WELCOME to the JOURNAL

The kids are bored, your usual playgrounds have lost their luster, and you’re desperate to get out of the house but you’re out of ideas. I’ve got you covered. I’ve rounded up my favorite things to do in Portland with kids, just for you. With two kids of my own and over a decade of […]

Welcome to part two of my series on my favorite places to see flowers in Oregon! Today I’m sharing the best flower fields near Portland: farms, gardens, and festivals all make up some of my favorite floral adventures in the PNW. If you’d like a more natural approach, head over to my last post on […]

The Best Fruit and Berry Picking in Portland We’re lucky here in the Willamette Valley to have access to so many farms, and with those farms comes one of my favorite family-friendly outdoor activities: berry picking in Portland! U-pick season in Oregon offers berries of all kinds, peaches, apples, pears, and more. I love to […]

It’s been a while since my last Wanderlust Wednesday post! Today I’m sharing one of our family’s favorite lesser-known trails, Trappist Abbey in Carlton. We love this family-friendly hike near Newberg for the beautiful country landscape, views of wine country, and great mix of forest trails and oak savannahs. My husband’s from the northern California […]

It’s WEDNESDAY! It’s been a few weeks since the last Wanderlust Wednesday while weddings took the lead over here.  I thought since the weather is getting warmer more often, it was a good time to pop in and remind you of a great family friendly hike here in Newberg!  It’s a shorter one, but I […]

If you’ve been around this blog for any bit of time, you know my love of Champoeg State Park runs deep!  Do you ever have those places that just feel like home?  Places where you feel totally at peace and where it feels like you’re supposed to be there?  Champoeg is one of those places […]

It’s Wednesday AND spring break, which means it is prime time for ADVENTURE!  Hopefully you are already mid-adventure, but if you’re hanging around the house, get out and go enjoy a trail!  This week I’m sharing Magness Tree Farm, just outside of Sherwood.  I love this trail because it’s easy to get to from Portland […]

Taking a little break from the hiking trails I love to feature in Wanderlust Wednesdays to remind you: NOW is the time to plan a trip to see the Salem cherry blossoms!  As of last weekend, the trees weren’t quite in bloom, but that just means it’s the perfect time to do your research and […]

This last weekend at the beach for the retreat was a DREAM, but it’s so good to be home!  I love the beach, but tucked into the Yamhill Valley wine country is where I really feel at home in the landscape.  Let’s celebrate this magical little corner of the universe we get to live in […]