BecAndKyle.com

There may be a few more days of school left, but for me, summer is here. I hit the pool with Jameson…

and made The Bigs take me backpacking. Dad planned a trip and we got all set to go, but then we found out storms were predicted for where we planned on camping. We pivoted and found a route that was warmer and dryer. It also had a bit more climbing than our original destination. More on that in a bit.

The ride was called Lush, and lush it was. There were wildflowers everywhere.

Check out this flower on the ponderosa tree. Looks like a starfish, doesn’t it?

I kept climbing and climbing and never complained.

I ended up climbing 2261 feet in one day. A record.

With spring flowers come skeeters. Here I am trying to protect my head while I read a book.

In the morning, it was cool and raining. I was unbothered. I got another bag for my bike, so I can carry all my own stuff. Now I only depend on The Bigs for food. Soon I’ll be able to get rid of them altogether.

If it is in the middle of Oregon, on the side of a mountain, is it still called a beach rose?

The rain made it a bit muddy. Can you even see Dad’s tire tread in this picture?

There was a bit more climbing, but I finished up strong, and before lunchtime!

We ate all kinds of new dishes this week. The Bigs made pistachio, pea, and mint soba noodles from East (Auntie Cheryl, if you haven’t tried it, you should. Yum!)…

and black bean burgers with a sweet potato salad.

The Bigs told me that I had milked the broken leg excuse for long enough and it was time for me to start making dinner again. I made tacos with pulled pork, coleslaw, and guacamole…

topped with some queso fresco and pickled red onions (Nan, you better start pickling for my visit!)…

and edamame and corn salad.

The Bigs made Green Envy bowls (rice, miso greens, edamame, avocado, rice, and fried egg) and

pulled pork bowls.

I’ve been reading a lot of Viking books lately. Here I am dressed as Svengal, Skirl of the Wolfwind:

We headed to the coast for Memorial Day weekend, and stayed at a condo at Nye Beach in Newport. Here I am navigating with my compass. Yes, the ocean is to the west.

The condo had three recliners!

We did a lot of beach walking:

And, since it is the end of week 10, I was cleared to surf!

Sea lions resting on a dock in the harbor on their way back to California for the summer:

Yaquina Head Lighthouse:

We went to OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center to check out their new tsunami-proof building, and rooftop tsunami evacuation site.

Not entirely sure how to interpret this sign:

The ramp to the roof:

The ramp had markers for different size tsunamis:

We headed up the coast to Siletz Bay for dinner at Pelican Brewing.

Calamari! (The Bigs would have been more than happy to make dinner at the condo, but they decided that my reading and bringing every menu (in the guest book at the condo) that had fried calamari to their attention was a not so subtle hint I wanted to eat out – somewhere with CALAMARI).

I had the bratwurst plate – locally made bratwurst poached in Sea N’ Red Ale and lightly
seared, served with house made bacon sauerkraut, smashed potatoes, and Dijon
mustard (I was in heaven).

Mom had the portobello banh mi: marinated portobello mushrooms piled high on a fresh
baked Telera roll with sriracha aioli, house made pickled vegetables, and cilantro

and Dad had the ahi poke bowl – fresh ahi tuna tossed in ginger lime sauce, house made pickled vegetables, sriracha aioli, pickled ginger, cilantro, sesame seeds, served atop a bed of sushi rice with unagi sauce.

I was exhausted! Here’s something I haven’t done in a long time:

Got a new hat:

Most recent x-rays are looking good:

So good, in fact, I thought it might be time for a ski. (It is June 1st, after all.)

Bachelor closed last weekend, but they still have plenty of snow.

I had to wear my nordic pants, because, as it turns out, the last time I went skiing someone cut my ski pants off!

We made it all the way to the top:

I was a little nervous to ski again, but I got over that pretty quickly. I’ve still got it. Perfect corn, just below the summit:

Here we are having a post ski, cliq chair picnic.

Sunday, we went for a mtn. bike ride, then did some gardening. We got all of our planters planted. Our front porch planters already looked great.

