Farm Tours (Portland Metro) Every summer my family looks forward to visiting several of the hundreds of local farms across the Portland Metro area. It’s an inexpensive way to spend the day with our kids picking fresh produce, touring a working farm, and participating in events. For years, we’ve taken our two kids, now ages 2 and 5, to pick pounds of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries for use in jams, smoothies and baked goods year round. It’s saved us hundreds of dollars over organic berries purchased from the store.  We also like to pick up farm fresh, organic eggs and grass-fed meat. We recently toured Full of Life Farm in Keep Reading

Five Mile Lookout Tower (Mt. Hood National Forest) Hiking is nature’s way of punishing the out of shape. So you have two choices: suck it up, buttercup or choose the easy trails. I do a little of both since I am plain lazy. The forests surrounding Portland have a unique draw for me. They are pretty, almost always green, and can be totally quiet. Last summer my family took a unique camping trip to a fire tower. Dorking around on the net I was reading about fun things to do on the U.S. Forest Service site and found the reservation for fire towers. Awesome! I remember camping in a few when I was younger with my family; it was fun and memorable. Keep Reading

Yamasa Soy Sauce Factory Tour (Salem, Oregon) Who knew it would be so fun to learn how soy sauce is made? I do know factories are awesome and this international company provides a really great experience. Yamasa Soy Sauce Factory is located in South Salem, Oregon. It is best to get a small group of friends and children together to schedule a tour, which lasts about an hour and is free. Last summer a small group of families from my son's preschool met up for an education on soy sauce.  It wasn't a school activity, but rather a few parents who wanted to try something new. Starting in a comfortable conference room, we watched a video on the Keep Reading