OCTOBER - And then it was BACK TO SCHOOL. (RUN... save yourself!!) 3 of 5

October...Race, Pumpkin Carving, Halloween.

Hybrid Adventure Games: My cousin Claudia joined me for the Hybrid Adventure Games on October 1. It was a hell of a race. It was held at Ski Bowl in the Mount Hood Recreation Area. This race had five parts.

1. Adventure Run: We ran up the ski hill to the top of the first lift, then up, up, up to the lift that was higher up. There were great views, but the climb slowed to a walk not only because of the crowd, but because most of us were not used to running straight up the face of a MOUNTAIN!!

Once we got to the top we had to make our way back down. Running down a mountain also has it's challenges... downhills covered in mud or loose rocks. Most people made it down without out issue, but those who know me well know I'm not like most people ;). I writhe at the mention of pregnancy and stretch marks it is sure to leave behind, but love to show off battle scars. Here are the ones I earned after sliding on a loose rock and being left with only the decision of which part of my body would take the hit.

As you can see I picked stomach over head. I also got a few stray cuts on my legs and arms.

2. Obstacle Course: Right after the run. We had a chance to grab a quick drink and then were shuffled to the starting line of the obstacle course. We jumped through tires, jumped over wooden hurdles, and under barbed hurdles. Then up a ramp, and under more barbed wire, but this time we were army crawling. Next was the slip 'n slide; keep in mind the rain was threatening to pour and the temperatures were in the 50's. Ski Bowl has many fun activities for families in the winter as well as the summer. The course made use of the bike park and we ran on different wooden obstacles, made our way arcross some wooden poles balancing as best we could. Finally we faced a wooden wall. I ran and tried to hop up on top. After two failed attemps I used one of the support pieces to lift myself high enough to get over the wall.

3. Archery Range. After we finished the obstacle course we got in line for the Archery Range. It took FOREVER! This was the first year of this race and they were still working some kinks out. Aaron finally got to check out my injuries and had to make a dash out to the car to get me some warmer clothes as the rain was starting to fall and the long wait in line was quickly cooling me off. All that waiting and not a lot to show for it. Both Claudia and I failed to hit the bullseye on our four tries.

4. Tire Flip. The line here was a bit shorter, but my muscles were not ready to get in gear again after all of that waiting at the archery shoot. We flipped huge tractor tires. Claudia kicked my butt! I did finish though.

5. Keg Toss. People were in for a scare when I showed up here!! I watched a coulple videos on YouTube to prepare for this one and let me tell you it's not as easy as it looks! I chose a spinning strategy and let go once I built up some momentum. However the keg went flying towards the crowd up people in line. Oooops! Claudia tossed the keg sans spinning sans spin and sent it flying in the right direction.

And what was Aaron doing other than taking a few pictures...

...using our post race drink tickets!

Cats vs. Vikings: On October 8th we enjoyed a beautiful day at Jeld-Wen Field watching the Cats take down the Vikings. They actually had a good lead then let the Vikings come way to close for comfort.

They had a great season this year, but didn't survive the playoffs. Later that night we enjoyed Oktoberfest at Aaron's boss' place.
Girlfriends Half-Marathon: Aaron's sisters and our nieces Paige and Brooke came out to visit mid-October. Kara and I ran the Girlfriends half-marathon and had a blast!

Carving Party: We also had our first pumpkin Carving Party this year. Ken and Jen were this year's Master Carvers. You can see our creations here: Pumpkin Carving 2011

Halloween Costumes: Aaron wanted to make these Sesame Street Yip Yip costumes last year, but we were unable to get our act together. This year we planned ahead and he was thrilled! He is so silly and enjoyed every minute refusing to break character.

SEPTEMBER - And then it was BACK TO SCHOOL. (RUN... save yourself!!) 2 of 5

September... BACK TO SCHOOL... nuff said. At least those of us that are teachers understand.  You teacher/moms are rock stars! I still do not know how you make this humanly possible. September was pretty much all back to school with one quick trip to Walla Walla for our nephew Israel's first birthday.

Birthday Boy

And then it was BACK TO SCHOOL. (RUN... save yourself!!) 1 of 5

So school hit and I disappeared. Well kind of, I've still been out and about, but the planning and grading took precidence over the documenting of our day to day. Anyway here is a synopsis of the last 4.5 months :). Part 1 of 5.

August...
Goodbye Mazatlan. We made our way back from Mazatlan. We stayed at a rental house called Casa Bonita and we're thankful for air conditioned rooms and pool! The house was located in the historic part of town just 1 block from the beach and boardwalk (malecon) and walking distance to the open air market, cathedral (aka Sauna - not air conditioned), and bus stops.  Despite reports that travel in Mexico is not advised, we went and experienced not a single dangerous hiccup. Don't do crap you wouldn't try to pull at home and you should be fine. COMMON SENSE people!! It was incredibly HOT there, but with back-to-school looming I was not ready to come back to reality. Here are some shots of the house...I'm happy to pass on contact information if you should wish to check it out in person.

