When we went out to Krugers Farm on Sauvie Island a few weeks ago for an end of summer concert, I thought that it was going to be our last visit of the year. They are open during the fall months with a pumpkin patch, but we don't usually get out that way because we have a few favorite patches on this side of town that we go to instead. We had such a fun time at the concert that I was sort of sad that we wouldnt be visiting the farm again until next summer.
So I was delighted when I read that they were holding another event on the farm tonight, a benefit for the Portland Audubon Society called "Howl at the Moon". They were going to have all the things we love about the summer concerts (live music, delicious food, and local craft beer) PLUS a bonfire and a barn owl release! Matthew got off work an hour early so we could get there when it started - we headed straight to the table that the Audubon Society had set up. There were all sorts of feathers, wings and feet from different species of birds:
And a hawk in a box:
Rowan made a postcard with stamps while Killian felt all the bird feathers and talked to the volunteers about what each specimen was. It was pretty neat to see all the different feather patterns, and see the difference between the size of the birds wings.
Our admission had included trips through the corn maze, so we headed that way next:
We started off at a great pace, and everyone was having fun exploring the maze. Matthew and I had stopped at the Captured By Porches beer truck on our way over to the maze, so we were well hydrated and in no real hurry to finish:
Killian was in charge of direction at first, and he led us to a huge lookout tower in the middle of the field. We had an awesome view of the whole farm, and the kids spent a moment plotting our direction:
Then Rowan took a turn being the leader, and we began to see some familiar scenery, over and over again. She led us in circles for a while, and my enthusiasm for the corn maze began to wane. Mostly because I had come unprepared and wearing completely inappropriate footwear for a soggy, muddy corn maze. Note to self - next time wear some sneakers!
We finally found a exit towards the back, although it may have been more of an sparse patch of corn than a real exit. We had a long hike back towards the festivities, which we spent scuffing mud off of our shoes! On the way to the foods stands, we stopped and admired the mound of wood and cardboard that was set up for the bonfire. That's a BIG pile of flammable material!
The kids and I got small pizza's from Girasole Pizza Company - they have a mobile, wood fired oven and their pizza's are SO good. I have been wanting to make an outdoor oven for a while now, and Matthew and I were just talking the other day about how cool it would be to have one. After tasting this pizza, I am now even more determined to make one - it would be a good project for next spring I think!
Matthew, beer in hand, enjoying the live music and waiting for the owl release. God...I dearly love this man. He is so very handsome, loving and kind and happens to be my very best friend - what more could I ever ask for?!
Around 7:00pm the volunteers from the Audubon Society brought 3 cat carriers out to the open field. They had 2 barn owls in each box, which were all to be released into the wild for the first time that night. They told us that the owlets had been found in a load of hay that a local farmer had received, and that the Audubon society had been raising them in preparation for their release. It was hard to get a good picture of them - those little guys and gals were flapping and struggling something furious. They were SO beautiful, and we were able to see them close up as the volunteers walked each of them around the circle of the crowd:
The whole crowd clapped and cheered as they flew off into the setting sun. I think everyone in the audience got a little lump in their throat watching those owls enjoy their first few moments of freedom. It was such an amazing thing to witness and to be a part of.
After the owls had flown out of sight, the kids resumed running around the (unlit) bon fire while Matthew and I sat on the hay bales surrounding it and watched the moon come up. It was a big beautiful orange harvest moon, laying low on the horizon over the field of corn. The picture doesn't do it justice at all, in person it was just spectacular:
Soon after that, farmer Don came out to light the bon fire! It started small of course, but there were plenty of oohs and ahhs from the crowd.
It took just a few minutes for the fire to grow from a small little bonfire to a raging inferno. It was by far the biggest fire of any sort that I have ever seen, and the kids had eyeballs as big as saucers as they watched it grow.
Pretty soon the crowd was aglow, lit up by the light of this enormous fire:
It definitely got really hot really quickly, and the heat had most people moving back beyond the hay bales. This is my favorite picture because it shows the sheer size of the fire, compared to the crowd of people.
We watched the fire burn for a while, until it got too hot to stand. It was pitch black outside by this point, but they were still offering the hayride so we jumped on for a tour of the farm at night. The kids were thrilled because they thought it was super spooky outside. The tractor stopped at the pumpkin patch field, and there were people jumping off with flashlights to grab pumpkins really quick. We thought that was so funny - they must have really wanted to go home with a pumpkin that night!
After the hayride we went into the little farm store to get the kids a treat - Rowan chose pumpkin pie and Killian got the biggest caramel apple I have ever seen. As we sat outside waiting for them to finish, listening to the band and basking in the warm Autumn night, everything just felt so right. There wasn't anywhere that I would rather be, or anyone that I would rather be with. I try not to, but sometimes amid the hustle and bustle of everyday life, I forget how overwhelmingly blessed I am to have all that I do in my life; a husband who is truly my very best friend, and two children who give me the gift of their smiles, laughter and love every single day. I am thankful for moments like this that I clearly see just how much I have and that give me memories that I can hold onto forever.
