Camping in Cascade

Dad's ward was having a campout at Horsethief Reservoir and Mom didn't want to go, so Dad asked Katie and I if we'd like to go with him. After some minor hemming, hawing, and a promise of homemade ice cream, we conceded to go.

Ethan and Libby were all ecstatic about going camping with Grandpa and eating ice cream while doing it. We also lured them with the promise of canoes out on the water.

We arrived safely and set up our camp. Our family in our tent and Dad deciding to camp under the stars. We took the kids out in the canoe. Upon getting myself into the canoe, ensuring I was keeping "three points of contact" at all times with the boat, it tipped to the point that a slosh of water got in. This, I believe, was due to the kids not understanding how to balance themselves, let alone themselves in a boat. So I paddled across the reservoir with my knees in an inch of water.

Upon arriving on the opposite shore, we took a short little hike. We found a MONSTROUS ant hill made of dirt and pine needles with thousands of red ants crawling all over it. I managed to escape with only one of the little buggers biting me on my tow.

The rest of the trip was very pleasant and uneventful. Ethan spent about 3 hours on the dock fishing with a bunch of perfect strangers and, generally speaking, got along quite well with everyone there. We went out in the canoes a couple more times, Dad and I played a game of Scrabble on our Palm TXs via Bluetooth by the light of the campfire, slept, woke up, ate breakfast, canoed some more, made lunch, watched Libby play Frisbee, then came home.

Thanks for the trip Dad! A buncha pictures follow, in chronological order.

People Yelling at Me on My Bike

I try to be considerate. I have never been in a car accident. I watch where I am going. I just don't understand. Between Sunday and Monday I had four different people yell at me while I was on my bike. I am starting to feel picked on.

Sunday: "You must be an LDS woman. Well I am just as stubborn as you are." I was riding my bike on the sidewalk home from church and a mom, her three school age kids, and their dog was crossing in front of me. I stopped my bike to let them go. She looked at me and told me to go first because I had a kid on the back on my bike (Libby). I pointed out that she had three kids and a dog and she should go first. That's when she crossed and called me an LDS woman. I think she was making a joke, but she could have been trying to insult me too. I just don't know. But I did laugh the rest of the way home about it.

Monday: Michael and I were on a moderately busy road, him with Ethan on the back and me with the Libby on the back. There was a bike lane, so we were just tooling along in that. A guy in a foreign car came up behind us and honked until we pulled all the way off the shoulder. Then he gave us no room when he passed us. He seemed to think we had no right to the bike lane. Very Rude!

"Hey, watch where you are going. Jeesh." This one I may have slightly deserved. I was going uphill from under a bridge on the greenbelt. There was a person walking in front of me. He was all I could see. I told him, "On your left" and went around. I stayed on the yellow line passing him, while I was passing him a guy on his bike came down the hill. He had plenty of room, but I guess I was too close to his side. So he yelled at me.

And then fifteen minutes later I got yelled at again. Now I am starting to have issues. I was crossing Myrtle St. at the new light on 3rd. There were two rather scruffy men crossing in front of me. One crossed and stopped right in the middle of the sidewalk and the other was still on the street. I had to swerve around the one on the sidewalk, and apologized to him. He smiled and said no problem. He apologized back. Then I rode on down the sidewalk (Myrtle is Heck of Busy, I am not riding on that street). The guy who was still on the street hopped up on the sidewalk right after I passed that spot and called me a rather nasty name under his breath. I thought that was pretty unfair. If anyone was going to call me a name shouldn't it have been the guy I swerved around?
So needless to say I am starting to have issues. Michael just laughed and laughed. Maybe I was sending out vibes that I needed yelled at yesterday. Who knows. All I know is I might be scarred for life.

A Perfect Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!

Woo! We've had quite the day!

It started with us leaving the house at 9:00am (1/2 hour later than we intended to get out of here) and biking the 10.1 miles from our house to the far end of Dry Creek Cemetery to meet with my family and pay tribute to my paternal grandparents. Click HERE to see our route. We were all doing pretty well, except for Ethan who was complaining of being cold. I couldn't blame him, as it was 9:30am air with a bit of a head wind and he was wearing short sleeves. I had to bribe him with the fact (false, I later learned) there was going to be hot chocolate at our final destination. Katie was doing pretty well keeping up, but she had a mild asthma attack about 2 miles away from the cemetery which really slowed her down. More on that later.

When we pulled up to the cemetery, we were both pleased with ourselves that we had made it that far, and my family (siblings and parents) also seemed impressed we made the trip.

After paying our respects, taking a few photos, saying a prayer, eating some KrispyKremes, drinking some OJ and visiting a bit, we started the journey home. Unfortunately, Katie's asthma was still holding her back. She did not have her inhaler, as she needs it so rarely she never has it with her unless we are at home. She had heard that caffeine can help alleviate the symptoms of an attack when in a pinch. So, we detoured from Hill Rd and Pierce Park to State St and pulled into St. Vincent's Thrift Store where she went in with the kids and I went and bought a Red Bull at the corner store. She didn't like the stuff at all (neither of us had ever had one.) However, she choked it down and started to feel a little bit better.

