Football - Silks - Volleyball - Geocaching

Football is over for Cole, as I write this, and over all it was a very good season for him.  His team went 1-2-1 (plus 1 forfeit to add to the wins) for the season and Cole learned that he loves football more now than when he started.

First Touchdown Catch

(and Mom was recording at that moment)

Cole had two catches for touchdowns in his first season, a few punt catches with short returns and he made some great blocks and tackles on defense.

 

 (Click on our actual blog link to view the video)

He states he would like to take a break from sports for a while, practices for football were more demanding than any of his previous sports.  We will see how long he lasts before he asks about basketball or joining Jo at circus because he thinks climbing the silks look fun.

Circus Freak!

Jo is still enjoying circus and the silks.  She is one strong girl as her homework for this class is 60 sit ups & 60 push ups every day.

 The teachers are teaching the kids to pay attention to their form so Jo not only does these amazing flips, drops and hangs from the silks but she is looking more graceful as well.

 (Click on our actual blog link to view the video)

It's hard for me to stay away from watching the kids at every practice or activity because it's like sunshine in my heart, seeing our kids have such fun and succeed in what they love.  But I have started to leave Jo at circus to hopefully become more independent as the girl still was not talking to others in class including the teachers.  It only took about two weeks and I one of her instructors came up to me after class and said, "Jo is so funny.  She has started talking in class and she has such a good sense of humor and is a real joy." Yeah!  She speaks!  That only took about two years.  Again, sunshine in my heart but a little sad as I don't get to see all that she does.  Gosh, parenting is hard.

Volleyball w/ Derian

Made one of Derian's games this season and wow has she grown in strength and skills.  Sure is fun seeing the changes in her along with her confidence.

Always a good time when we spend it with family.

Geocaching...in the snow?

A whole new crop of caches have been set up along the McKenzie Hwy.  If we find 24 of the 36 we earn a coin specially made for these cache's.  So as a family, we headed out to the furthest caches because they will be snowed in soon.

The Observatory already had snow!

OK, I planned and packed for rain, not so much snow as it's only early October after all.

Brrr, was it ever cold but still quite a bit of fun as the kids didn't remember their first visit here.  We however will have to come back again when the sky is clear so we will be able to see all the mountains.

Two caches in the lava beds as the snow fell the whole time.

Another cache at the beginning of a trail that lead to a water fall.

Then we hiked to the waterfall.  This is the part of Geocaching that I love!  Hiking around with my family and seeing things we have not seen before.

All fun and games until Cole fell into the stream getting soaked (Uncle Todd would be proud), slightly hurt and he also broke out into a serious rash.

Oma was smart and had brought meds just in case this happened to him as this would be his third rash he has gotten in a week and we don't know why.  We watched him closely and after we got back to the car, changed cloths and got the heater on high he was getting much better.

We decided to grab one more quick cache for this day, or so we thought.

Now, we all know stories where people have done the one bad thing that leads to another bad thing.  Or rather, one stupid decision turns into another and then another and it snow balls into "What the #$^%^ were you thinking!!!"

Yes, this could have been really bad!

     1. We are driving our Avalon sedan.

     2. Dusk is upon us.

     3. No one knows where we are.

     4. It's still raining and quite cold.

Start of a perfect storm, right?

     5. Let's drive down this dirt road with no place to turn around and the car could high center on some of the washed out parts of the road.

Stop, back out of this road and go home.  Or don't.

     6. Park a mile in on this dirt road.

     7. Oma heads off alone to find this cache because the kids are wet and tired.

I know, we are so smart.

     8. Oma checks in stating "That path was almost straight down, I'm going to try over here for a better path."

Ok, now stop!  Get back in the car and head home.  Or Not.

     9. 1/2 hour later Mom decides to go look for Oma and sees "DID SHE REALLY GO DOWN THIS?" As I can not see to the bottom of this hill/cliff.

     10. I whistle and yell for Jill.  Oh...did I mention the river noise was LOUD!

What the @#$!% do I do now?  I can't leave the kids to go further.

Ok, we didn't send out a death notice nor did I post pictures of Oma in a hospital bed. (though if she does this again I might put here there myself).

Fifteen minutes after I started calling her name she was finally able to hear me and I knew she was ok.  Oma was wet, exhausted from the climb and she DIDN'T find the cache!

 Isn't it a pretty pool of water though?

We have new Geocaching rules, like if it's a cliff and your alone your not allowed to go by yourself!

Oh, and probably the other stuff above could be evaluated as well.

We headed out that dirt road in the dark and to the first restaurant we could find for some hot food and nerve calming time.  Oh, Jill tried to make some sort of dead joke on the drive back and I had to say "Too soon, Jill...too soon".  Not a feeling I ever want to have again.