So I was delighted when I read that they were holding another event on the farm tonight, a benefit for the Portland Audubon Society called "Howl at the Moon". They were going to have all the things we love about the summer concerts (live music, delicious food, and local craft beer) PLUS a bonfire and a barn owl release! Matthew got off work an hour early so we could get there when it started - we headed straight to the table that the Audubon Society had set up. There were all sorts of feathers, wings and feet from different species of birds:
And a hawk in a box:
Rowan made a postcard with stamps while Killian felt all the bird feathers and talked to the volunteers about what each specimen was. It was pretty neat to see all the different feather patterns, and see the difference between the size of the birds wings.
Our admission had included trips through the corn maze, so we headed that way next:
We started off at a great pace, and everyone was having fun exploring the maze. Matthew and I had stopped at the Captured By Porches beer truck on our way over to the maze, so we were well hydrated and in no real hurry to finish:
Killian was in charge of direction at first, and he led us to a huge lookout tower in the middle of the field. We had an awesome view of the whole farm, and the kids spent a moment plotting our direction:
Then Rowan took a turn being the leader, and we began to see some familiar scenery, over and over again. She led us in circles for a while, and my enthusiasm for the corn maze began to wane. Mostly because I had come unprepared and wearing completely inappropriate footwear for a soggy, muddy corn maze. Note to self - next time wear some sneakers!
We finally found a exit towards the back, although it may have been more of an sparse patch of corn than a real exit. We had a long hike back towards the festivities, which we spent scuffing mud off of our shoes! On the way to the foods stands, we stopped and admired the mound of wood and cardboard that was set up for the bonfire. That's a BIG pile of flammable material!
The kids and I got small pizza's from Girasole Pizza Company - they have a mobile, wood fired oven and their pizza's are SO good. I have been wanting to make an outdoor oven for a while now, and Matthew and I were just talking the other day about how cool it would be to have one. After tasting this pizza, I am now even more determined to make one - it would be a good project for next spring I think!
Matthew, beer in hand, enjoying the live music and waiting for the owl release. God...I dearly love this man. He is so very handsome, loving and kind and happens to be my very best friend - what more could I ever ask for?!
Around 7:00pm the volunteers from the Audubon Society brought 3 cat carriers out to the open field. They had 2 barn owls in each box, which were all to be released into the wild for the first time that night. They told us that the owlets had been found in a load of hay that a local farmer had received, and that the Audubon society had been raising them in preparation for their release. It was hard to get a good picture of them - those little guys and gals were flapping and struggling something furious. They were SO beautiful, and we were able to see them close up as the volunteers walked each of them around the circle of the crowd:
The whole crowd clapped and cheered as they flew off into the setting sun. I think everyone in the audience got a little lump in their throat watching those owls enjoy their first few moments of freedom. It was such an amazing thing to witness and to be a part of.
After the owls had flown out of sight, the kids resumed running around the (unlit) bon fire while Matthew and I sat on the hay bales surrounding it and watched the moon come up. It was a big beautiful orange harvest moon, laying low on the horizon over the field of corn. The picture doesn't do it justice at all, in person it was just spectacular:
Soon after that, farmer Don came out to light the bon fire! It started small of course, but there were plenty of oohs and ahhs from the crowd.
It took just a few minutes for the fire to grow from a small little bonfire to a raging inferno. It was by far the biggest fire of any sort that I have ever seen, and the kids had eyeballs as big as saucers as they watched it grow.
Pretty soon the crowd was aglow, lit up by the light of this enormous fire:
It definitely got really hot really quickly, and the heat had most people moving back beyond the hay bales. This is my favorite picture because it shows the sheer size of the fire, compared to the crowd of people.
We watched the fire burn for a while, until it got too hot to stand. It was pitch black outside by this point, but they were still offering the hayride so we jumped on for a tour of the farm at night. The kids were thrilled because they thought it was super spooky outside. The tractor stopped at the pumpkin patch field, and there were people jumping off with flashlights to grab pumpkins really quick. We thought that was so funny - they must have really wanted to go home with a pumpkin that night!
After the hayride we went into the little farm store to get the kids a treat - Rowan chose pumpkin pie and Killian got the biggest caramel apple I have ever seen. As we sat outside waiting for them to finish, listening to the band and basking in the warm Autumn night, everything just felt so right. There wasn't anywhere that I would rather be, or anyone that I would rather be with. I try not to, but sometimes amid the hustle and bustle of everyday life, I forget how overwhelmingly blessed I am to have all that I do in my life; a husband who is truly my very best friend, and two children who give me the gift of their smiles, laughter and love every single day. I am thankful for moments like this that I clearly see just how much I have and that give me memories that I can hold onto forever.