In the meantime, my eyes were itching like mad. I wasn't sneezing nor did I really have any sinus issues, just horrifically itchy eyes. Katie told me they were VERY bloodshot. We took the kids over to pick out a game to take home, and I had to go find a bathroom to try to get my eyes to calm down. I found the bathroom key and when I looked into the mirror, my eyes were QUITE red. I don't remember ever seeing my eyes get that red before. I looked evil. I tried my best to rinse them with cold tap water, washed my hands a few times, and went back out in time to see the kids had picked out some over-sized Go Fish and Crazy 8's card decks to take home. We paid for them after receiving my 20% BSU student discount, and headed to find some lunch.

On our way we stopped by our favorite fruit stand on the south side of State near 36th (Veteran's Memorial Parkway) and picked up some fruit and veggies. While we were there, we munched on some fresh cantaloupe and watermelon slices they had put out.

After the stand we headed to the Viking Drive-Thru (really cheap food and not bad tasting) but they were closed for the holiday. Dangit! After some hemming and hawing, we decided to hit Fanci Freez. We took the side streets through some very lovely neighborhoods. The few houses we saw for sale were outrageously expensive! We learned that we have it good in our neighborhood! 1200 square feet for $400k!

We eventually made it to FanciFreez and ordered the will-kill-ya-but-feel-good-going-down meals. I waited in line for about 20 minutes while Katie and the kids played a rousing game of Go Fish. The kids play it like they play hide-and-seek. Cast your mind: Ethan and I are playing hide-and-seek, and I am counting. Ethan says, out loud, "I'm hiding in the bathroom!" Then I finish counting and know that he is in the bathroom not only because he announced it to the whole household, but because he is giggling loudly enough, from the bathroom, for the whole house to hear him. Each time I look in a room and say, "Nope, not in here!" his giggles only grow louder. Go Fish went similarly. Ethan would get his hand and show everyone, one by one.

We left FanciFreeze after about an hour and a half and went home. Ethan went to play at his friend's house, Katie took a cat nap, and Libby entertained herself for about 30 minutes. Then we invited Ethan's friend and his mom to go geocaching with us. We found the first one with relative ease - it was a log only. The next one required us to hike to the other side of the park and stop at a marsh. Seeing the cache was on the other side, we had to take the long way around. We found it in a hollowed-out tree stump. The kids traded out some toys (and we saw your business card Spencer!) and had to hide it from some geo-muggles before hiding it back in its spot.

Ann (Ethan's friend's mom) told her son about how she would take blown cattails and throw them to wind and dance in them like snow. So, that's what she, Micah (her son), Katie, Ethan and Libby did. I stayed upwind, just in case I was allergic. It makes my nose tickle just thinking about it.

We looked for a second cache which required quite a hike, and which we never found. We got caught in the rain and tried to wait it out. Then Libby had to go potty, and refused to go in the porta potty, which Katie reported was nearly full. So I walked her all the way back to the playground potty, at which point she decided she didn't have to go. I foolishly didn't press the issue. Shortly later, she wet herself and we had to go home. Libby was devastated. Shortly after we started home, Libby was sad and wet so I took off my shirt and we put it over her. Thankfully it was a thick shirt. We headed back home and by the time we reached Julia Davis park, Libby was asleep.

We pulled in to the driveway, shed our wet clothes, ate dinner, played around a bit, got the kids ready for bed, put them to bed, and I started on this blog post. Now, 24 hours later, I am ready to post it.

What a Ride!

The Rooster Tail was going at Lucky Peak again this weekend, and we decided to go see it and have a picnic while we were there. (To read a bit more about what the Rooster Tail at Lucky Peak is, click here.) We saw it in May of 2006, but we drove out there and didn't get nearly as much out of the visit as we did this time.

Katie prepared us a lovely dinner of beef steak sandwiches and fruit, we filled all our water bottles, pulled out our jackets just in case, loaded up the bikes and took off! This is what I was pulling (though this picture is not of me): and this is what Katie was riding (just add her and a water bottle and you get the picture: .

Anyway, off we went! During our 9.29 miles out we saw a beautiful river valley that would take your breath away. When we arrived we were all sprayed by the mist of the rooster tail which cooled us off quite nicely. Then we pulled through and sat down on the grass in a shady spot where we still had a nice view of the rooster tail and enjoyed our picnic dinner. Just before we were situated for dinner, we spied a few rock chucks (so far as we know!) running among the rocks and eating the leaves from a few nearby shrubs. After dinner we took the kids potty (woo!) and biked over to Sandy Point where the kids played in and threw rocks into the water and Katie and I sat on the beach, enjoying the quiet and solitude. On our way out we tried to locate a couple of geocaches with no luck. :(

On the way home we had a better view of that valley I mentioned before that seemed to stretch unhindered for miles. The sun was low in the sky, the river was full and glassy, and *gasp* - it was gorgeous. Wish I had had my camera so I could snap a photo for you all. Just past the Shakespeare Festival set building building I stopped to let Katie catch up (remember what I am carrying vs what she is carrying? Ironic, isn't it?) and right in front of me, or a little to the left, was a small herd of mule deer eating dinner. They paid us no never mind and went about their business. I think we must have been about 25 feet away from one at the most. It was awesome.

We came home tired but revived all the same. I love biking!

Story Time at the Library

We were all at the library last Thursday night for story time. As the story teller Miss Tammy was telling the story of the "Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly," with an old lady puppet on her lap. Miss Tammy asked the group "Who do you think this is?" Another child correctly guessed an "old lady." Ethan promptly raised his hand, and when called upon, said, "I know an old lady! She's my great-grandma! But she died."