BecAndKyle.com

Big week this week. I finished construction of my AT-ST walker:

Got a new Hess truck from Pop:

And, I also had my last bike class. Bummer. I’ll be back for more in the spring. Jack-o-lantern bike this week:

Very exciting pumpkin and ghost cookies arrived in the mail this week. Thank you, Nana!

Everyone got into the Halloween spirit this week, even my stuffies. Kermit was a skier:

Moose was an astronaut, Papa Dog was an engineer, Puppy an EMT, and Elephant was a firefighter:

The Bigs show their Halloween spirit by drinking pumpkin beer:

Prepping candy bags for the Halloween scavenger hunt:

No trick-or-treating this year, so Meera and Om came over for some Halloween fun. I was a Jedi:

Meera was a princess. Om was the Hulk, but he wasn’t in a picture-taking sort of mood.

We played Pin the Face on the Jack-o-Lantern,

did a candy scavenger hunt,

had burrito bowls and Halloween cupcakes,

and we watched It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Sunday, we enjoyed the beautiful weather with ride at Phil’s:

We ended our ride at the pump track:

Here’s a little video of me pumping the pumpkin:

Some food from the week. Delicious wraps:

Tofu Banh Mi:

Fall is here. Our maple turned this week:

It was my 5th out of 6 mountain bike classes this past Thursday. It was 47 degrees outside. Did that stop me? No way:

I’m not sad about the weather turning. TIME TO SKI. We picked up my skis on Friday. I wore them all weekend:

It was a pretty awesome week for mail. A coffin full of spooky truffles from GA Cheryl (After the incident with the sweets from GUM, I count all my chocolates before going to bed. I’m watching you BIGS):

and Sesame Street socks from Pop:

I continue to keep The Bigs well fed. Here I am making apple cake:

All work and no play makes Emmett a dull boy. Apple binoculars!

Pumpkin carving is complete:

We did a beautiful hike on Tumalo Creek trail Sunday:

I felt compelled to stop and do yoga along the way. Perhaps I was inspired by nature? Tree pose:

Rock pose:

Table pose:

Eagle pose:

Triangle pose:

Lotus pose:

Other food we had this week. Dr. Brad caught a huge tuna and shared. Pan-seared tuna and bok choy:

Lemon brussels sprout pasta:

I made the mistake of telling Mom I had nothing to do one too many times. One of the many tasks she gave me was to grind and make coffee for the Bigs:

I just started building a LEGO Star Wars AT-ST walker. It is going to be a LONG project:

Check out my new hat:

I can wear it with my Colorado T-shirt and be Colorado Man:

All dressed up for Saturday breakfast on the porch:

After breakfast, I threw my tool belt on and hung our ghosts:

I did a lot of cooking this week. One night, I made dinner all by myself. We had Emmett’s Pasta:

It was good (Grandmothers, I know. No hats at the dinner table)!

I also made Halloween (pumpkin) chili for the week:

Something I did not make, butternut squash risotto:

We went to the Metolius Preserve to explore some new trails this weekend. I rode my bike while the Bigs ran:

The larches were turning. It was very pretty:

Chinook salmon swim up this creek each year on their 700-mile-long journey to their nearby spawning grounds:

Do I have the Halloween spirit? Why, yes, I do. I eat dinner with this guy every day:

And, I made some skeletons (held together with address labels):

Working hard to overcome my fear of animals, I landed another cat-sitting gig. Here I am with my buddy, Dazzler:

Next thing you know, I’ll be petting dogs.

Saturday was a bit rainy, so we went to Smith Rock for a hike. Mom let me wear her old GPS watch:

We hiked the Misery Ridge loop. I was a hiking animal.

After our hike, we stopped at a pumpkin patch to pick a few pumpkins:

Working on my balance:

On Sunday, we rode Ticket to Ride:

Mom took a movie of me using some new skills I learned at my mountain bike class. Here is the video:

Speaking of movies, The Bigs borrowed the first season of The Muppet Show from the library. Those crazy muppets crack me up.

Some food from the week. Brazil net and arugula pesto pasta:

Pumpkin dessert bowls:

Butternut squash veggie lasagna:

Baked apples with coconut cream:

Winter is coming, and I will be ready:

Cog Kids, week 2:

We went up on the roof to watch a sunset this week. Our ladder is not quite long enough to make this a safe activity. A definite display of poor parental judgement by the Bigs, but we had fun, and no one got hurt.

I’m really not sure what to say about this, except that I look super cool, and you can see my new slippers:

On Saturday, we went to Waldo Lake. It is ridiculously clear. You can see to depths of 120 feet!

We packed lunch on our paddle boards, and found a sandy beach to stop and eat:

I constructed a road in the sand,

floated logs,

and played in the water. All while wearing my underwear:

Sunday morning started with carving my name in a pumpkin with neighbor Becky.

The pumpkin grew out of her compost. The idea was that it would continue to grow and my name would expand. The deer have been eating her pumpkins, so she decided to pick it and give it to me instead.