Pool

Kitchen/Dining/Living Area

Entry to Casa Bonita

Cathedral

Quilting: I was interested in learning to make a quilt, so I signed up for Quilting 101 at JoAnn's. Here is my project.

And I got a sewing machine in November... so maybe in the next year I will finish a quilt and share it.

Tree Removal: Those of you that have been to our house may remember we had three large trees in the front yard. YES, I said HAD! August and September brought the removal of these trees. Why? Because we are the anti-tree huggers, hate pine needles, and want to kill the planet. RIGHT... The trees were in bad shape and constantly dropping branches... of which two caused damage to vehicles. We had an Arborist (tree scienentist) come take a look and he said they would be goners in the next 5 years or so. Aparently the tree roots were not well protected during the construction of our house and driveway. We were able to get the builder to agree to cover half the cost of removal, which was nice because our 1 year warranty on all things house was long expired. Thank you New Traditions! Sorry trees! My dad, uncle, a family friend and Aaron's cousin all came and helped in the effort.

They took down two of three trees. Then chooped away at the tree rounds which were sold as firewood. The third tree enormous tree was removed in September by a pro as the guys were a little wary of it's size and a mistake would have been VERY costly.

Timbers Soccer that is... Portland now has a major league team and it was fun to go watch them and listen to the Timbers' Army chant. They won the game!

August 8, 2011 = 2nd Anniversary: Hike #5 - El Faro - Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico

I still did my regular Tuesday hike this last week while on vacation with family in Mazatlan. (P.S. Don't believe the rumors... you are perfectly fine to travel there.) Aaron and I spent the morning of our anniversary hiking to the top of the highest natural lighthouse in the world (the lighthouse isn't tall, the location of it is just high). We walked 1.4 miles to get to the start of the trail up to the lighthouse.

You can make out the lighthouse at the top of the peak in the background.

I spotted a couple hermit crabs on our walk.

Ready to start our ascent. Until Aaron was distracted by work...

Right next to the trail was what appears to be part of the city water system. Aaron has been working on a water system in Oregon so he was intrigued and already wondering whether he could involve himself in this project : )

We met a lot of animal friends on this hike. This is an Iguana. After talking to some locals we learned that the brightly colored green iguanas like this one are not native to the area, but have resulted from escaped pets. 

We hiked on the gravel path and then reached a set of stairs with 300 steps. 

It sounds like a lot, but it wasn't too bad. The heat and humidity were the hardest to deal with.

(...even Aaron made it up!)

We were rewarded with a stunning view of the city and ocean below.

The lighthouse

We almost came home with a pet... until he made a yucky sound like he was about to puke and hopped up on Aaron to try and get a nibble of his shorts. (We assume this little guy belongs to the lighthouse keeper.) Aaron has dubbed him "Mexican Rudy."

After a break we made our way back down. We saw more people heading up and more animals taking in the views and the heat.

This iguana is native to the area and one of the bigger ones we saw.

Watch out for the spiders!

...and feral cats! For those of you that don't know me well... I'm not really a pet person. Growing up the only pets we were allowed were fish. (Although, Jazmin and Danny snuck a few cats and dogs in a time or two.) For some odd reason they are attracted to me; especially cats! Aaron just laughed as this guy followed me down a couple switchbacks.

Afterward we walked back to the house and relaxed in the pool. Later that night we celebrated out anniversary by taking a walk on the "Malecón" (boardwalk) and having dinner at an Italian restaurant in Plaza Machado. The two years has flown by! I'm so lucky to get to share my life with you babycake : )

Multnomah-Wahkeena Falls Loop (Hike #4)

The "Hiking Club" went on another great hike today. I've been to Multnomah Falls many times, but had never hiked this loop before. It was well worth it!! Attendance for today's hike: Kari, Debbie and her son Dutch, and Kellie and her daughter Erin. Here are some shots...

Wahkeena Falls



The view from Lemmon's Viewpoint. Lemmon's was a firefighter who gave his life protecting the natural beauty of Oregon.

Making our way up...

Back at the bottom of the Multnomah Falls Trail. When we started hiking at around 9AM the parking lot was empty. By noon the parking lot was full and tourists were all over, but not many venture further than the 1 mile up to the top of the falls. Our hike was about 5.5 miles. I would highly recommend this hike!

The Hard Life

Aaron has been working pretty hard on the water treatment system for the City of Detroit, OR.  Detroit is right on Detroit Lake. I went down with him for a couple days last week. Aaron spend the time busy at work and I found a nice spot at one of his job sites to read, sun, and enjoy the lake. Here are some shots...


Aaron's Office

The View from the Office



Hard at work



The Lake (my office)