of your property so well in your photos. Oh and the sticks, yes, boys, er men and any kind of stick makes them look cool.
Reply to this
A beautiful place! Peaceful...
Cheers,
Rosa
Reply to this