But after much gnashing of teeth, we pulled out the beautiful pansies and replaced them with our summer plants. There is no way the pansies would have made it through the heat wave predicted for the end of this week…

I planted two pots of my own:

And, finally, we finished off our day with a game of Clue (Turns out it was Ms. Scarlet in the study with a rope.):

Some food from this week. Savory pretzel granola:

Sweet Potato Chickpea Cakes:

Turkey Trot Meatballs:

Baked Fish with Green Beans and Tomatoes:

Burger Salad Bowl with Bonk Burgers:

Whole Wheat Cheddar Scones:

Well, this is it. The last week until I am back to normal. Someone should tell my PT I’m not there yet. She had me dragging a box loaded with weights across the room last week.

It was a pretty quiet week. The one highlight was the annual Pole Pedal Paddle (alpine ski run, cross country ski, 22 mile bike, 5.2 mile run, river paddle (most people use a kayak, Dad insists on increasing the challenge by using a paddleboard), and a short sprint. Here we are at the start.

I’ve been part of the support team since 2016.

This year, I took pictures. Next year, I think we will do it as a team.

Here is Dad cruising to his first place (age group) finish.

Dad and I went on an 11 mile (tame, don’t worry grandmothers :)) mountain bike while The Mother went for a massage (she really treats herself well, doesn’t she?).

Spring is here. Things are starting to look nice.

The Mother got a new cookbook from the library. She has made us eat beet smoothies, cooked thai quinoa bowls with crispy tempeh for lunches,

and made chocolate date energy bars, all this Sunday! Might be a rough week :).

I made some bread this week.

I also went on a mountain bike ride.

There was a variety of terrain and views.

And the ride passed by the lava lands too.

After our bike ride, The Mother went to a floral arrangement class and made Dad and me go grocery shopping. Lame.

Lame, until…I found $100 in the Whole Foods parking lot!

On the Day of the Mother, Dad made her the beet latkes she demanded.

Then The Mother went skiing while Dad and I enjoyed the 80 degree day on the river.

For dinner I took The Mother to the Midtown Yacht Club (wink, wink Pop). I had the Oaxacan burger,

Dad had the wet burrito,

and Mom had the Cuban.

Because it is the Day of the Mother, she made me pose for many pictures.

Other things we ate this week. My charcuterie lunch.

Chickpea cakes with zucchini ribbon salad and tahini yogurt mint sauce.

Look at this femur. Almost as good as new!

After a minor set back last week – I was ok’d to get off my crutches but my heel, which had not been used in 6 weeks, rebelled and hurt every time I took a step, so I had to keep stay on the crutches all week – I’m feeling good! So good, that I went rock climbing…

And mountain biking…ok, not ‘mountain’ biking, more like riding around the neighborhood, but biking nonetheless.

When I am not out testing my newly returned mobility, I am listening to podcasts, reading ‘The Wind in the Willows’, or building crazy marble runs.

This week we went to Dear Mom Cafe (thank you GUM for the gift certificate). I had a mocktail. I LOVE mocktails. I had the Westside Sparrow – hibiscus syrup, lemon juice, yuzu extract, and sparkling water.

For an appetizer, we had roti with curry.

For dinner, I had the noodle soup – rice noodle soup in bone broth, house roasted pork, ground pork, pork crackling, green bean, crispy wonton, garlic chili oil, cilantro, and peanuts.

Mom had the panang – sauteed shrimp with thai panang curry with crispy basil, a sunny side egg, and jasmine rice.

Dad had Pad Thai Glass Noodles – classic wok stir-fried glass noodles, shrimp, egg, bean sprout, green bean and toppings.

Spring is coming. The trees are flowering and the phlox are showing their colors.

Dad’s back in the bread business. Yum.

(Remainder of the blog written by me, Emmett.)

It’s 60$ but that’s okay i’ve played with it every day since I got on thursday – My new GRAVI TRAX (giant set). It’s a marble run building set.

Finally got started on my viking decor aka a shield

I had to stain it with two coats of stain. When it comes to stuff like this I have no patience

final product

Crutches are almost gone. Here I am standing without them:

Enough lounging on the couch for me. This week I did some swimming

and rode my bike on the trainer.

I also did some archery and a little hiking by the river.

I also planted some seeds to put in my greenhouse.

Given my recent time in the arcade – my sweatshirt from Uncle Chris has new meaning.

