Spring Adventures

It has been a busy, busy spring on our homestead! Here is a little snapshot of what our life has looked like over the last few weeks.

Juniper turned three! How did that happen? Thanks to some sweet well-wishers, she now has a new wheelbarrow, watering can and bean seeds – all awesome ways to encourage little hands to help on the homestead. Our house is small, so it’s especially helpful when toys are useful as well as fun!

Spring is the start of camping season in our family – rain or shine. We got away to Silver Falls State Park recently and rented a rustic cabin for the weekend. It’s a great, easy way to camp with kids. You bring everything but the tent. Oregon State Park yurts and cabins have bunk beds, heat (!) and usually a fire pit right outside. The bathroom facilities are shared nearby.

Silver Falls has a great nature playground near their group camping site that I wrote about last fall, but this time we focused on trail hikes. After about seven miles we saw eight of the beautiful waterfalls. It’s a great place for a day trip or an overnight camping adventure. I think the full loop is about ten miles and you can see ten gorgeous waterfalls. A little paradise in this temperate rain forest.

Juniper fell asleep for the last mile and half, so Jay valiantly carried her back along the Rim Trail. We were treated with some gorgeous old growth forest – so magical!

My design work is busy, busy, busy! I’m trying to balance it with quiet down time – like snuggling with my little one on those especially rainy mornings. Modern homesteading is a challenge – balancing modern life demands with raising animals and food crops. Add modern parenting into the mix and it quickly becomes a wild adventure. It’s these tender moments that you’ll miss though if you don’t just put away the phone, close the computer and be present.

The baby belly is growing and Juniper is more than excited about becoming a big sister. Right when we think we’ve got it under control, life changes yet again. This spring, we’re rolling with the chaos and trying to savor the moment. Soon enough the garden will explode, we’ll be u-picking our way through farms and the harvest basket will be packed full.

I would love to hear about your springtime adventures, the crops you are sowing and your dreams of summer harvesting. Feel free to share your adventures in the comments below!