Angie Windheim

Heat wave?! Are you serious? Good grief! Oregonians do not know how to handle this above 100 degrees stuff 🙂  So, if you’ve got kids and are bored with staying indoors in the air conditioning, I do have a few recommendations…

Murase Plaza at Memorial Park in Wilsonville: One of my favorite places to take the kids for some water fun is the “waterwall” in Wilsonville.  It’s also one of my favorite places to get great pics. Major photo op. There are mini-fountains in one area and a block-long rock wall with waterfalls and a concrete stream running in front. I recommend parking at the library across the street. The park parking is a bother of a walk on hot days and more appropriate if you want to play on the slides and such, but the library lines up nicely with the water. There is a public restroom…yay…but very little shade…boo. So, bring an umbrella if you are one of those parents that doesn’t want to join in the fun.

Wilson Pool: I make the trek out to Wilson Pool at least once a summer. Why don’t we have any outdoor public pools out near Sherwood/Tualatin/Newberg/Wilsonvillle/Tigard I have no idea?  My friends and I complain about it every year.  That said, Wilson Pool is worth the drive. It’s got a great slide, a diving board and the lazy river into the crazy, spinning whirlpool. So fun. It’s always busy, but we all seem to make our way through the crowds with ease.  Tuesdays are 2-for-1 which is great, but it’s extra crowded on those days.

Tualatin Commons Fountain and Salmon Street Springs: These are fun, too. Not as exciting, but a great stop on a hot day if you are nearby.  We had the kids run through Salmon Street Springs after visiting Saturday Market and the Brew Fest.  Tualatin Commons is very convenient for us after soccer practice.

Portland Fountains Next on My List: Lovejoy Fountain Park and Keller Fountain.

Dave Mathews Band moves me. Whether the lyrics bring emotion or the music behind them gets me dancing…I’m moved. With their latest release, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, they did it again. I can’t get enough of “Funny the Way it is” or “You and Me” or “Grux” and my kids love “Alligator Pie.”   I wasn’t sure what to expect with this release, but is a wonderful tribute to their fallen band mate, Leroi Moore.  We were at one of the first concerts they played after he died (in fact, we were worried they’d cancel the show at the Gorge because they had cancelled several before that). It was an amazing show. They played their hearts out.  I’m disappointed to not be making the trek to the Gorge this year. I would love to hear the new stuff live. But, we go every other year to their annual 3-day stop for Labor Day Weekend and this isn’t the year to go. It’s such a good time. One of the best parties you’ll ever go to.  Just make sure you plan to camp in the big field, get to the show in time for an amazing sunset, and be ready to stay up all night 🙂  Here are a few pics to give you an idea of the setting.

Imagine the stress of having Coldplay tickets in your hand, but not knowing if you can actually make it the concert…  Two of my boys were in district play-off baseball games Friday night and were putting our night out at serious risk. We even tried to sell the tickets, but luckily no one took us up on that spectacular opportunity.  And, luckily, both boys won their games in timely fashion and we were off to the concert.

We are big Coldplay fans. We have all of their CDs. We know all of their songs (and probably all of the words).  The concert was fantastic. Coldplay puts on an excellent, very engaging show. Lots of audience interaction, including a fantastic acoustic set where they came out and visited us poor folks in the general admission lawn seating.  That set included a tribute to Michael Jackson with a cover of Billy Jean.  Very well done. Chris Martin can hit those high notes 🙂  Not sure what my favorite song was. I have too many. Their closing set included “The Scientist” which I LOVE!!!

So, being such huge fans, the concert couldn’t disappoint. That being said, I think the Clark County Amphitheater is my absolute least favorite place to see a concert. We’ve had stellar seats in the reserved section before and it that was pretty good, but then why be in an amphitheater when you are under a cover and can’t see beyond the stage. Sitting in the lawn is a totally lame experience. The sounds is not good, not loud enough, and you can’t see a dang thing. We couldn’t even see the big screens until it got really dark and you could easily hold a conversation during the conert. That’s just wrong! I joked with my friend that if you took the binoculars and focused on the big screen, it was like you were really at a concert.  I’ll never be excited to go that venue, but now I know that I will absolutely not sit in the lawn. Pay the money, honey.  You’ve either gotta be close or not go.  It’s such a different experience than the Gorge Amphitheater. That one rocks no matter wear you sit.

