How much fun can one weekend hold?

Our friends, Carrington and Christine, invited us to spend the weekend with us at their getaway house outside of Hood River. I figured it would be a mountain cabin that we would all cozy up inside of. Boy, was I ever wrong! This place is straight out of the pages of Sunset Magazine. It was fantastic!
This house was designed with fun and friends in mind. It is situated on 16 acres of remote wilderness, and has the East fork of the Hood River flowing through the property directly behind the house.

Simply beautiful, and sustainably built by Carrington, who clearly has a knack for this type of thing. The beams, dining room table, and other parts of the house all have a story to tell. My favorite feature is that they designed the living space to have an oval track where the kids (and big people!) can ride plasma cars. Totally kid friendly and family friendly. So much room to roam, it was unbelievable!

This picture of the North side of Mt. Hood was taken from their huge back deck. The house is situated on the edge of a cliff that goes down to the river below, so the deck is massive in order to have room to play.

Out front was an amazing forest yard with a tire swing and other fun stuff to do. My boys went very high on this thing. Of course, I wanted to try it too!

Wheeeee!

Hiking down the trial to the water.

Chris and Nate throwing rocks into the raging river. It was gorgeous, but very swift and very cold.

Bailey, Dan, Chris and Nate trying to move this boulder. No luck.

Another very cool thing about this property is that the Mt. Hood Scenic Railroad goes right through it! We spent lots of time walking the tracks, and looking for loose ties.

The highlight of the trip for Dan was putting coins on the track. The train went by on Saturday afternoon, so we knew that it would be returning within a few hours. Pennies and nickels were flattened as souvenirs. Dan said that he has wanted to do that for 40 years! Check that off the list....

The Barrs-Olson family.

Chris and Nate's favorite part of the weekend was doing all the 'work'. They helped chop, haul, and stack wood, move rocks, build a sandbox, construct a fire pit. It's fun to be a workin' man.

This is their dog, Bailey. She is a way cool dog.

So mellow and loving. She slept with the boys the second night. They loved that!

Sydney. She is hands-down the cutest and smartest 3 and 3/4 year old I've ever known. I just adore this little girl!

I shared my shiny lip-gloss with her, and that connected us like you wouldn't believe.

She had such a fun time with Chris and Nate~it was fun having two 'big' boys around.

Carrington giving rides as they move on to the next project. Chris, Nate, Sydney, and Ole.

On Sunday morning we blew out eggs, and then painted them to make a bowl of colorful eggs.

The end of a very fun day. We sat around the fire pit, roasted marshmallows, then called it a night. What a great getaway!

Gorilla Rules

We were driving in the car today and the boys were doing their usual banter back and forth in the backseat. Out of Nate's mouth came the words "I'm gonna kick your butt!"

Chris instantly responded with an "oooooooooooh, he broke a gorilla rule!"

Gorilla rule? What's a gorilla rule? I didn't have a clue what he was talking about , as I've never heard that terminology.

"Remember mom, those gorillas in our front room...hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil.

Nate spoke evil."

We survived a night in yurt #52

We had such high hopes. Sunny beach forecast, fun friends (the McDonalds) and a 2 night stay planned for Cape Lookout on the first weekend of Spring Break. It could have been wonderful.
After we got settled into our yurts, the first thing on the agenda was a trip down to the beach. It was SO windy that it could literally blow over the kids. Sand was pelting our faces. Nate got totally freaked out and so we headed back to our campground. Somehow the weather wasn't what we were expecting. Was there a storm rolling in? The skies quickly filled up with clouds and the rain started. We figured it would pass over. But no....it rained and rained. Thank goodness we had the quick-shade for shelter! We cooked a tasty dinner and decided that we needed to head in to our cozy, heated yurt for the evening.

Wind gust at dinner! One of the plates slapped Christopher on the side of his face. We have always lucked out with the weather on our camping trips, so we were trying to adjust to this new way of living. It wasn't fun.

We are so thankful for friends that love to camp and know how to make Spanish coffees! With 4 kids and 4 adults spending the next 3 hours in a yurt together, we were extremely happy that Chris McDonald is a fine bartender. We played uno, kids climbed on the bunk beds, and then....the dance party.

All the moves from the 80's and 90's were busted out. Robot, moon-walking, running man, to name a few. You get the picture. However, flashing the yurt lights to make 'disco lights' is not such a good idea.....we had a knock on the door from the park ranger wondering if we were in distress. Being cooped up with everyone in a yurt and dancing some fine moves was distressing...however we didn't need his assistance.

At 10:00 we went back to our yurt to sleep for the night. Around 1:00 I awoke and couldn't believe the sounds that I was hearing. Massive rain pelting the yurt, very loud and angry sounding ocean waves crashing in the distance, wind blowing so hard that it sounded capable of lifting the yurt up and tossing it into the sea~this was a massive storm and I listened to it for the next 3 hours. Nate was sleeping right next to me and he awoke and was completely freaked out. It was CRAZY loud. The winds were so strong that it blew over and completely damaged the quick shade. The poles were bent and we had to throw the whole contraption away.

After talking to the Park Ranger she told us that the wind gusts last night were around 65 m.p.h. Typically yurt # 52 is one that they don't rent out if they are expecting a storm...it has had it's share of damage due to it's location in the campground. A tree has fallen on it, it's top has blown off, and the outer layer has been ripped off in the wind.

So, without the quick shade for outside shelter, a lack of sleep, everything soaking wet, and more rain in the forecast we decided to pack up and head home a day early. We kept our dinner plans with the McDonalds since they did not get to make their burgers. When we went down to their house, this sign was hung on the front door proudly announcing our extreme bravery and survival skills to the world.

