playing in eden

We got to spend some much needed time with long lost friends a few weekends ago. 

Do you want to know what happens when boring, married couples get together in a huge cabin with a sound asleep baby?

youtube videos.

banana chairs.

We had so much fun and are hoping for more weekend outings with these guys.

I've never been on a lake before with fall colors all around.  It was beautiful!

My Yazbeck.

This was my first time really meeting this sweet baby boy.  He was adorable.  Smiles for all.

The wrath of Kevin.  "Look! He looks like a gnome!"

don't endo.

So I got into a little accident mountain biking this week.  And I am only telling this story because it is a pretty funny one.  So here it goes:

I used to be called Downhill Mal.  I could go pretty fast.  

That was, until I crashed and all my confidence crashed with it.  

That was two years ago, so this season I was feeling pretty good. 

On our last ride, we started our downhill and I was feeling pretty confident.  

That was until I hit a rock.  I endo-ed and flew over my handle bars. 

It all happened so fast and I found myself skidding on my side and stomach and the bike somehow was flying and landing on me (a nice cushy landing for it, lucky bike).  Kevin luckily had stopped just down the trail and heard it happen.  He came running up and was expecting the worse.  I tried to hurry and stand up and tell him I was fine.  That wasn't a good idea.  I started to feel nauseous and that combined with the wind being knocked out of you, is not a fun one.  Kevin told me we should try and get off the trail so he got on my bike and told me to start walking down. 

This wasn't the greatest idea either.  I remember hearing myself muttering,

"Ugh, I can't really see, I kind of feel out of it Kevin...I don't feel good..." 

And then I hear "Lean back, lean back, lean back!"from Kevin.  But all I remember was being annoyed.

And then I blacked out.  

Kevin said he started to see my legs get all wobbly and rubber like as I tried to walk off and knew that wasn't good.  He quickly grabbed my backpack that I had on as I went limp.  My arms dangled in front of me as Kevin was holding me while trying to stay on my bike he had just gotten on. 

 He said I was out for a good five seconds.

Oh, to have seen that.

And then I came too and realized what had happened and started to laugh.

But in between those laughs I wanted to cry.  I do not deal well with pain, this is obvious.  

I had to lay down for a good twenty minutes before I felt ok to ride the rest of the trail down.

We both couldn't stop laughing as we rode down. 

My body can handle a little fear and adrenaline, but mix that with two road burns as well, forget about it!  I am knocking you out, it says!

Oh bless me when I have a child.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures my great husband took of me feeling and looking just fantastic.  

Ok, I actually told him to take some pictures.  I wanted some pictures of my sick road burns, but these are even better.  They make me laugh every time I see them.

And now I am off to buy some knee pads and elbow pads.  I am going to look real cool when I bike now.

   

powell

We got to go on a quick trip to Powell with the Browers last weekend.

Us girls read and relaxed.

The boys spear fished and free dived (8 bass total!).

That pretty much sums up the entire trip.

Ellie loved to search for lizards.  And squirrels.  She has an obsession with squirrels. 

Ellie loved to throw rocks in the water. 

 And now onto the many faces of Patrick Brower:

Kevin skiing good.

Mt. Hood, continued...

Five days of camping is a long time with no real shower. By day four, I had had enough of the stank and told the boys to go to the lake to wash their stank off. We decided on the beautiful Trillium Lake, which surprisingly, was not cold! You would think, being below a glacier, it would be freezing. We later found out that it was only 10 feet deep in the middle so we figured that to be the reason for the unusual warmth.

Kevin recently decided he needed a new hobby (sigh) and became a certified free diver. He can now successfully hold his breath for 3 min, and dive down 65 feet with just fins, goggles and a snorkel.  He wanted to try out all his new, necessary he says, free diving gear at Trillium.  To his disappointment, it was only 10 feet deep in the deepest section.  And there were no sunken ships or treasures.

Ok and his whole outfit?  Lets just say he is making my childhood nightmare into reality.  Not cool Kevin, not cool.  I don't like you as Scuba Steve.

If you are unaware of my childhood nightmare of Scuba Steve, here is the story:  When I was little I would have a continuous dream of a man dressed in an all black wet suit (with a hood, just like Kevins), black fins, black goggles, and a black snorkel.  This crazy man would walk to the doorway of my room, covered in seaweed and all wet, breathing like Darth Vader.  He would then just sit there and stare at me.  OHhh it was a great nightmare...    

