Most of this past week my husband and I have spent in Portland, visiting our daughter’s family and preparing for the big Fourth of July weekend. In the works: dinner out, a quick daytrip to the beach, berry picking at a local farm, playing with the girls at the neighborhood parks and partying with friends on the big day. Sounds like a lot of fun, right? And we did have fun until a nasty bug derailed some of our plans.

First off, we spent a few hours Tuesday afternoon at Villa Sport, a large, resort-style, family-friendly fitness complex. In addition to the usual features one expects to find at a fitness center (group exercise classes, fitness equipment), this modern facility offers hot and cold therapies, infrared and red light treatments, compression and float therapies. The pool complex really impresses and includes an indoor lap pool plus a kids’ splash pad and shallow pool; large outdoor pool with a kid-friendly zone, two water slides, hot tub, cabanas and lounge chairs; and an outdoor adults-only pool and hot tub. You can also order all manner of drinks and food at the outdoor café, and there’s an unending supply of towels on hand.

More family-friendly features: an extensive family changing room with numerous private changing and shower rooms and lockers and a sitting area with a TV streaming kid-friendly content. The Kids Club has both indoor and outdoor spaces, and Villa Sport offers summer day camps as well as “camps” on days off during the school year, plus parents’-night-out evenings at least once a week. Certain membership levels include two hours of free childcare daily. So, yes, very family-friendly and yet ensuring there is plenty of separation for the adults who want the best fitness experience. A quick tour through the women’s locker room showed me an elegant space with a comfortable lounge, roomy lockers, and all the amenities one could ask for after a workout. Daughter Jenny only recently learned about this place, but she is definitely sold on it, and I can see why.

That evening, Harry, Jenny and I enjoyed an adults-only dinner out while the granddaughters spent the evening with their dad. We went to WildFin, serving sustainably sourced, fresh seafood; premium steaks; and locally brewed craft beers. The bright, open dining room was fairly empty on this early evening midweek before the holiday, but the service and food were top-notch. To start, Jenny ordered a mocktail, and I ordered a glass of wine. Harry was impressed with the very reasonable markup on the bottles of wine from a list that leaned heavily Pacific Northwest. We shared an appetizer of Simply the Best Calamari, with sliced jalapeño and jalapeño aioli, and it really was delicious, with an almost tempura-like coating on the chilies and calamari and just the right amount of zing. WildFin also offers several items on its Raw Bar menu.

We each thoroughly enjoyed our very generously proportioned entreés. Jenny chose the WildFin Dinner Burger, served with Parmesan truffle fries and bacon onion jam. Chef’s kiss to the fries! Harry was very pleased with his “All In” fish and chips, battered in a Caldera Ashland Amber batter and served with house-made tartar sauce, a unique apple cabbage slaw and a cup of Northwest seafood chowder (including corn, fennel and smoked bacon). I can attest to the creaminess and complex blend of flavors in the chowder . . . very delicious! I decided on the Oregon Dover sole crusted in Parmesan pepita breadcrumbs and served on a bed of organic farro risotto, capers and mushrooms, surrounded by a butter sauce.   What a rich, delectable dish!

Wednesday was to be our trip to Cannon Beach, but little Josie was sick all night, so that nixed those plans. She was much better by that afternoon, so we contented ourselves with a trip to the park and some time in the backyard. Thursday was berry-picking day, and we loaded up our baskets and headed to Hoffman Family Farms, a large operation just beyond the urban growth boundary outside of Beaverton. Their U-pick operation offers a host of berry varieties starting with strawberries in June and running until late in the summer with raspberries, blueberries and a wide assortment of blackberries, all at $2.50/lb. (and sometimes at half price when the yield is heavy). They offer a large playground for kids when they’ve had enough of picking (and eating) berries, with a huge stack of tractor tires and a climbing structure whose base is a retired harvester. You can also order a cool berry shake after picking under the sun and relax in the shade, and there’s a small train that circles the fields in case you don’t want to walk all the way down to the end of those long rows.

Jenny has her own blueberry bushes, so we walked past those and headed for the Marion berries. These are a crossbred variety of blackberry developed here in Oregon, and they make delicious pies. You have to watch out for the thorns on these, but they’re well worth the trouble — and the stained hands.   We filled up our box and a bucket and then spent a little time picking raspberries. The rows had been pretty well picked over, and those shakes were calling to us, so we started the trek back to the farm store and that sweet reward.

Well, wouldn’t you know, that night three of us came down with the same bug Josie had (only Harry escaped the scourge … knock on wood), so we were a pretty sorry bunch yesterday, spending most of the day watching TV and feeling wimpy. Today things are looking up, and we are keeping fingers crossed that we will close out the Fourth with a literal bang and an evening with friends celebrating America’s 250th birthday.

Hope your Fourth is a memorable one!

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor