With July 4th coming around the corner I cannot help but be excited! Thought I would share an idea for fun this weekend to enjoy the day with the family. I am not sure many know it, but there is a great 4th of July spot right around here at Blue Lake Regional Park in Fairview. They have music, fun for the family and of course an amazing fireworks display for all. You can spend the whole day there enjoying the activities and the parks everyday fun as the gates open at 8 a.m. If you have never been to Blue Lake or have not had the opportunity to see the great Fireworks show, you should click here to check out their site and see how beautiful the park really is. It’s a great way to spend the day with the family, maybe bring a picnic and leave the mess in their garbage cans and not your kitchen!

President Obama signed into law a program NHTSA is calling the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS). This is a government program that helps you purchase a new, more fuel efficient vehicle when you trade in a less fuel efficient vehicle. See the Frequently Asked Questions for more details.

Under the CARS program, NHTSA is charged with rules for program implementation in 30 days. You may want to contact your local dealer in mid-July. See the Program Rollout.

5 Important Things to Know

• Your vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date
• Only purchase or lease of new vehicles qualify
• Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less MPG (some very large pick-up trucks and cargo vans have different requirements)
• Trade-in vehicles must be registered and insured continuously for the full year preceding the trade-in
• You don’t need a voucher, dealers will apply a credit at purchase

For more information or to get your questions about Cash For Clunkers answered, Click Here to contact your local Cash For Clunkers Dealer.

This weekend we took a trip just past Sandy,OR to the Rainbow Trout Farm. My parents wanted to take the little ones and teach them to cast and reel in their own fish. It ended up being a blast! I had never been to the Trout Farm and was suprised how great it was and how much fun everyone had. The kids had never fished before, they were so excited and the scenery was beautiful.  They have different areas to choose from depending on how big of fish you are trying to catch. We chose a larger pond with a mixture of sizes. Breyden (4 years old) was up first, he brought his pole and my dad hooked the worms. His face when he cought that first fish was unforgetable, he was so happy. We helped him hold the pole and he reeled it in as fast as he could. After that enjoyment Savanah (2 1/2 years old) was not about to just sit and watch, so we grabbed a free pole to use at the Farm and she tried it out. You wouldnt believe it, she caught the biggest fish of the bucket! I wasnt sure how they would react to the fish infront of them, but little princess Savanah was touching those fish long before Daddy even got near one!

We eneded the few hours with 5 fish from Breyden, 4 from Savanah, and each of us adults had to join in the fun and each cought 1 (mine was the smallest!). They cleaned them all for us and put them on ice for our drive home. It was definatly a trip to remember and repeat.