Crater Lake Weekend

Summer is winding down quickly and we’ve been trying to make the most of the final few weekends.   Our friends Joe and Char hadn’t been to Crater Lake in awhile so we took the opportunity to head down there. 

Crater Lake still leaves me in awe every time I see it.  I always try to think about what it would be like to have been an American Indian or an explorer and to have discovered this lake by pure happenstance knowing that I would have been one of the few to have ever seen it.  It is so breathtaking and beautiful.  My photos don’t do it the justice it deserves.

We had a nice dinner at the Crater Lake Lodge. I was so proud of Claire. She did such a good job in the restaurant. I'm always a bit on edge eating out with her. I get nervous she'll start screaming or acting out and we'll have to make a quick exit. It hasn't happened yet. She's been great.







We got there and did a part of the rim drive just as the light was failing and I managed  to grab some shots before dinner.



Claire had a great time, although she had difficulty staying put.  We'll have to work on not running off!

What a great day trip!

Fun with new camera

Hi Everyone!

I finally took the plunge and bought a new camera. I've been wanting one forever so I finally just did it. This is to replace my aging Olympus DSLR. The new camera is a Nikon 7100 DSLR and it does video as well, which is sort of a new feature for DSLRs.

I wasn't really all that interested in the video capabilities, but it actually does pretty well for video so I might use it more often.

Here's a goofy little montage I put together last night. It's pretty rough so don't judge me too harshly.



Evening fun with Claire from Jane on Vimeo.


It's Friday and I'm looking forward to the weekend!

Love,
Jane

Snow Day!

Remember in my last entry when I was talking about how it was 65 degrees?  Well, those days are just a memory now.  We've had temperatures in the teens and snow nearly non-stop since Thursday.  As of this afternoon, about 18" had accumulated on the deck.  We spend the day outside playing in it and defrosting my car to put it in the garage.  Heh. Kind of late to put it in the garage, but at least it'll be dry for work on Monday!

Claire got her first taste of deep snow.  We don't have snow pants for her so we made some make-shift snow pants out of plastic bags and hair elastics!

They worked pretty well!

She got to play in the trailer that was full of snow.

I wonder if we'll be able to get out of the driveway?

Icicles on the front of the house.

Back inside looking out the window after a hot bath!

What a lot of fun!

I hope everyone is doing well.

Jane

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

I have been very lax about posting during the holidays.  I got so caught up in a frenzy of knitting gifts for everyone I just didn't have the time or energy to update the blog.

I did manage to get 4 hand-knits completed for the holidays, but it sure took some effort and dedication.  I basically had to set all other projects aside and focus solely on knitting.  I would knit in the evening, on lunch break at work, and throughout much of the weekends.  (And knitting and knitting and knitting!)  I did a basic striped hat for Grandpa Darrel, a pair of slippers for Grandma Darlene (I actually started these in 2012 for Christmas that year), mittens for Tami to match her scarf from last year, and finger-less mitts for Lisa.  I felt a lot of accomplishment and pride in my work when I got all this done. It's actually a lot of fun to knit gifts for Christmas.  I  had such momentum going with knitting that I've actually started this years gifts, but what they are will remain a secret until December!

Tami's cabled mittens and Lisa's fingerless mitts.

For Thanksgiving we went up to Washington to see Mom and Dad. It was a great time with lots of great food.  Mom and Dad had just gotten a new black lab puppy that they named Arrow.  We debated all weekend what would be the best name for this new little guy and it was actually Marsha's idea based on Oblio's dog in the movie The Point.  What a fantastic choice and just perfect for this little guy.  Dad better teach him how to play triangle toss!

Self portrait using remote and Dad's tripod.

Puppy kisses from Arrow.  (He was actually "No Name" dog when this snap was taken.)

Claire gets her first Thanksgiving Turkey.

Sitting with Grandpa.

