MERRY CHRISTMAS

Blake's school picture. This is a real smile! :)

POLAR EXPRESS

The Mt. Hood Railroad has a couple of kid theme rides. This year we went on the Polar Express train. It was a 90 min train ride up the Gorge (however it was pitch black for most of the way, so the scenery wasn't that great). On the train we sang Christmas songs, had hot chocolate and cookies, and even got a visit from Santa. Just like the movie, Santa gave the kids a bell from his sleigh. The ride was fun, but a bit long for the attention span of a 4 year old.

BATMAN & ROBIN

This year Blake wanted to be BATMAN. And as a joke, I told him I would be his helper Robin. Well he was so excited about it, and started telling everybody at school & church that I was going to be Robin. I couldn't let him down... I told him that I would be his helper & help him eat his candy.

Jack-O

Carving pumpkins...








Blake & Preston

Pumpkin Patch

I am addicted to the carmel apples at the local pumpkin patches.

PLAYHOUSE

I got bored one day, so I started chopping down trees in my backyard. The neighbor poked his head over the fence & offered to let me use his chainsaw. :). So I did a little more damage than I originally planned.

Once the trees were gone, I decided to build a play structure for Blake...












Then once I got the house up, I thought there was still something missing...



So I got him a trampoline too.
It's only a matter of time now before he brakes another bone :/

PORTLAND BRIDGE PEDAL

Blake & I did the Portland 6 bridge pedal. It was a 14 mile ride over all of the bridges in downtown Portland. It was fun, but became quite the workout when Blake decided to stop pedaling. Nothing like pulling 50lbs of dead weight & not being able to stand up on the bike. Our top speed was 27mph while coming down the Freemont bridge.

FUN IN THE 100+ DEG

This last week we had 4 days of 100+ degree weather. Makes me glad for air conditioning, but it also makes it hard to work. I have to soak up the sun while I can. So Monday we went on a speed boat tour of the Willamette river,Tuesday I played at the lake, Wednesday we went to the beach, and Thursday I went golfing & spent 6 hours on the kayak! Doesn't get much better than this!












When we first got in, dad had an interesting time trying to get the water out of his kayak :)

















Once we got the water out, we set sail for a 10 mile trip down the Lewis river. It only took us 4 hours. Some parts of the river were deep & cold, others were warm & about 2 feet deep in the center.






We saw a bald eagle & about 8 other hawks & eagles fishing along the way.





By the end of the day, we had spent 10 hours in the 90 degree sun. It was fun, but we got fried!

BLAKE

Some good pictures of my best friednd...

APE CAVES

Today we went up to the Ape Caves on Mt. St. Hellens. They are caves caused by the lava from when St. Hellens blew it's lid.

RANDOM PICS

Cheap labor :)



Thirsty boy...