Our second annual “let’s get summer started” trip to Black Butte was fun, fun, fun.  The 4 families got along great and the house we rent is just awesome. Next year I have to remember to take pictures of it.  Go check out the pics.

To celebrate our Memorial Day weekend we headed out for a hike to Ramona Falls (near Welches in the Mt Hood Forest).  We’ve done this hike numerous times, but it had been probably 5 years. We needed Sam to be able to make it on his own two feet rather than on Brian’s back. The hike is pretty long…maybe 6 miles, but it’s beautiful from start to finish.  The falls are amazing. This time around we had lots of extra challenges. First, the bridge was out.  But determined hikers find a way (see the log crossing photos).  And, we ran into some major snow drifts along the trail. Those of us in sneakers had to slip and slide with cold toes quite a bit.  Windheims are tough though. At the end of the journey, all three kids gave it a thumbs up. I think Joe was the most enthusiastic and really seemed to love being out in the forest.

Click here to view some great shots of our hike to Ramona Falls

I love growing things! I get so excited for April and May because I get to start in on my veggie garden. I just get giddy when I go to the garden centers and start finding new varieties of peppers and tomatoes. Then I start randomly grabbing seed packets. I always start out with a plan, but can’t resist adding a few extras once I get there.  I’m totally out of control!

Last year, I put in a nice curved raised bed with a rock border that I copied from a magazine.  I learned through that plan, that putting flowers in the garden is great for looks and attracting bees. It really was lovely. Unfortunately, it’s become very apparent that our garden spot it getting more and more shade.  So, we decided to move to a sunnier location on the southside of our shop.

Brian built 4 new, wood-framed raised beds and I was able to still use 3 othersI already had nearby. And, then because I couldn’t resist some pumpkins, potatoes and a cool little sweet potato vine, I had to expand a few beds 🙂  I’m a nut, I know.  

My raised beds are lined with newspaper and filled with 1 yard of blended topsoil from Valley Landscape. I’m growing 7 varieties of tomato (cherries, romas, big ones, heirlooms), 9 varieties of peppers (some hot, some sweet, no bell), zucchini, lemon cucumber, sweet peas, snap beans (bush), onions (yellow & red), potatoes (gold and red), lettuce, nasturtiums, chinese cabbage, basil, cilantro, chives, pumpkins (small and large) and sweet potatoes.  I also have established strawberries, grapes, blueberries, apples and pears. And I added plums and cherries to the orchard this year. I grow mostly from starts. Items in italics are from seed. 

I still need to add some flowers in addition to the nasturtiums and a “bug bath” to attract dragon flies and bees. All you need is a shallow bowl with some rocks for the bugs to land on and a little water. You do need to be sure to hose it out every 3 days or so to avoid mosquitoes.

I’ll be tracking how things are growing and take some pics. Stay tuned.

So when a friend of mine says, “come celebrate my husband’s 40th and play some shuffleboard,” I thought she was totally joking. Shuffleboard? Like the kind retired folks do on cruise ships?  Well, we get to Old Market Brew Pub and sure enough, we play shuffleboard. Only this is a “highly competitive” table top version.  Evidently, Brian and I were among the few that didn’t play this in college…cause we were too young to bar hop! Geesh. Anyways, it was very fun, addictive and infuriating. And, of course, the Kathy, the hostess, rocked at it.  But I copied her technique and ended up with the highest score of the night – woohoo! I won’t mention how many times I landed in the gutter.  

Old Market Pub and Brewery (6959 SW Multnomah Blvd, Portland 503-BIG-BEER) is a very fun place for a night out. It’s big, noisy, and full of character. They’ve got a large variety of brews for the beer lovers and a full bar for those that prefer the margarita or lemon drop. My favorite brew was the Hop On!, a classic amber that is severely overhopped.  Very awesome. The menu looks good too, but, to be honest, we were too busy drinking and playing shuffleboard to pay much attention.  And, I know Kathy was paying by the hour for the shuffleboard tables (just like you do for pool tables), but I couldn’t find how much.  You’d want to call ahead to figure that out. Totally worth whatever it is though 🙂