Next up was a mountain bike ride. Here I am with Mom at the Chicken, freshly painted for Halloween:

After biking, I decorated a t-shirt with fabric markers. This is a sunset over water:

In the Blossom Room, name tags tell us where to sit for lunch. Now we know where to sit at home, too:

Lo mein:

School is back in session. The Bigs are less than excited, but I am fired up! My remote teaching setup, complete with homemade webcam:

Hard at work developing tomorrow’s lecture:

I started my Cog Kids mountain bike class this week. I was NOT happy about it at first. By the end I was asking the Bigs why it was only six weeks long, and if I can do it again next year.

Weekly Rocket Man photo:

I love fall. It means I get to rake leaves,

eat pumpkin bread,

wear sweaters,

and go for hikes. Log walking on the Six Lakes Trail.

We only made it to two of the six lakes, but we had lots of fun. I was prepared for the 45 degree weather. The Bigs were not. Silly Bigs.

The trees were very mossy.

The moss makes a pretty cool tail.

The Bigs got takeout from Monkless to celebrate their 13th anniversary. I got my favorite – poutine (fries covered in gravy) topped with two runny eggs.

They got mussels. They can keep their mussels.

Smoke has cleared. Porch breakfasts are BACK!

Playdate with Hadley. 4+ costume changes. Army…

A firefighter and astronaut who help hurt animals…

Superheroes…

and chefs…

Our neighbor Becky gave me a gift certificate to Locavore for catsitting Dazzler. I spent the whole thing on wild foraged steak because I wanted to make jerky.

It turned out great. Jerky dance, jerky dance everyone look at your hands.

I spent two hours playing with a sheet the other day.

If it’s fun, it’s fun.

Grandparents and Uncle Chris, you can probably relate to this one. The Bigs take you out for some ‘fun’. We are on our way back to the car when they say ‘oh, let’s go this way, it’s not much longer.’ 8+ miles later we were back at the car. I’m 5. My wheels are 16 inches. I have NO GEARS. I toughed it out though – bribes of gelato got me through.

Gelato and jerky party!

Some other things we ate this week. Mango, avocado, black beans, and seitan burritos:

Pop’s pasta recipe (using our homegrown tomatoes):

Chocolate avocado pie with almond coconut crust. OH YES, you read that right. Avocado. And it’s delicious.

Oregon may be on fire, but don’t worry. I have everything under control.

Blowing the deck clean on one of our few smokeless days this week:

Unfortunately, the winds shifted, and we have been socked in with smoke for the past few days with no end in sight.

AQI = 448. Not good:

We’ve been stuck inside, so I’ve been weaving pot holders, doing jigsaw puzzles,

and using my jedi skills to defeat Darth Dad:

Meera turned five, so at least we got to leave the house to go to her (very small) birthday party (also inside):

Painting a pottery owl:

Some food from the week. Five-spice peach and raspberry salad:

Autumn apple, Brussels sprouts, and delicata squash salad:

The Tree was closed for a five-day weekend, so we went on a four-day, three-night backpacking trip in the Three Sisters Wilderness:

Here I am at the start of the trip, while I was still clean:

I took a lot of breaks and had a lot of snacks:

Our first night, we stayed at Teddy Lake:

I did a lot of log walking:

and swimming:

The morning was cool

and calm:

Morning coffee by the lake:

After breakfast, we were off to Snowshoe Lake.

We passed several lakes along the way, including Muskrat Lake:

When we got to Snowshoe Lake, it was time for more swimming:

The view from our campsite:

We headed back to Teddy Lake for our third night. I was in charge of route finding:

Somehow, we made it there anyway. We did lots more swimming and some world’s-strongest-man training:

Wombat made the trip with us as well:

He enjoyed swimming:

and eating our camp food:

Due to wombat’s voracious appetite (or was it mine?), we were running low on food for the trip out, so I resorted to eating peanut butter with a spoon:

We stopped at Cultus Lake for one last swim, where I did some excellent going under water:

Oh no, it’s not Obi Wan Kenobi, it’s me, Emmett, wearing my jedi robe and doing lightsaber training:

Check out the awesome Star Wars crown Ms. Heather made me:

I’m like a farmer. I grew cherry tomatoes,

carrots (longest one was ~2 inches – probably shouldn’t have picked them yet),

and blackberries.

I’ve been busy with some projects too. I’m making a potholder for Chef Matt at the Tree,

made some colorful, glittery slime,

rode my bike on the big bumps pump track at Phil’s,

and had my birthday party.

Meera and Om (her little brother) came over. We threw water balloons (primarily at the Bigs),

and made tie dye t-shirts.

We ate OK too. Orange, jicama, and avocado salad,

watermelon, green apple, and mint salad,

portobello mushroom and veggie burgers (Meera is a vegetarian),

and a rocket cake! Ask Mom about the $20 frosting she made :).