I am also going through a Nordic phase. I love all things viking as you can see from the flag I designed for my ‘throne’.

This week Mom’s friend Brook gave us some venison. Boy oh boy was it good.

Last weekend of skiing at Meissner. There is still a lot of snow in some spots,

but not so much in others:

I had three days off from school this week for conferences, so Papa came for a visit. Can you believe he had never been to the High Desert Museum? He has now. They had a Sasquatch exhibit:

And we went to a Mammal Encounter show to see a porcupine. He is a rodent, which, as we all know, means he has ever-growing teeth.

My wingspan is about the same. I’m still a turkey vulture,

but my crutches get me closer to condor range:

Mom saw the tortoises’ lunch and decided her spirit animal must be the desert tortoise.

We went out to dinner at Jia. I had chicken pho:

Dad had the Saigon bowl:

Mom had the spicy eggplant:

and Papa had the tuna poke bowl:

On Sunday, Dad made us buckwheat galettes with Swiss cheese, prosciutto, and an egg for lunch:

Papa made a loaf of golden flax bread. It was delicious:

Sunday afternoon we visited Peterson Rock Garden:

They have a lot of peacocks:

I brought a camera with me and made everyone pose like they always do to me.

Papa’s stay is coming to an end, so I threw him one of my famous going away parties, complete with a bar:

It was a quiet week. I am saving my energy for Papa.

I did go to the Playful Paws Cat Cafe and pet a lot of cats one day.

I kicked it on the couch.

I also learned how to fly Papa’s drone.

Dad and I even figured out how to take pictures with it…like this one.

I have also been busy building. I built another boat out of popsicle sticks and hot glue. I call it The Sparrow.

The sails go up and down.

And, there is a removable jib

that can also go up and down.

I also built a popsicle stick airplane. I can do anything with a glue gun.

I also made some improvements to my 3-D-printed sailboat:

My leg may be out of commission, but that doesn’t mean I can’t keep my upper body in shape:

The days are long when you can’t ski or bike or do much besides sit on the couch. I made some pot holders.

Including one for Coach Elsa. We were Team France…

Jameson and Quinn came over this week. That made for a nice break from The Bigs. Here Jameson and I are having lunch break. It was good to refuel before returning to destroying things in The Bigs’ garden with RC cars.

I also went with The Bigs to Dilly Dally Coffee Shop…

and convinced The Mother that another trip to Humm Kombucha was in order.

I also did a puzzle.

And The Bigs took me to Vector Volcano to play video games.

When we were leaving Vector ,The Bigs noticed there was no line at L&K Barbershop. I was not pleased.

The barber had some fun with my hair at the end…I was definitely not pleased.

They had an Easter wheel at the barbershop. You spun it and got a prize. Do you know what my prize was? A gift certificate for Vector Volcano. Awesome!

Now that it is done, I think the haircut looks pretty good, wouldn’t you agree?

I also made a boat from popsicle sticks, glue, and an old sheet.

The Mother then taught me how to use Fusion 360 and helped me design and 3D print a sailboat hull.

I also did some building building and read at 434 page novel.

AND made The Mother play Monopoly again. When I am all healed up, she is burning this game.

We also dyed Easter eggs this week. Rather than buying dye, we decided to use onion skins. A couple of how-tos on the internet said to use cilantro leaves and strawberry stems to create designs on the eggs.

It worked! Unfortunately the dye made brown eggs, which is kinda funny since we had a fridge full of brown eggs and went out of our way to buy white eggs just to dye them. That’s OK, they do look pretty cool.

I also did a crutch Easter egg hunt.

The Bigs bought me an Easter present before I broke my leg. It requires mobility. They felt a little bad about that and bought me a different gift. Then they said ‘oh heck, give him both’…but only if he solves these related puzzles.

In about one minute, I determined the answers were muscles and tennis and got my Sportcord and tennis racket.

This week they made me eat things I did not like. Did they forget they are supposed to feel bad for me and let me eat my favorites?

Roasted carrots with tahini sauce

and Cambodian omelet (egg, ground pork, and shiitake mushrooms) with radish and cucumber pickles.

The Mother made The World’s Greatest Grilled Cheese in the air fryer too…

And for Easter we made butterflied leg of lamb on the grill with brussels and asparagus.