Month: September 2025

I did my first cyclocross race this week. It was awesome. I’ll be racing again this week.

Dad raced too:

Highlight of the week for us all: I finally finished my Viking ship (it only took a year and some pressure from The Bigs):

I ordered a front axle steering assembly for the go kart I am designing, and I made an early prototype:

I put together the magnetic puzzle from Great Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Jim:

I’ve been mastering my barista skills on The Bigs’ new espresso machine:

This weekend, we rode the Crater Rim trail around the volcanic crater in Newberry Volcanic National Monument. There are two lakes in the crater. This is Paulina Lake:

And this is East Lake:

After biking, I made some beer bread:

while Dad made plum, habanero salsa:

The Bigs have finally decided they need to learn how to can.

Another new recipe for the week, tamates a al provencale:

Things have been quiet lately. School cramps our style. Uncle Chris sent us out for dinner to celebrate The Bigs 18th wedding anniversary. Of course we went to the Yacht Club.

I’ve had two soccer games. We are not good.

I made dinner. Pan-seared shrimp garlic-lemon butter.

The Bigs made roasted eggplant with curried yogurt

and pea, za’atar, and feta fritters. Thankfully, I was at Jameson’s house for dinner.

I was at home the night they made a tomato and bread salad with anchovies and capers. Yum!

Dad made pizzas, I definitely approved of this meal.

I set one goal for summer. Climb South Sister. This is a 12 mile hike with 4700 feet of elevation gain. We got started around 7:30 am and were cruising.

As we started to all the last part of the climb, we noticed some cool clouds moving by the top of the mountain very fast. Hmmm…must be windy up there we thought.

As we climbed, the sun disappeared and we were immersed in clouds.

Then it started to pour and The Mother stopped taking pictures. It got really windy, it was pouring, and eventually we got worried we might not be able to see the trail and/or get hypothermia. So…800 feet from the summit we turned around and hiked down as fast as we could in the pouring rain.

In other news, our plums are ready. The Mother and I picked soooo many plums.

We pickled plums.

We made plum compote.

We dried plums.

I made a sweet pastry crust. Normally I put flour everywhere and measure my dough with a tape measure but Great Auntie Cheryl sent us this awesome rolling mat. So much easier!

I used the crust to make a plum tart.

The day after we got back from Westport, Great Auntie Cheryl and Uncle Jim arrived!

I planned out a ‘pick our own adventure’ itinerary for them.

They visited Shevlin Park and

saw me off on my first day of school.

We played The Game of Life

and had a picnic dinner at Smith Rock.

Mom took them to the High Desert Museum

where Jim was definitely a Golden Eagle and so was Cheryl.

Cheryl and Jim took us to Ariana for a delicious dinner.

All the dishes were super yummy and beautiful. For example, Dad had the lamb neck. The menu description: Anderson ranch lamb, cumin, carrot-harissa purée, labneh.

I was particularly tickled to be served my kombucha in a wine glass.

Their visit was too short and there was only a little bit of time at the end to visit Tumalo Falls.

I was sad to see them go, but I had plenty to keep me busy. I needed to test my new waders out fishing in the Crooked River. The waders worked, but I didn’t catch anything :(.

I didn’t get a chance to make a bar for Uncle Jim and Aunt Cheryl, so I made one for The Bigs. They were particularly impressed with my appetizer plate. I used celery tops for garnish!

The next day, we were back at Smith Rock for some climbing (and to use my new helmet!)

It was another great week.

Labor Day weekend we weren’t quite ready to give up traveling, so we headed out for some surfing. The water in Westport, Washington is a teensy bit warmer than the water in Oregon (despite being north of us…currents?), so we hit the road again.

There are sand dollars everywhere in Westport.

Also, jellyfish. I’ve been stung by one before, so I was a little annoyed to have them all around me everyday!

But they didn’t keep me out of the water.

I even did some body surfing.

It was NOT warm.

One day after lots of time in the water, I had clam chowder poutine for lunch. What? Normally poutine is fries, gravy, and cheese curds. This was fries, clam chowder, and shredded cheddar. Not as good, but cool nonetheless.

For my birthday, The Bigs gave me a rafting trip with Jameson! We started out with dinner at the Yacht Club. Pizza!

The next morning, we packed up the boat and started on our way.

We stopped along the way for some fishing.

I caught the first fish.

It NEVER rains in Bend in the summer. This trip was cloudy, cool, and sometimes it rained. We didn’t mind.

Along the way, we saw horses. Wild, perhaps?

A lot of the time, we rode behind the boat in tubes.

Our goal was to hit as much white water as possible.

After our first day, we set up camp.

Sometimes, we actually sat down and read!

Dad made lots of yummy food, including…french toast and bacon!

Jameson’s mom sent these little animals to put together. We constructed them at the campsite and they became our mascots.

Despite the weather, it was an awesome trip!