In December we got some sub-zero temps and lots of snow.  I think -20F was the lowest I saw at our house.   It was so cold we stayed inside most of the time.  I did a few runs on the cold days and it was so hard on my sinuses and face that I had to take some time off.

Sunset on a -15F day.

About 6" of snow in the back yard.

Family portrait in the snow.

So what's going on now in January?  Well, Russell started a new job at the same place I work.  He's working night shift while I work days.  This is our second week doing this and it's going okay.  We still have a few scheduling issues to work out.  He's not getting a ton of sleep and neither am I, so we spent last weekend catching up on that.  I'm hopeful we can get in a routine.

I signed up for a 10 mile trail race in April.  I've been getting mileage in after work before I head home.  I skip my lunch break to have the time for this.  Ha!  That also means I haven't been knitting at work.

I also have started on a new sewing project to make a coat for Russell.  It's the Albion Coat from Colette patterns.  They are hosting a contest and the grand prize is a fantastic sewing machine.  I would love to win that so I've been working hard the past week or so getting materials and things going for this project.  I love Colette patterns and this is a great challenge for me.  In the coming weeks I'll post some things about how the project is going.

Claire is getting bigger and stronger everyday.  She'll be 10 months next week and she is so close to walking.  I'm pretty certain she'll be walking before a year.  My heart just swells with pride whenever I see her.  Children are so very special.

And that's pretty much the past few months in a nutshell.  I'm going to endeavour to get back in the habit of posting regularly.  I have much to say and I compose a lot of posts in my head that then never make it to the blog.  I need to make my thoughts  a reality.

What's going with you?  Let me know in the comments.  Thanks for reading!

Love, Jane

Another weekend hike

Russell and I are loving the new pack we got for Claire.  We went out for another hike this weekend and did over 6 miles.  It was windy and pretty cold but Claire just loved it!  She was all smiles and interest.

I am thoroughly enjoying exploring nature with Claire and getting some much needed exercise at the same time.  It's just amazing.

Playing with Boone

Boone has taken a long time to warm up to Claire, but he is finally treating her more like a member of the family instead of an "invader."

Here's a little video showing how he tries to play with her and get her to tug on his toy.

Enjoy!

2013-11-03 17.58.01 from Jane on Vimeo.

Claire is a reader!

Claire is getting more and more interested in the books we read to her.  She often stares at the pictures closely and then grabs at the book because she wants to hold it herself.  Many times she then also tries to put the book in her mouth.  At this stage it seems that everything goes into her mouth!

Fun times!

Hiking Adventure

When veteran parents give out the well-meaning advice to first-timers like Russell and me, saying things like, "Take time to enjoy it! It goes by fast.  Before you know it she'll be 16!" I always roll my eyes.  I think to myself, "Yes, do they really think we aren't' enjoying it?"  Or, "It sure doesn't seem like it's going by fast."

The truth is, it really does go by fast!  Claire is now 7 months 4 weeks this week and I'm so excited with how active alert and interested she has become!  Russell and I have been feeling somewhat stir crazy and have been eager to get outside to get some fresh air and exercise.

We recently bought a Kelty Expedition backpack child carrier so we can get out and take hikes and walks with Claire.  

This thing is a Cadillac!  It has a water bladder for the parent, a zip off back-pack, a large storage pouch with changing mat, and a sun/rain hood.

Claire models the new carrier.

Sun/rain hood up.

Side view

Eager to test out the new pack, this weekend we got all packed up and headed out on a 3 mile hike in the Deschutes National Forest.  The weather was fantastic: not too hot, not too cold.  There was no rain in sight and the high clouds filtered the sun so it was pleasant even without sunglasses.  

Family hike

Claire was an absolute cherub.  She loved the fresh air, the birds singing, the sounds of the wind in the trees, and riding along on my back.  Every time I looked at her I saw a huge happy smile!

All smiles

 She did fall asleep for a bit of the hike, but mostly she was awake and wide eyed as though she was taking it all in.  I think we definitely have a nature lover on our hands!

Hiking with Mom!