Let us know if you want to see this beautiful pool of water and we will take you with us. 

     1. On a sunny day.

     2. Driving 4x4's.

     3. Letting some one know the plans for the day.

     4. Packing food & water. (more than what we had any way)

     5. Hiking together! On the easy path that we now know after the fact.

     6. In the year 2013!

At the very least you will get to be apart of our next great adventure of "What the @!&$% were we thinking"!

Epic Battle Oct. 2012

The kids and I think of Andrew (God Brother) often as he is over seas at the moment.  We came up with this idea of making a mini movie in honor of Andrew and this is what we came up with.

(I think the movie file size it to large for our blog as it will not load.)

Please click on this link below and it will take you to our movie at YouTube.

EPIC BATTLE Oct. 2012

(around 7 minute movie)

The whole project took only a couple of days and quite a bit of patients on Oma's part while I sat at the computer splicing it together.

Jo and Cole are scripting the next Epic Battle as the Epicness must go on!

All of September?

Yes, one post to cover all of September.  As I went through the photos I realized I didn't take a lot this month.  Noted: care and actually take photos more often.

Xena started venturing outside and enjoys climbing the trees.

This is a small tree in our back yard that she started with.  The down side to this is that our birds also use this tree when feeding and bathing so the birds are not around quite as much. We find this a little sad but Xena is having a blast!

5th Grade!

The Big Kids at school this year and they were/are happy about that.

The one comment from Jo the other day was, "The Kinders are so small!"

Guess that means she feels like the "The Big Kid" for the first time.

Tie-Dyed

Jo made some nummy cupcakes and used her imagination to create an assortment of colors.

Playing with our food is a must at this house!

First Jersey

Do I need to say anything here?  He was/is very proud!

Jo and Oma ready for the Football jamboree.

These two think very much alike when it comes to watching sports.

(more on that later)

Offense: Wide Receiver

Defense: Safety

He is having a very good time playing football despite his teams record of zero wins and one tie at the end of September.

I asked Cole if he was enjoying playing football as much as he thought he would.  Cole stated that it was even more fun than he thought.  There is more to know than just tackle and run with the ball.  The strategy and techniques are challenging and fun.

After the jamboree picture.

50 of "They didn't think it would last" Anniversary!

That is what my Mother stated during her toast.

A wonderful group of friends and family gathered to eat, visit and toast the successful years of hard work and commitment to each other.

This is the original cake top to their wedding cake.

Proud Mom Moment: About a week before Cole's first football game we let Cole know that his first game (not the jamboree) was the same Sunday, smack in the middle of his grandparent's 50th anniversary party.

Cole said, "Family come first and not everybody stays married for 50 years. I'll go to the party." Cole is SO mature beyond his age and has his priorities straight!

He went to practice that evening and let his coaches know that due to the game time and his Grandparents party he would miss the first game.

Karma: The following day the game time changed and he would now be able to make the party and the game! I think this young man is going to have a lot of good karma in his life.

Dictionary?

Yes, in our home if you can't spell a word while writing you don't get to Google it or even ask for help. We point to our old Webster's Dictionary and you look it up.

The kids think we are teaching them life skills as that is what we tell them AND they think we're cruel. But for those of you who know me and my spelling skills know that it's more about the fact I can't help them like I used too.

Shh, we will just keep that to ourselves until they graduate and are great writers and spellers.

Football Captain

At this game Cole was one of the team Captains.

Cole has caught a couple nice passes and a punt and made some tackles.

He hustles all of practice and has gotten complimented by his coaches for being supportive of other players. One example is when the team had to run quite a lot due to some players goofing off.  Cole heard one of his team mates breathing extra hard during the run and really slowing down.  Cole waited for him and ran the rest with his team mate encouraging him along.

Oma & Jo

Ready for yet another game.

And yes, these two think alike!  Snacks make any sporting activity more fun!

Doug & Xena

They really do get along quite nicely.

Xena seeks Doug out often to sleep next to or on him.

Sunny and a Hot day for football.

Cole has had Family and Friends come watch his team play this season.  Today Gpa Norman, Gma Marie and Dawn were at this game.

It's always good to have fans.

Last.  The kids had a school field trip to local farms.

Cole was interviewed for a local news piece.

Hope the sounds ok as I took a video from the tv.

Happy End of September BS Groupies!

Mt Hood 2012

Winter river water rushed through the camp this past year and changed the layout of all our camping sites.  We couldn't get into our normal sunny/sandy camp site but my cousins saved us an area that fit us well.