We finished our last night of camping in the comfort of their home. Much cozier, and those burgers tasted maybe even a bit better than they would have over the campfire. Marshmallows were roasted in the fireplace, not the firepit. Yes, this is the stuff that memories are made of. (the good and the bad!)

Nate does his Irish Dance

Nate came home from school on Thursday all excited that he had learned how to "Irish Dance" in his music class. We found some music to accompany him, and he shared his newfound skills. It was a smashing success when I posted it on my Facebook page, so I figured I should put it here, too. (please note his very intentional foot tapping at the 19 seconds mark~it's my favorite part of the jig) Enjoy...and Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Survivor Birthday Party

Chris and Nate are total junkies for the television show Survivor. About 9 months ago, they decided that they wanted to have a Survivor birthday party when they turned 6. That day was yesterday, and the party was a blast.

The birthday boys awaiting their friend's arrival for the party.
Earlier in the day, they put their baking skills to work and continued the tradition that they do each year and made their own birthday cakes to celebrate with. Chris had funfetti, Nate chose strawberry.

The pathway leading to our house was lined with torches that represented each player. We made lots of Survivor signs so it felt just like a remote island in the South Pacific. (well, kind of.) It was a beautiful sunny day in Portland, so that sure helped.

Each boy was in charge of creating his tribal name for the challenges. Christopher came up with "Christu" (Chris + Stuart combined into one) and Nate then decided that he would be "Nafred" (his names, Nate+ Frederick). Who knew that mixing first and middle names could sound so exotic?

The hidden immunity idol, a tribal council candle, and snuffer. All crucial components to play the game of Survivor.

Each boy reached in and drew a colored buff out of a basket, and the tribes were born. Nafred was orange, Christu was blue. These boys are TOUGH!

Now that the tribes were declared, it was time for some challenges.

The first one that they did was the Monkey Hang. Each boy took a turn hanging on the rings in our basement. We timed how long each boy could hang. The times were then added together, and the tribe with the longest time won. Christu took the challenge!

Next, we headed outside to the food challenge. If you watch Survivor, you know that they often times eat some really nasty things. Our party was no different.

Maggots--orzo

Potato Bugs--capers

worms--gummy worms

mud--chocolate frosting

caterpillars--sliced long pickles

frog eggs--diced olives

grubs--chocolate covered raisins

rat bones--crunchy ramen noodles

Each boy randomly picked a piece of paper out of a hat that told them their food fate, and they had to take a taste to get a point for their tribe. Only two boys couldn't do it---one with caterpillars, the other with potato bugs. ( I admit, the capers were kind of weird) I didn't want them to leave the party all freaked out, so we disclosed the true identity of each item, then many of them were more than happy to try a taste.

The water level relay was next. Each team had to take turns scooping water out of a bucket, and getting that water across the yard and dumped into their tribe's jar. First team to have their water level over the black line won. Nafred took this challenge easily.

Learning the rules and getting ready for the obstacle course.

This relay obstacle course was truly action packed! The first boy had to jump over the picnic table, and untie a series of knots, then grab the baseball. Second boy had to jump over the table and get a baseball around the corner. Third boy had to jump over the table and then climb up into the tree house and grab a baseball. When all 3 ball were returned to the hula-hoop, tribe member number four had to collect all 3 balls, and carry them to the throwing area. His job was to throw the ball and knock down the camel target. Christu tribe won this challenge.

Tug-o-war!! These Survivors were very strong and didn't mess around. At first we thought that Christu had it made, but then Nafred came from behind and pulled them across the center line. Victory for Nafred!

Christu tried, but couldn't out-tug the Nafred tribe. Sorry, guys!

This challenge was called "Litter Bug." Two tribes, and each boy had to take a flat piece of newspaper, crumple it very tightly and then make a basket. As we all learned, it is much easier to make a basket with a tight ball, rather than a flopsy piece of newspaper.

After all of these challenges, it was time for our tribes to merge. Each boy received a buff of the opposite color, and they decided how they wanted to display their colors. Chae's buffs(far right) were hands down my favorite display.

Each boy for himself at this point....no more tribes.

My favorite challenge of the party was "Last One Standing." We made a grid in the driveway and to start the game, each boy chose a box to stand in. The object of the game, was to be the last boy standing. They had to choose a box to move to, and it had to be one that was adjacent to their current spot. As soon as they moved, we would put an X through the spot where they were. Slowly, boys started to get boxed in and had no option to move.
Chae was the Last One Standing. I forgot to mention it earlier, but he also found the hidden immunity idol and won a Survival prize. (compass/mirror/whistle/necklace combo)

All good things must come to and end. To close the game, we had a modified tribal council. We sat around the Survivor torch candle and each boy was able to come up and snuff out his flame. The tribe has spoken. aahhhhhh

Party time! These boys were hungry and thirsty. We sang the birthday song to both Chris and Nate, then grubbed on cake and some munchies.

Opening some fun birthday presents.

What a great day with great friends!

Golden Birthday!

Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that god invested in you at birth is present once again. ~Schneerson

Yep, they're 6!

It wasn't just any ol' birthday though. It was their golden birthday.

They turned 6, on the 6th, and were even born at 6pm. The day couldn't have been any better.

Happy Birthday, Chris and Nate. We love you 6 times more than you could ever imagine.

grab your torch, and head on back to camp

These boys got giddy with anticipation when some torches arrived at our house for their Survivor birthday party that will be this Saturday. Stay tuned for full coverage.

I can't believe it's March!

Happy Birthday, Grandaddy! We send lots of love across the miles to you today.
I guess it's been a rather uneventful week around here. We did move the basketball hoop out of the basement and into the backyard.