Music is the #1 hobby for my boys. Whether they are listening and shopping iTunes, creating songs on Garage Band, watching American Idol, coming up with new dance moves, playing Guitar Hero or actually playing an instrument, music is HUGE for the Windheims.   In shopping around for lessons, I ended up finding a couple of gems at the Newberg Music Company.  Myron LeRoy is fine tuning Ben’s pretty amazing skills at the electric guitar and Randy Sage has got Joe drumming and sounding pretty impressive after only 3 months.  Both instructors are relaxed, good humored and keep the kids on a great path to learning their instruments.  You can reach them through Newberg Music at 503-537-2196 

Myron just finished a fun little project for a song he wrote 30 years ago when mechanical bulls were all the rage. An amateur video animator put together a YouTube video for Ain’t No Way.  The white-haired singer in the video is a pretty great likeness for Myron himself 🙂  This project led to a professional animator creating a project around some of Myron’s songs and a screenplay he wrote.  That will take some time to finish up, but you can check out the early ideas at Fishin’ Blog  Pretty neat stuff!

Thought I’d spread the word that Raindrops to Refuge  is putting on a spaghetti dinner at the Rebekah Hall in downtown Sherwood on Friday, April 17 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.  The cost is $5.00 per adult and $2.50 per child.  This includes spaghetti, a salad from Sweet Tomatoes, bread and a drink.

Raindrops to Refuge is a nonprofit organization in Sherwood that protects the local watershed. A friend of mine, Emily McBride, has been a board member for two years and recently became president. Some of the things they do are:  plant native trees in Sherwood, sponser Naturescaping workshops, provide educational activity books about the life cycle of salmon to every fourth grader in Sherwood and restore small wetlands. They have also successfully fought to close a local unlined landfill that is polluting the Tualatin River and have provided comments and a letter of support for the Master Plan for Stella Olsen park.  

This year alone Raindrops to Refuge will plant several thousand trees, pull ivy from Stella Olsen park, speak to civic groups, co-host a tour of Metro’s new land aquisition on Chicken Creek and much more.

The health of Sherwood’s watershed is a vital part of what makes this city so livable.  As the only organization dedicated to the protection of Sherwood’s watershed, their presence here is of great importance!

100 percent of the proceeds from this spaghetti dinner will go directly to Raindrops to Refuge.  They hold only one fundfraiser a year and this is it!  

For more information, go to their website at  www.raindrops2refuge.org

Baseball is now in full swing for the Windheims. The weather cooperated for Field Prep Day, Joe and Ben each had scrimmages, and Sam had his first “Rookie” practice.

As exciting and fun as baseball is for my family, I always indulge in a little dread for the over-intense parents and coaches we encounter each year. This is, of course, multiplied for the team that Brian coaches. We can never leave a game when it’s over, because someone’s got an issue to share. And, when we get home, there’s a phone call as well. Brian handles it all exceptionally well and his integrity is what keeps the worst at bay.  

With that, I encourage everyone to get out their lawn chairs, enjoy the show and let the kids’ energy and good times spill over onto you. Brush off the bad calls and missed opportunities and cheer for BOTH teams. Remember that over-enthusiastically cheering for your pitcher could be breaking down another just as awesome kid in the batter’s box. Be a leader in sportsmanship…there’s no better trophy to win at any tournament. I found a little poem that captures a bit of what I’m trying to say…

Alone At The Plate

Inside the front cover of the book You Can Teach Hitting, by Dusty Baker, there appears this poem about a Little Leaguer… 

He pulls on a helmet, picks up the bat,

and walks to the plate, “gotta hit and that’s that.”

The crowd starts to yell, the game’s on the line,

last inning, two outs, the score’s nine to nine.

Dad yells, “Go get it,” Mom wrings her hands,

coach hollers, “hit it,” but alone there he stands.

Heros are made in seconds such as this,

but he’s just a little boy, what if he should miss?

Years after this game’s ended and he’s little no more,

will he remember the outcome or even the score?

No he’ll have forgotten if he was out, hit, or a run,

he’ll only look back on his friends and the fun.

So cheer this boy on, alone with his fate;

help him remember with fondness this stand at the plate.

Spend your time wisely and help in his quest

to be a hitter with confidence and always his best.

And when the game’s over, this boy can stand tall,

for you’ve helped him prepare to give it his all!