Summer has begun

My cousin Taylor Searle came to visit us for 2 whole weeks, one of which the kids were still in school. We were able to do many things with her added help in the kid dept.

Todd ran the Helvetia Half Marathon. I ran out to mile 5.5 to cheer him on, then ran back to grab the camera and take pictures of him coming in. 1:50:13. Only seconds off his goal time! This was a well organized half with nice finisher tech t's, Helvetia Tavern Burgers and Jamba Juice!

Took the kids to the zoo.....

Brody's first time and he was lovin' it!

Had a Luau with Taylor. The kids decorated themselves and the backyard. Had BBQ pork sandwiches, pineapple and Karen's cookies for dessert!

Went hiking to the McEnry Bridge at Round Lake, ate trail mix and threw rocks in the river.

Went out boating a couple times on the Columbia and Lacamas Lake. Griffin did the knee board but most fun was spent tubing and finding waves the bounce the kids around on.

In true "clean teeth" style I had a plaque check to test how good kids are brushing. It turns the plaque pink and in the process, your tongue as well.

Our favorite neighbors Jeff and Rebecca came to visit on evening for a couple hours. They said we made their top 3 list of things they missed about the Northwest....I think by the end of the evening we bumped Mt. Hood and took 1st! We miss seeing them.

Now the kids are officially 3 days out of school. I'm packing to head to the Mother Land with the 3 youngers and Taylor. Griff is preparing to leave on the Pioneer Trek in the morning for 4 days, 3 nights.

15 Years ago....

To celebrate our 15 year anniversary I thought it would be fun to climb Mt. St. Helen's since it had been about 10 years since we'd done it. This time we brought along two strapping young men. Caleb and Griffin.

They were good for laughs and great young hikers. We were saying movie lines and having a grand old time.....once we got out of breath, the laughs quieted down a little!

It was a beautiful day, and once we broke through the tree line it was pretty foggy.....up we climbed through the cloud cover to the most magnificent views these boys had ever seen. We switched off between climbing the boulders and the snow fields.

Catching up to several other groups we took a only short stops for water and pictures so we wouldn't be bunched up on the final climb.

While in the boulders a loose lava rock collided with my shin and landed on my foot. I took one for the team.

The final stretch of hard-to-climb-in loose rock or ash before the summit.

View looking Northward inside the crater, some smoke and low clouds rising out.

Griffin carried up Taco Bell Bean Burrito's which tasted so good at the top.

Going down was much more fun. Just begining to walk through the cloud cover and sliding down the snow.

We could literally ski down on just our boots! It was so much fun. At one point I just sat down on my bottom and sled down these tracks. The boys followed right behind.

On the final two mile hike through the trees we laughed about the last STEEP perilous hill we had to slide down. I was scared the boys and I wouldn't be able to stop and slide right into a big pile of lava boulders. We used our fingers to claw into the snow as well as the heels of our boots to slow us down. Griffin came sliding fast towards me and took me down with him a about 10 yards before I could stop us both. Todd and Caleb came the same way. Luckily I was able to reach out my hand and save them both (that's an inside joke, although it's pretty much what it "looked" like had happened!) Just ask Caleb, he'll tell you I was very courageous :>

More than a dozen times the boys expressed their gratitude for this experience....and for the fact that we let them miss the last day of school. I'm loving that Griffin is at the age to do this with Todd and I.

Thanks to my cousin Taylor for coming to visit us, we were able to leave the girls and Brody in her capable hands and have a fun filled day on the Mountain!

Racin' through Downtown

Correction.....after checking the event website I see Todd and I finished The Great Urban Race 18th out of 232! We took off to get Todd some pizza and didn't stick around to see the final results. If we hadn't had that heavy backpack we could have done even better! Oh, and if we wanted to go to "nationals " we qualified for that as well....now that's funny!

Blue Man Group meets Miss Piggies

To see what this picture is all about.....you'll have to read the end of this post.

The end of school year is always busy, but seemed to be even more so this year as Griffin was involved in more middle school activities.

He qualified for Districts in the 1600 meter run. Holding steady for 1400 meters, he sprinted in the last 200 passing 3 boys and securing 6th place. I was so proud of him!

What a photo finish!

Griffin also was chosen to be inducted into the National Junior Honor Society. They held a formal program for the new 6th graders based on academics, character, work ethic, standards ect....

The ceremony was held in the evening at Pacific and the kids enjoyed the refreshments to celebrate Griffin's studious work ethic.

Todd and took the kids for a BBQ at the Lake and I dared him to walk all the way across this log in front of the dam. He was half way out before discovering the last log was not anchored onto anything and that water is green!For some reason anything tastes better in the woods, but my own invention of S'mores simply can't be beat! Invite us to a campfire if you want the recipe!

The kids made a "craft" that I had used for cub scouts this week. Edible campfires.

Saturday Todd and I participated in this event I had found downtown Portland called the Great Urban Race. 150 teams of 2 raced throughout Portland, namely the Pearl, PSU, Saturday Market and down Broadway to take digital pictures and complete detours and tasks for 12 clues. Teams are encouraged to dress in costume and although we didn't, we got a kick out of those who did (1st picture at top)!

Looking like a fish at South Park Block.....

This was a stop at the Office Max in the Pearl......

Wearing a plunger and saw "hats" in Saturday Market".

It was fun to see so many teams scampering away in different directions. We came in 30th out of 150. It was a good workout if nothing else.

I've been ready to host one of my own and already had clues ready to go....but got a few good ideas from this event as well. Who's in?