140 miles

What can you do in 140 miles with a Previa van complete with a working sliding door, two small children, two black dogs, one husband, Ed Emberly's book about thumbprint art, and the novel idea of not being in a hurry? Check it out.


Peru? No....just the Dee Wright observatory overlooking the lava flow on McKenzie Pass.

Spencer's castle!



Sahalie at Sahalie Falls


A warm dip in Deer Creek hot springs with the McKenzie River as our backdrop.


Still smiling after a full day!

The seasons they are a changin'

I took the kiddos out today to splash in the leaves and take some photos, of course, because for the next five to ten days is how long "fall" will last in Bend. Spencer told me today, "It is finally fall, Mama!." Why? I asked. Because all the leaves are falling. Right....leave to the 4 year old to have all the good answers.

That look

I wonder if she learned it from Spencer? Or Paul?

El Cuatro!

Spencer turned 4 on Thursday, so we tricked him into thinking he wanted his birthday party at the pub.
In actuality, we all got what we wanted. Mimi made Spencer a crown and Chad Berg whipped up a large 'cake thing' that, when it arrived at the table, inspired a moment's silence from the little ones. It was like the Holy Ghost appearing or something. Anyway, all the kids ran around, spilled milk, and chowed on sweets while the adults drank beer and laughed at (with?) them.

Training.

The Eastern Oregon Model Train club opened up their land for visitors the other day.
I tried to picture what it must be like on a 'normal' weekend for them, with all their male clubmates dressed up in engineer outfits discussing model trains. I didn't see any of them snorting liqour from flasks. They must just really like little trains!
For one day, however, it's pretty fun.

child labor

Our neighbors let us in on their rented splitter last weekend...
Spencer was pretty intrigued, so I let him run it for a while.

Yardwork

Last weekend.....


....and this weekend

Let it snow

We woke up to full flurries this morning and after it was all said and done, we accumulated about 6 inches. Perfect for snowball fights and a warm soak in the hot tub.

First Snow of the Season

Yup.

Our last paddle of the season

We spent last friday evening on Hosmer Lake with the last of the warm weather. It was late enough that no one else was on the lake and the kokanee were a jumpin'.

oh captain, my captain....

did you see the size of that fish?

can you hear me now?

A play date

One of our more creative invitations....