As I prepare to leave to be a counselor for Junior High Church Summer Camp with my 13-year-old twins tomorrow for what will be week 7 Adventure galore, I finally download my photos from this week, and post my Week 6 ~ Summer 2011 Adventures with Kids blog. 
Too many adventures, too little time. And, a slow computer does not help.
Either way, I always say that things are too busy, and I think that surely the following week will slow down, which of course, as a mom of 5, it won’t. But, hope gets us through.
For Week 6, my three youngest boys and I were joined by Jenni Lenc and three of her four boys for an adventure at the 
Audubon Society. We had been hoping to get our boys together as they seem to share so much. Her oldest son and my twins have become friends through the 412 Initiative Discipleship program at church, and my youngest and her second to youngest are pals through the Tree House at church and Awanas.
Can you say, All boys!
Jenni’s husband mentioned the Audubon Society to her as he rides his bicycle through that area, and neither Jenni nor I had been there. Perfect, for an adventure with kids this summer. Jenni is, like me, trying to be deliberate about savoring the summer with children. Hers is a 100 day photo project.
The Audubon Society, it turns out, is a place that my twins had actually been to for a service project with The Boy Scouts to help Eagle Scout candidate, Nick Parker.
So close to the city, this wildlife acreage, was beautiful. One amazing part of these weekly adventures with kids each summer is it forces me to find new places, right in my own backyard.
The Audubon Society has 
trails and trees and paths and old growth and ponds and places to wander without seeing a soul.
For our adventure with our boys, Jenni and I let the boys wander as we shared conversation and snapped photographs. Her kids are used to being photographed as our mine! To hear the kids talk and share and pick up sticks and stir the pond and discover a newt and find a turtle.We delighted in our boys enjoying the woods, dashing up the hills, meandering the moss lined paths
I mentioned to Jenni the book, Last Child Left in the Woods, and my passion for getting kids outside, away from electronics and I-Pods and X-box and Computer screens.
Then, the humorous side of the boys came out as they pretended to push one another into this swamp 
area that was lush and gorgeous and dotted with lily pads, almost as if it was out of a Monet painting, sans the purple and pink.
Boys. Adventure. The woods. Moms. They all go together. I love it!
From the website: “Audubon Society of Portland is devoted to the conservation of Oregon’s last remaining wild places.”
DIRECTIONS- INFO: Directions
Address: 5151 NW Cornell Rd, Portland, OR 97210 – In Forest Park…
http://audubonportland.org/sanctuaries/visiting
From the intersection of NW Lovejoy and 23rd Ave, head west on Lovejoy (which turns into Cornell). You’ll find us 1.5 miles west of this intersection, on your right hand side just past the second tunnel.
Main Phone: 503.292.6855 (Mon-Fri 9-5pm)
Nature Store: 503.292.9453 (Mon-Sat 10-6, Sun 10-5)
Wildlife Care Center: 503.292.0304 (Mon-Sun 19-5)
Sanctuary Trails: (dawn to dusk everyday)
