A Precious Time

The first six days of June have been precious.  My son arrived on June 1 and left yesterday for five days of camping and fishing with his dad and his uncle.  I will get to see him briefly when he returns Friday evening and I take him to the airport the next morning.

Our time has been full with family activities, but we have also enjoyed mom-and-son traditions from the past and even squeezed in a new adventure.  Here are some of the things we did:

• two visits with Mom/Grandma on Thursday and Sunday
• a family potluck/birthday party on Saturday
• a day trip to Multnomah Falls on Friday
• numerous games of Triple Yahtzee
• meals at some favorite restaurants, including one that we have visited together since the late 1970s

The trip to Multnomah Falls was our new adventure.  Even though we were both born in Oregon, I could only remember seeing the Falls once before.  My son had no memory of ever visiting them.  So we took our time driving east from Portland, first on I-84 and then on "scenic byways."  Chanticleer Point and Vista House were unexpected finds along the way.  And, we appreciated the beauty of several other waterfalls in the area.

Another new experience was our joint purchase and preparation of a whole ham for Saturday's family get-together.  We don't usually cook together, and neither of us had ever prepared a hunk of meat like this before (20 pounds!).  Even my Thanksgiving turkeys are usually in the 12-15 pound range.  The ham was a success, and I now have a ham bone and chunks of ham in the freezer, even after sharing leftovers.

Stay tuned.