Ourcalendar once again runneth'd over in August beginning right out of the gate with a camping trip. In preparation for our camping trip to Tumalo State Park in Central Oregon we ordered sleeping bags for the girls, purchased new air mattresses for us, and prepared the girls for sleeping in a tent. We don't know how much this really helped by the time it was all said and done. Phoebe's Godparents came with us on the trip since we were carting so much stuff anyway, it was helpful having 2 experienced campers with us to help with gear and advice. Not to mention the extra storage space another car allowed. The Subaru was loaded with tandem, trailer, coolers, as well as the Rocket box on top which held a stroller, Kelty kid pack, tents, mattress pads, chairs, and such.
We left just after lunch on Saturday since it was a 5 hour drive, and we couldn't actually check in until 4pm anyway. The girls, of course, didn't nap as is their custom on long car trips. We pulled in around 4.30pm and set up camp. It was the first time setting up our new tent, but it didn't take very much time all the same. It was nice and roomy. I can stand up in it without stooping in the middle part. Since it was so hot (it stayed in the upper 90's during the duration of our camping trip), we didn't even bother putting on the rain fly. We cooked dinner out on the camp stove then get the girls situated. The tent can be split up into 3 separate sections, but we foolishly thought we'd put the girls together in the same section. That didn't last long since Phoebe kept trying to lay on top of Ellen. We split them up on either side of the tent, and we lay between them. We didn't do a camp fire any of the nights we were there. It was just too hot, and none of us really wanted to deal with the smoke. We sat around the pit where the fire would normally be until it got too dark to read. I practiced my guitar for the first time in front of Pete and Laurie. Then we turned in. I was up a lot that night between putting Phoebe back in her sleeping bag every hour or so and hearing the coyotes howling, it was quite a night.
The second day we started early for a hike at Little 3 Creek Lake. It was a 2 mile out and back hike to a little lake. Ellen hiked the entire route on her own carrying her Camelbak, and I carried Phoebe in the Kelty pack. At the lake where we stopped for a rest and a snack which was our halfway point, we sat in the shade. Ellen and Phoebe played in a clump of trees that looked they'd been a fort at one time. Ellen even got to pee in the great outdoors for the first time. It was already getting hot by the time we got back to the car. Since we were driving back through Sisters, we stopped at their city park to have lunch and lay around on the grass in the shade. We spent 3 hours there. The girls didn't sleep, but we all just rested and tried not to move much until the sun started coming out from behind the trees we were bunkered under. Then we all went to get ice cream. It was an adventure getting back on highway 20 to go back to Tumalo, but we eventually managed it. Before dinner we walked down to the Deschutes river and waded in there for a while. The mountain fed river was nice and cold. It was shallow enough near the park so the girls could even wade in. I tried to teach Ellen how to skip rocks, but she was a little too wild still. Nighttime was very similar to the previous night except the girls didn't take as long falling asleep.
On our final full day there, we took a bike ride first thing in the morning to beat the heat. We did a 25 mile loop that took us out east of Bend, through Bend's southern edge, and back up to the camp site. Jada and I pulled the trailer with Ellen and Phoebe, while Laurie and Pete rode along with us. When we got back to camp, we each took showers in the camp ground's facilities. Then we tried to spend the afternoon in the tent trying to stay cool. The girls wouldn't nap, but I fell asleep for a little while. It just got too hot so we went out in search of A/C. We tried shopping at the outlet mall, but there was nothing to keep our interest, so we headed into the city center for dinner. That night, Ellen took a long time falling asleep, but she eventually did. We played games and I practiced my guitar. The next morning, we were up early to get the camp torn down and get on the road. We think we'll be able to camp with the girls again. They did pretty well considering the heat and not having a playground to use. They just played in the dirt a lot.
The following weekend was the annual Providence Bridge Pedal. We went to the expo the day before to pick up our rider bibs. Since this is the 10th year of the event, there was an option to ride all 10 bridges (34 miles), but we opted to ride the standard 8 bridge route (26 miles) since the St. John's bridge had finally re-opened after 2 years of restoration. The ride was fun as always. We had Phoebe's Godparents with us again. The weather was perfect. We didn't end up having any big mechanical issues, though the girls were getting a bit tired of being in the trailer. Phoebe reached over and pulled hair out of Ellen's head at one point. I don't know what caused it, but it was not good. We all ran into people that we knew. There was even a guy we didn't know who rode up next to us and asked Jada to take his picture as we rode up to the top of the Fremont bridge. That was a first. We talked with another tandem couple for a while on the way back from St. John's. It was just another fun morning. Next year, though, Ellen's going to have to be on a trail-a-bike or something because that trailer just is going to be too small.
