Sunriver, Ape Caves and more

Once again, we've been on the go!  We returned last week from a trip to Sunriver, Oregon.  We rented a huge house and all Joe's side of the family went.  We had a blast.  They have an awesome new water park that Liam loved, we rode bikes, canoed down the Deschutes, ate tons of delicious food and just enjoyed being with everyone.  Liam loved being with everyone and woke up super early because I think he was just so excited to get the day started and see everyone, especially Dylan.  Dylan just turned eight and is so good with him.  I love seeing them together!  I had been looking forward to this trip since we booked it in May.  I was so sad when we had to come back.

Joe's parents and cousins family all came down to our house this past weekend.  We went to the Ape Caves on Saturday for the day.  I hadn't been since I was a little girl so it was fun to go again.  We took Liam, I didn't realize they wanted to hike the upper cave.  Here's a description of the upper cave off of the Mount Saint Helens website:  The upper Ape Cave is 1½-mile long and takes about 2½ hours to complete, 
returning on a surface trail. This section is more adventurous as cavers must climb
over approximately 27 boulder piles and scale an 8-foot high lava fall.  It was tough!  Especially "scaling" the 8-foot lava fall.  And yes, Liam did this with us.  Let's just say Joe is amazingly strong.  He did the entire thing with Liam in the backpack.  Crazy.  When we climbed out at the end a guy was standing there and said, "Wow, it's hard enough as it is...but with a baby on your back??"  Lol.  I think people were pretty shocked to see him coming out.  Some parts of the cave were so tight he had to take the pack off and manoeuvre him around/pass the pack off to Gil or his dad.  I had to stay ahead, I got nervous on some parts.  Liam loved it though, he was a total trooper.  Dylan did great, too.  He scaled the 8-foot wall like it was nothing.  And he also made sure he found the hardest way possible to climb over the boulder piles.  As he says, he was "living dangerously" and loving it.  It was a fun weekend!  

Liam is getting to be a little comedian.  The other day I swatted at a fruit fly and said, "Damn (whoops....I slipped in front of him) fruit fly!" He immediately said, "Damn poo poo fly" and started cracking up.  He cracks himself (and us) up a lot lately.  One day last week he decided to whisper.  He thought it was hilarious.  And he still says "noooooo" when I ask him if he loves me then looks at me and laughs.  He knows that's not the right answer but thinks it's hilarious to get a rise out of me.  

Joe started school last week, makes me feel like summer is over.  I'm really  not ready for fall, but I'm starting to get in the fall mode.  I feel like I'm nesting.  Trying to get everything cleaned outside, recipes gathered and little house projects completed before hibernation starts for the winter! :)

Happy Monday!

Inherited traits

As Liam gets older, it's fun (and funny) to see some of his inherited traits.  Sitting on the curb is one that he got from me.  I remember doing this all the time when I was little when we lived on Villa Street.  I would watch the neighbors, pick at potato bugs on the ground and watch the world go by.  Liam has been doing the same lately.  Runs around for a bit then goes and parks himself on the curb.  So funny.  Another trait he got from me is a obsession with rubbing things.  He rubs his blanky constantly.  If his blankie isn't nearby he'll find whatever he can and rub it with his thumb and index finger.  He'll even go as far as rubbing the skin on my arm sometimes.  Yeah, I'm the same way.  Not quite that extreme but give me a piece of silk, ribbon or anything else that most people don't consider soft and I like to do the same thing.  Do I have issues?  Maybe so!