Scuba Steve.

The next day we decided to try out the local Alpine Slide.  As you can tell, the boys were excited.  You never want to get stuck behind a slowie on this slide, so you have to plan your position well.  Well since I was too busy taking pictures, I got stuck behind a little fat kid.  Not good.  I waited for him for as long as the workers would let me up top.  This did nothing.  I quickly met up with him and, no kidding, yelled "FASTER, FASTER, FASTER!!"  This didn't work.  So my ride sucked.

The popular tourist destination Timberline Lodge.  This was a part of FDR's New Deal, so it was built by the government.  

Mt. Hood, part 3

Day three I thought a good long hike was in order. We all decided on a hike to Umbrella falls. It was definitely a good hike. It was probably five miles up and back. The boys were dying the entire time.  I was making them hike at a pretty brisk pace and they weren't too happy about it. They decided that even though online it said it was 'Easy', they decided it was 'Mal-Easy.' I guess it's a new definition which really means 'Difficult.'

The falls were definitely worth it.  It was a gorgeous water fall.  And you couldn't beat the weather.  It was 70 degrees, sunny and blue skies.  Combine that with walking through the Mt. Hood National Forest with my man and you can't find a happier Mal.

This is the view I get every time I go to pick the boys up from their morning of skiing.  Gangsta'.

"We need a rest Mal.  And snacks."

"Kev, take a picture of me with the falls."  And this is what I have to work with.  Goober.

"We need a kissy shot!"

Watching the falls.

Mt. Hood, part 1

Kevin really wanted to go to Mt. Hood this summer to ski. I'm always up for an adventure so I told him lets do it! We invited Kevin's two younger brothers and Kevin's employee Peter. It was a total Dude trip, but I promised I wouldn't cramp their style and I'd also make them dinner every night.
They happily obliged.
This was how the schedule went every day: Boys would wake up at 8. They would eat cereal, come wake me up and then I would drive them up the canyon. I would drop them off and head back home. I would then go on a trail run up to Mirror Lake, or run around the campground. I would then wipe down with some baby wipes (the joy of camping) and get ready for the day. I would then read outside in the sun, get tired, and usually take a nap before the boys called me again around 2 to come pick them up. We would then eat lunch and then do whatever activity we wanted for the rest of the day. It was bliss for me, and bliss for the boys. We were a good team.
It went so well we decided this will be an annual tradition.
Who wants to come next year?

Right when we drove into Hood River, OR, we had to pull off and watch the kite boarders  for a while.   We were so excited to be in Oregon, it was beautiful.

Our little campsite.  My in-laws let us borrow this for the trip.  It was heaven!  It had a king sized bed, a queen sized bed, and then two other beds.  It also had plenty of storage, a sink and a stove.  It made camping 5 days easy-peasy.  

Our first view of Mt. Hood.

The boys would hang all their ski clothes out to dry every afternoon.

Our campsite was right by this beautiful creek.  The sound of it put us to sleep every night.

Since this creek was run-off from the glacier, it was freezing.  So it was a perfect cooler for our drinks, orange juice and milk.

The shower.  I did take a shower in this bad boy once.  It was cold!  But it felt so good and I even shaved my legs.    This was camping in style my friends.

camping in the uintas

We try not to pay to go camping, so we usually drive up into the mountains until we find a good spot.  We found a great little meadow up in the Uintas this weekend.  The whole mountain felt like it was ours.

We brought up good food, a good book, and some good company. 

Even though it got chilly that night, we still had a great time.

I love tin foil dinners.   This time I did sweet sausage, cabbage, onions, carrots, potatoes, broccoli, sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil.  Mmm mmm good.
I also have an obsession with s'mores when I camp.  I can eat a lot.  But this time every one was making fun of me so I only ate two.  And... maybe five extra marshmallows.  One time camping in Bryce, I was known to have eaten s'mores for every meal.  It happens.

I even wore my camping shirt. 

The Machete.

Oh yeah, these guys came!  They almost got away with no pictures.
They love their new car.  We made sure we went off road so they could test it out.