Also that weekend, we had a BBQ at the house of some friends. They have a huge back yard, so the girls enjoyed running around a playing. We even brought home green beans and yellow wax beans from our friends' garden.
During the week, we finally got our siding replacement started. It was loud all day, so the girls had a difficult time sleeping. But on the bright side, they slept longer at night. Some mornings, they didn't wake up until 6:15 or 6:30am. I also started riding to work more again due to the high gas prices. So that's been good for me. Jada also had a math and teacher prep class all that week so Grandma was on the job again which the girls enjoyed.
The 3rd weekend brought us the end of summer sessions at the Connestoga Rec Center. On Phoebe's final swimming day, we road the tandem w/ trailer in tow to the rec center since it was also Big Truck Day so we wouldn't have to deal with parking issues. Phoebe got to go down the slide at the pool which she enjoyed. I think she'll miss swimming, but next year, she'll get to move up to the actual swimming lessons. After class, we went out for Big Truck Day. Phoebe enjoyed climbing into the cabs of the big rigs a little more than Ellen did, I think. The big feature at this year's event (in my opinion) was an armored SWAT truck with turret in the top to peak out of. The girls were scared to go up through, but I did it anyway. The biggest hit with the girls was the city bus. They just really enjoy getting to go in there since we rarely take the bus.
Once we were back home, I put on some music (The Police, Zenyatta Mondatta) while we got lunch together. Ellen was dancing to it. She was inventing her own ballet moves and other dance steps together. She seems to enjoy Reggae, which the Police were sort of. And when Bob Marley's "Buffalo Soldier" came on the radio later that evening, she said she liked that song. Who knew?
That evening, we also had our neighborhood picnic. Ellen and Phoebe made some new friends of 2 girls in the cul de sac who are about their ages. It was nice getting to see everyone again.
For the final weekend of the month, we went to the Enchanted Forest which is just south of Salem right on I-5. It is a family created and owned amusement park based on fairy tales. It has full sized diorama's depicting many classic fairy tales with castles and cottages: Humpty Dumpty, Jack and Jill, Hansel and Gretel, Alice in Wonderland (complete with rabbit hole), Snow White, Goldilocks and the 3 bears, Crooked Man, etc. Ellen's favorite was the Hansel and Gretel house and Snow White in the dwarves' cottage. Phoebe's favorite was the long slide that came out of the Old Woman who lived in a shoe. There was a teenaged girl inside the shoe to help the kids get set on the mat they rode down the slide. Ellen kept calling her the "Old Lady." They both rode in a child's ferris wheel, and they didn't seem too scared. It didn't go all that high but it was still high enough.
The girls have also been busy growing. Ellen's reading and writing skills continue to grow. She wrote her first book for Grandma. She got a couple of pages and wrote that she loved Grandma without any help, and she drew some pictures of herself. Then she wrote in "cursive" which for her just consists of drawing many squiggly lines. But she understands that it's still a writing style. She continues to read what we give her, and she and mommy finished up all of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary. Her temper tantrums have been kept to a minimum so far. She has been getting her energy out in other ways. As I mentioned before, she made up her own ballet routine in the house, and was performing it for me. Though she refused to do it in front of Mom for some reason. Unfortunately, her ballet teacher had to cancel her final 3 classes due to family issues. She also finished up her outdoor soccer session at the end of the month. She has fun running around, but she doesn't really pay attention to the ball at all even when it's right in front of her. She had one night where she scored a goal, but after that, she's been content just to follow the other kids around.
Phoebe is now counting to 11, and getting most of the alphabet. She still sings a lot to herself using bits of pieces of real songs that she has heard and combining them with other tunes. Phoebe has also been playing with her baby more. She refers to it as "Honey Baby" most of the time. She also likes playing Ring around the Rosy with her sister and dancing. She insists on turning her light off (yes, she's tall enough to reach all the light switches and open doors). Phoebe is quite the builder with Legos. She has built a sunscreen dispenser which she uses to apply sunscreen on us complete with pumping finger action, and telephones. One time after I had played guitar, she ran over to the Lego table and built a guitar which she started playing and singing to. She loves to sit at the Lego table. She's also got favorite books to read whenever she can. Currently, she is enjoying "I'm Mighty" which is a book about a tug boat and how it spends it's day.
That's all for now. Next month should be a little more tame except for school starting up.
Journal entry: September 3, 2005