Another peaceful night, we have a lazy wake up, this time missing Greg who has already left for work.  Our grandson, Marcus, calls to say he is on the road, heading our way from Tacoma, Washington, where he is currently stationed at the Ft Lewis army base and a relatively easy 2 hour drive from where we are in Beaverton, Oregon. We are excited that he has the weekend to visit with all of us.  Other young relatives (nephew Chris & his friend, Jessica, and niece, Samantha, and her friend, Jason) begin to arrive and start preparations for a day of boating on the Willamette River.  Marcus drives in- just in time- and, with a little coaxing, rides off with them for some fun ‘cousin’ time!

It would be great fun to join in their boating adventure, but we have other exciting things to do like visiting the Farmer’s Market in Hillsboro and go berry-picking. What a wonderful and busy place the Farmer’s Market is! It appears to be people selling products from either very large gardens or small farms.  Plants and flowers and produce and fruit– it is easy to think BIG and ‘hungry’ and we have to keep ourselves from over-buying–oh my, the temptation!  We taste our way through a few stands, splurge on some fresh baked bread and delicious gingersnap cookies made with whole wheat and flax flour, and buy fresh produce for the weekend. There are vendors of other non-food items as well, and Tommy finds a wonderful tie-dyed tank top for his ‘VW Bus’ image wardrobe.  By now its lunch time, so we buy a burrito to take to Greg from one of his favorite food stands at the market, and visit with him while he eats; then get a ‘tour’ of the John Deere dealership where he is working. Home to store the produce then off the berry farm!