This spot had many holes from the water damage and we only had to walk a few feet to cut down or gather fire wood.  The real down side is that the wind blew right off the river through our site so kept is quite cool day or night.

Geocaching Barlow Rd South

We loaded up in Gma Marie's truck and headed south for some four wheel driving and geocaching.  The kids love it because they ride in the back of the pick up the whole time.

We love it because, well it's just fun to do.  Every part of it.

Old stumps and fallen logs were easy spots for the cashes.

Derian spotted this one and ...

What are you doing Derian?

Nope, not a drop of wine to drink in this bottle.

When I said the wind blew through our camp I mean it was COLD!

(I barrowed Cousin Betsy/Johns tent trailer thinking it would be much warmer and more comfy to sleep in) THANK YOU! Loved being off the ground.

Jo, Hanna and Doug joined me in the tent and it was still quite chilly as you can see.  Sleeping bags, wool blankets, two layer of cloths and snow hats.  Yes, that is Jo in the ski mask.

Cole and Derian built a hidden fort / teepee across the river.

Can you see it?

Here it is.  They started working on the evening before we had to come home so not much playing time.  Maybe next year they will do this the first day as it was quite cool.

Jo and Hannah built a TeePee Garden next to the river.

Flowers, rocks and sticks along with some plastic bottles and twine they found.

The girls had a good time and did a very nice job.

Planking

This is how we crossed the river.

Even Doug had a good time getting to the other side.

Geocaching North on the Barlow

Cousin Annie & Aunt Nancy joined us as we headed out again for a 4x4 drive and some caching.

We came upon this bridge and sign..."due to failing bridge"

Did this mean, "Caution" - "Closed" - "Drive at your own risk"?

What does it mean????

I told everyone to sit down, hold on and I hit the gas and drove like Mario Cart over the bridge thinking that if it failed it would fall out after we were over it.  Isn't that what everyone would do?

See, stopped for a geocach and everyone is still alive.

This drive was much too long and slow.  I really enjoyed it but now I know that it's not for a quick trip as we drove for hours before returning to camp.  We didn't get to take the kids shooting as a result.  Lessons learned.

At the end of the road we came upon another sign.

OH...Road Closed due to failing bridge.

OK, we will take another road to go back to camp.  See, we can follow directions and signs.

We ended this drive at the Pioneer Woman's grave to pay respect .

We thank her and all the travelers that came to Oregon.  What an incredible journey they had, sacrificing more than we truly understand.

Camp Ground BB gun contest.

Didn't make it to the quarry to shoot the .22 so we set up a couple stumps in camp and had the kids shoot the BB gun.

They had a good time and the new targets were quite fun to see the colors pop out when they were hit.

Not bad marksmen we'd say!

Gma & Gpa Lovely

Our visit to say hello to Bud & Elizabeth Lovely at their spot on the mountain.

Sunny, over looking the river.  What a beautiful view.

And the Rock photo of the kids.

Could be the last photo of the four of them on this rock.

As we dove out of camp we stopped at a wide spot in the road to check we had everything tied down.  We looked over and spotted this construction lift moving around.

Don't be mistaken here!  These guys were not the construction workers.  They were two guys that stopped and thought they would see if the keys were in the lift.  And yes they were!  Lucky Dudes!  Bet the view up there was amazing!

Last of August

Xena is fitting into the family nicely and she also seems to enjoy us.

Xena and her quiet spot: For three nights in a row we could not find Xena any where in the house when we were all heading to bed. We would look and call her and each night she would suddenly "appear" sitting in Cole's doorway. By the third evening I knew she was in Cole's room but where? I searched and searched and still could not find her until I heard a purring sound.

Opened Cole's bottom dresser drawer and there she was all snuggled up in his cloths.  No bottom to the dresser and the drawers do not roll all the way to the back so she found her quiet spot to sleep.  Silly kitty.

First injury at football.

Fat lip from a shoulder pad to the face.

Oma and Cole went shopping for a new chin strap after this for added protection and padding.  Poor guy could hardly talk for over a week with a large cut inside his lip and bruising too. (oh, suck it up and get back out there!)

Champoeg Camping

(pronounced like shampoo-ie)

We made a short trip up the I-5 to camp with the Oma's sisters and cousin's family.

Betsy, John, Chloe, Sam, Lisa, Skylar, Carol, Maggie and Lanna.  Oh, and the BS Family too with Doug.

Nice park with bike riding and a river near by.

The kids played and had quite a good time especially this evening where they tried to cook everything over the camp fire.

Jo & Chloe dipping strawberries in chocolate.

I also remember potato chips with melted cheese that were quite tasty.

Very fun, close to home weekend with family!

Maybe we can/will make this a yearly activity with them.