Month: September 2022

I am determined to hike South Sister – an 11.5 mile round trip hike with 4900 feet of climbing. The Bigs took me on a training hike. We climbed Mt. Bachelor. Eight miles round trip and 2700 feet of climbing. I did it no problem.

Nan, does this count as a heart stone?

I’m also pretty into tennis these days. I even bought myself a sweatband so I could look like the guys at the US Open.

Dad made New Roots’ “Life Changing Loaf of Bread” this week. Didn’t work – life around here is the same.

I was inspired and made up a bread recipe. It had oats, bananas, walnuts, currents, and cinnamon. It was pretty good!

I had my yearly check up with Dr. Mills. She always asks me if I eat the rainbow, so I took a picture of my dinner to bring to my appointment. Rainbow? Check.

And then, I made this pizza for lunch one day. I used a tortilla, put some cheese, shredded pork, and red onion. Delicious!

I’m still sick. I even stayed home from school one day. It was GREAT. The Bigs let me lounge on the couch and watch movies. Here I am enjoying “Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs”.

This week was The Bigs’ wedding anniversary. They didn’t seem to think it was a big deal, but I did. I started the morning with a card and dinner plans.

We went for a bike ride after school/work and then headed to the Yacht (or yot, as I like to spell it) Club for dinner.

And then I insisted on taking an anniversary portrait. I believe many of you readers have experienced my portrait taking, so you can feel for the Bigs. I decided the best place to take the shot would be in the garage…because I had made a huge Happy Anniversary sign and hung it from my trapeze, of course. I added the stool and framed picture to nicen things up.

This weekend we rode one of the greatest trails in Bend, Mrazek. Only one person fell. She’s not in this picture.

In other news, I have started work on the Colosseum. They figure it took between 7 and 8 years to build the real one, The Bigs reckon it may take as long to build the Lego one.

I’ve also been very busy in the kitchen. Just this morning, I seared pork,

seasoned it, wrapped it in banana leaves, and put it in the crockpot to cook.

I also made salads for all of us for lunch. Like all great cooks, I have someone to clean up after I am finished…

I wrapped up the weekend at Meera’s birthday pool party. They rented a private pool in someone’s backyard for a couple of hours. It was 55 degrees and cloudy, but the pool was 94 degrees and they had a hot tub. It was awesome!

This week we went for a paddleboard at Suttle Lake.

And finished up with a swim.

I also took a tennis lesson. It was so fun!

We hit the courts later in the week so I could practice. I like serving.

It was also my first week of first grade.

School made me tired and I caught a cold, but that didn’t keep me from hitting the pool with Hadley this weekend.

This week, we went backpacking. We started at Odell Lake

and headed along the Trapper Creek Trail for about 6 miles.

We camped at Diamond View Lake.

The next day we took Crater Butte Trail

and about mile 6, we realized that we were out of water and there would be no water on our route for several more miles. So, we took a detour. Encouraged by the name of the trail. How can you go wrong when you are headed to MARIE Lake?

We took a dip and filled our waters and then hiked another 3 miles before setting up camp just off the Pacific Crest Trail.

The following day we made our way around Diamond Peak.

And then headed to Yoran Lake.

Before getting to Yoran, we stopped for a dip in Lils Lake.

Dad and I swam out to a small island.

After our swim, we hiked a bit more and then set up camp at Yoran Lake.

Mom made us take many family pictures.

Back at home, I made a new recipe – fruit pizza.

I did not like it. Come to find out, I don’t care for pineapple and the cream cheese ‘sauce’ and glaze both were sweetened with pineapple juice.

We also had soba noodle salad with smoked salmon.

I am reading Chronicles of Narnia, Book 5, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, so I am pretty obsessed with sailboats at the moment. Here I am making a sail.