Sam and his stripey playdate, Sten

So the girls (Carson and Siri) are upstairs playing dolls and house and the boys are downstairs playing with cars......As soon as this picture was taken, they decided that the cars are boring and they were going up to play with the girls..

Gabby's Photo Shoot by Carson.

It's like the Tyra Show....for our cat. Carson took these of Gabby. It's hard to photograph a cat.

Sam's Thank You Card to Mable

I thought this was really cute. It was Sam's first real thank you card that he did all on his own and he REALLY wanted to sign it Sam Dody. Not just Sam, but Sam Dody. This morning he wanted us to call him Jack, but he is now going by Sam Dody.

WAITING

Carson waiting for her friends mom to pick her up for a playdate......Remember that feeling?

Mom's on the mend. The Hamsters are running wild.

The Dody kids have it all. If there is an "it" toy to be had for the season, then our kids have it. Grandma Judy showed up with the Zhu Zhu pet hamsters and I had the funhouse and ball ready. Hours of entertainment was had for the first two days and now......not so much. I have to admit that these little fuzzy annoying hamsters are pretty cute with their noises and giggles.

The day before the surgery we went back to Mt. St. Helens

I was glad to find something to do to keep my mind from wandering. Wanted mom to get a good look at the mountain. we went back to the lava caves and did the above ground 1.5 mile hike to the end of the tubes. Awesome beauty. Sam kept up with no problem.

The Gabby Dance

La Buca- Photos by Carson

1st day in the Zip Car.

Started off in the yucky rain and ended up with a gorgeous sunny day at Ecola State Park. The kids saw their first Wooley Bears and Sam even got poo'd on by his.

Lava Canyon

After the Lava Tube Caves, we drove another 10 miles closer to the Mt. and went on a great hike through Lava Canyon. After the last blast of Mt. St. Helens, much of this canyon was uncovered and now you can see lava from millions of years ago. Pretty cool place, although scary. There was a suspension bridge that goes over the canyon and with rushing water below. Once again, Carson and Sharon went right over it. I only made it half way, took some pictures, then came back. Really scary. Sam wasn't up for it and truthfully, I probably couldn't have watched him walk over it.

Mt. St. Helens and the Ape Caves

The lava caves at Mt. St. Helens are among the longest lava caves in the world. Carson and Sharon went down the lower caves and then back. They were in for about an hour. It is 42 degrees all year round. Carson had her headlamp that gma judy got her a few years ago and they had a big flashlight. Sam was too scared so i gladly went on a hike with him ABOVE ground.

Mushrooms At Mt. St. Helens

I will not bore you with all my mushroom photos. We took a trip to Mt. St. Helens and while Sharon and Carson went through the spooky underground lava tube caves, Sam and I went for a hike and found the most amazing mushrooms. Here are some cool ones. Now, I must have a field guide to mushrooms in the PNW.

"Nobody will recognize me"

Sam's swimming lesson- take 2

Sam started swimming lessons on Tuesday. He stood by the pool and refused to get in for 25 minutes and then finally joined his Goldfish beginners group only to have the whistle blow 5 minutes later. He was ready yesterday. He jumped right in and had more fun than anyone else.

Spiced applesauce

I did it! I made my own applesauce from apples we picked! what the hell has happened to me?

Hood River and Beacon Rock

It was a gorgeous fall Oregon day and we drove to Hood River in the Gorge. We went to an organic apple orchard to pick apples with Sam's preschool. We ended up with 20 pounds of cool, crisp, red, Gala apples. I hope to make some apple sauce just like Grandma Eloise used to make. We ran into a friend of mine from work and her 2 year old and new baby and Sam's friend Manu was there.
On the drive home we decided to drive back on the Washington side of the Columbia River through the Gorge. We stopped at a state park called Beacon Rock and started on a hike. Little did we know that in an hour we would be standing on top of the world. About a million switch-backs and 850 feet of climbing put us WAY above the Columbia and the tree line. The trail itself was kind of scary, but the view was amazing.