The quirky trait he's gotten from Joe is his inability to SUCK on hard candy.  We recently introduced him to organic suckers, only to be used when he gets out of hand at the store or somewhere else I have to go and he hates, but good grief.  He's just like his daddy.  As soon as he gets it he chomps it and breaks it apart with his teeth.  Now I'll have to be getting on to both of them about that!  ;)

I'm amazed more and more each day with his development.  There has been a huge change in just the last couple of weeks.  Last night he shocked us, we were eating dinner and I had put a piece of potato on his plate.  He picked it up and said, "No, mama.  I don't like it."  Say what?!  I couldn't believe it.  For a few weeks his answer to everything was 'no.'  Then I think he started thinking it was funny to answer no to everything because it always got a rise out of us.  Like, "Liam, are you having fun?" (as he's splashing in the tub or doing something else he loves) and his answer would be, "Nooo."  Then he'd crack up.  Over the weekend, he started saying "ok" and "yes" a lot. The communication gap is getting smaller and smaller everyday.  He also says really big words (in my opinion) like marionberry, vitamin..... So cute.  Oh, and this one makes Joe happy.  He says "cool car" a lot.

I'm excited for today.  A few of my friends and I are having a canning party.  My friend bought a Groupon for it.  The lady is coming to her house, bringing all supplies and they item we picked to can (green beans), and teaching us how to can.  Should be fun!

Hope everyone has a good weekend.  Happy Friday!

A perfect weekend

Whew.  I still feel like I'm recovering from the weekend.  And it's already Wednesday!  We had a busy but great weekend up north.  On Sunday I went with Joe, his cousin Gil and Uncle Jack on a hike at Crystal Mountain.  I was a little apprehensive, they were going to look for a ski that Joe had lost last winter, but they all agreed I could handle it.  What they didn't tell me was there wasn't really a trail, we had to make our own.  Really?  At 7,000 feet?!  I could have gone up all day, it was just knowing that the higher we went the more down hill we'd have to do.  I'm glad I did it though, it was an adventure for sure.  I was pretty proud once I was back to the lodge safe and sound.  Liam took the less adventurous route (thankfully) and went with Papa and Grandma Jayne up the gondola.  They walked through the fields of flowers, saw some animals and then rode back down.  He had a great time having one-on-one time with them and they enjoyed it too.

We also rode bikes and Liam had a great time playing with Dylan.  If I wasn't already old (haha), I'd say that the age difference between Dylan and Liam would be perfect if we have another baby.  Dylan is so good with him and Liam adores him.  Dylan wanted to read to Liam at bedtime, I didn't think Liam would like it much but I was wrong.  So wrong.  He wouldn't even sit in my lap!  He had to sit on Dylan's lap.  The smile shining through his binki was priceless.  He loved it.

What else?  I've been baking and trying new recipes.  Joe's Uncle Jack has inspired me and I've been having so much fun.  He's an amazing cook and baker and I want people to think that about me, too!  Last week I made English muffins.  We love them and I'm constantly buying them at the store.  I decided to find a recipe and go for it and they turned out perfect.  It's amazing to compare the ingredients in mine to the store-bought ones.  Makes me want to bake everything from scratch.  I'm currently waiting for dough to rise, making homemade buns for a bbq tonight.  It's so easy and fun!

Summer is flying by so fast.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Halloween stuff out at Safeway yesterday.  Fall is my favorite time of year but I'm loving summer this year.  The long days, being able to be outside most of the day with Liam.  Makes everything seem so much easier to handle.  I think I'm just resistant to change like everyone else though.  Always hate to see the seasons end, guess because it's just a reminder of how fast time is going.

In sad news, Allie, our family dog for the last 14ish years, died on Friday.  We were at Joe's parents house when I got the call, it was one of the worst days I've had in a long time.  I couldn't believe what I was hearing.  She was really starting to show her age but she's been such a fixture in our family.  I think we got her when I was in 8th grade.  We had been up at my parents visiting before leaving on Friday and something happened that I'll never forget, and I'm so thankful for this last memory.  We were walking out of the garage and Liam ran to her bed where she was sleeping, patted her gently (very unusual), and said, "nigh night, allie."  And then he ran off.  Even Liam loved her, I dread going up there and him asking where she is.  That was the first thing he always did, look for Allie.  Rest in peace, sweet girl.

My first attempt at English Muffins

Joe made me stand by the wood fired oven that his Uncle Jack built to show how big it is.  It's amazing, especially the pizza that came out of it.  The best I've ever had! 

 A fun day with Papa and Grandma Jayne at Crystal Moutain