 We had such a fun time that we are going to make it a weekly thing.  I hope to do many of the local trails and foster a love for nature, hiking, and the outdoors in Claire.  It was just fantastic.

This was a common face during the hike.  She loved it!

I hope everyone is doing well!

Love,
Jane

Fun New Toy

Last weekend we went to Elkton for a fun Halloween party hosted by Joe and Rheannan.  We stayed with Jon and Lisa that night where Claire got a new toy.  She got a Winnie the Pooh Theme walker!

Big smile in the new walker.  I think she looks more like me in this picture.

Claire had a lot of fun testing out the toys and the music.  Although, even though the box says it's for 4 months to 1 year, at 7 months Claire can't even touch the ground.  And she's a tall baby (75 percentile for length!)

Claire looks a bit miffed that her feet don't touch the ground.

Trying to get a smile out of her!

Mirrors are a fun toy.

Inspecting the walker cockpit.

What does this do?

When Claire pushes on the "hunny" pot it plays songs.  Fun songs like "Turkey in the Straw."  I need to relearn all the lyrics to these great folk tunes so I can sing along with Claire.

Pushing on the "hunny" pot.

Claire got to spend lots of time with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa.  I think it's so wonderful that Claire has so many grandparents that love her so much.

Kissing Great Grandma

Talking with Great Grandpa

It was a fun weekend!  I hope everyone is doing well!

Love, Jane

Autumn Ruminations and Halloween costumes

Autumn has never been my favorite season.  In fact, it's always been my least favorite. Growing up in the Puget Sound area means the coming of autumn signals the end of the summer, dwindling daylight, and the beginning of the long dreary rainy season.  

Living in Central Oregon now for 2 years has given me a whole new perspective on autumn.  Central Oregon does fall in style and beauty.  It's something I've never experienced before.  It must be a combination of the cold desert nights and the sunny clear skies that create the perfect conditions for gorgeous fall foliage.

Crab apple, I think.

I recently took a mid-day walk and captured some of the stunning beauty of the trees changing color and enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather we've been having.

Maple

Views like the one below bring a smile to my face.  I feel lucky to have this only a block from my workplace.

Aspens overlooking the Deschutes River

I have officially changed my mind on Autumn.  What a gorgeous time of year!

Aspen

Golden Aspen

Maples and Ponderosa pine

Maples and Ponderosa

This weekend we are driving to Elkton to visit family and see Joe and Rheannan's new place for a Halloween party.  I was fretting over what costume Claire could wear until Russell found this at Costco!

Little Bowser

Look at Little Bowser go!

I'm looking forward to the weekend!

I hope everyone is well.

Love, Jane

Weekend Recap

It was a gorgeous weekend in Central Oregon!  Sunny, clear skies, and warm temperatures made it seem almost like summer had come back for a moment.

Saturday I did the Run or Dye race up in Redmond.  It was a fun 5K run where the chief purpose of running is to get splattered with multi-colored dye while you run.  It was about 30 degrees at the 9am start and absolutely bitter cold!  Claire and Russell were my most enthusiastic spectators.  Here's Claire with her cute handknit hat from Grandma Walner.  She doesn't really look too thrilled to be out in the cold.  I don't really blame her, but she sure was a good sport!

Here I am during the run getting spattered with dye at one of the color zones.

Here's a few post race shots showing the aftermath of all that colored dye.

The rest of the weekend we spent just leisurely hanging around the house.  Russell did some cooking and baking including making some really delicious cinnamon rolls from a Paula Deen recipe.  Oh my goodness, they were so delicious!  It could have something to do with the 3 sticks of butter and lord knows how many cups of sugar that were the main ingredients.  They were really quite easy to make too.  Store bought cinnamon rolls just don't compare.  Even Cinnabon.

That's about the highlights of the weekend.  I hope everyone else enjoyed themselves and the great weather.

I'll leave you with Claire being her usual super cute self!

With Love,
Jane