By: Mercedes Gibson

When given the opportunity to do almost anything after returning from church, Gabe Wendler, 7, decides to spend the rest of the hot Portland summer day in the backyard of his home.

Gabe spies a hawk that is circling above his neighbor’s front yard. From searching images on the family’s laptop, as well as reading his stack of animal books by his bed, Gabe has an eye for the various birds and animals that live in the neighborhood.

When thinking what he wants to do next, Gabe scribbles with a black marker on an outdoor table in his backyard. He then proceeds to press his hands, arms, and face down on the table, creating the smudged black pattern that appears on his left cheek. Gabe can entertain himself with anything and everything around him. Moments afterward, his mother, Alicia, asks him what he did to his face, and without any hesitation, he cracks the joke that he was run over by a car.

In the summer months, Gabe rarely wears shoes and socks when playing outside in his driveway or backyard. “I’ve got hard feet,” he says running out the door barefoot. “So it feels like I’ve already got shoes on.”

Gabe and his older sister, Hannah, 9, get along well and enjoy playing together. Between the numerous balls, rackets, bikes, and toys found in their garage and home, their parents, Alicia and Ian, see their kids never having the time, nor the desire, to spend excessive amount of hours on technology.

After spending the afternoon in the hot summer sun, Gabe and Hannah decide to return to their air-conditioned home and finish a movie that their family had started the night prior. Before pressing play, they use their family’s iPad to look up photos from the action packed film, Kung: Skull Island, which is notably a type of film that their family rarely watches together.