BecAndKyle.com

As you all know, I was out of school for a week for spring break. So, it probably seems reasonable to you that after one week and two days back that we were out of school for three days for parent teacher conferences. Don’t you worry though. I didn’t hang around the house bored while The Bigs worked. I hung out with Papa!

I taught him the real rules of blackjack.

We spent one day in Bend, did a little bowling, went to Monkless for poutine, and then we hit the road. We went to Silver Falls State Park. Where we hiked to 10 different waterfalls.

Depending on the time of day and who is relating the story, the hike was somewhere between 7.2 and 8.4 miles long. Afterwards, we stayed in this cabin.

The next day we had breakfast at a restaurant that is owned by the parents of one of The Bigs favorite students.

Then we hit the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. Home to the Spruce Goose. Here I am in the cockpit.

We had fun.

I threw Papa a morning going away party. You can’t see it, but on the green sheet of paper, I wrote out a whole menu and was willing to make whatever he wanted. I got off easy with an order for black coffee and a peanut butter english muffin. I threw the clementine in to fancy up the plate.

Spring wants to come to Bend. Our first daffodil came out, but there’s snow in this week’s forecast…I have a ski race next weekend, so fine by me.

One food pic for the week: miso sesame steel-cut oats with smoked salmon, toasted pine nuts, and soft-cooked egg.

This week I did some soccer,

tennis, and skiing.

As you all know, it was Easter. I wonder, based on my ‘Easter Basket’ if The Bigs did. Practicality sure does rule here.

Some things we ate this week…

Savory steel cut oats with dried porcini mushrooms, toasted walnuts, avocado, and soft-cooked egg for breakfast (OK, I didn’t eat it, but The Bigs did)

and spring vegetable bun cha.

Pop and I did some skiing. One day it was COLD.

Another day there was so much powder it was hard to ski.

And one day, it was just right, with sunny skies and soft snow.

We also went out for dinner at the Lady Bird Cultural Society.

We had: puget sound oysters with preserved lemon mignonette and calabrian chile,

wood roasted carrots with whipped mascarpone, zaatar, pine nuts and aged balsamic,

wood fired beets with treviso, gorgonzola, walnuts, grapefruit oil, and aged balsamic,

wood fired pizza with white clam sauce, applewood bacon, pecorino, and oregano,

bucatini con burrata e cavolo,

and I had the birds nest – wood fired bread twist, burrata, garlic oil, and aged pecorino.

When we got home, I made myself a fruit salad for dessert.

We had some pretty good food at home, too. One night we had yummy fish tacos. I loved them.

When we were not skiing – we stayed busy. Sometimes in matching shirts.

While we were playing tennis,

and determining how much my wingspan had increased since November 2018,

The Bigs snuck off to enjoy yet another 18+ inch powder day.

We also hit our favorite donut shops and restaurants, went rock climbing,

did some baking (we made chocolate, peanut, raisin clusters)

and even went for a haircut.

I was sad to see Pop go, but that didn’t stop me from throwing him one of my now famous going away parties. The more observant will see I busted out my best box wine.

On Sunday, we headed up for yet ANOTHER major powder day. The drive up to the mountain looked like this:

Another 15″ of snow. It was up to our knees.

I started getting the hang of things and basically became pow man.

Falling is no problem in this much snow!

All that fun and snow and a bit of tummy trouble –

wiped me out.

Hey. Like my ‘stache? Freddie Mercury?

Someone put a sticker on the lift that said ‘le tits now’. Get it? Mother Nature did, because she ‘let it snow’. We got 35 inches of snow in the last 72 hours. It was awesome.

On Sunday, I had MBSEF spring camp and then I made Dad climb to the top of the mountain and ski the bowl and the backside. Skiing from the very top of the mountain was on my list of goals for the year.

And, here I am writing this blog with POP.

This week:

I knit a hat. It was small, Cordy size.

The Bigs forgot it was St Patrick’s Day and tried to pretend they didn’t by making me green oats. Lame, Bigs, lame.

I started soccer. It was warm and sunny for practice during the week.

But it was cold (44 F) and rainy for our game.

It was the last week of MBSEF. We took a team picture.

I skied a kombi race.

Then I hit the slopes with The Bigs.

After skiing I had a hanker for savory muffins. I found a recipe online from cheesy savory muffins and made it.

On Sunday, we had spring camp for cross country skiing. We had quite an obstacle course we had to ski around!

After skiing I snacked on my savory muffins. They turned out really well, so I think it is A-OK that I made a bigger mess than the Swedish Chef making them.

After a hard swim lesson, I like to hit the hot tub.

This week we had a DSM skate night. My friends were there. They wanted to skate with me, but I made Dad skate instead.

Mt Bachelor received 30 inches of snow in the past 72 hours. I had GS training on Saturday, and The Bigs had powder run after powder run. I think I heard them say ‘in some spots the snow was too deep’. Silly Bigs, there is no such thing.

Mom’s legs must have been tired. I can tell by all the nature pictures. She pretends she’s trying to document the beauty, but I know she’s taking a break.

Sunday was the day I’ve been waiting for! BIATHLON! From Wikipedia: The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. First round:

Second round, a little more comfortable:

Third round, preparing for the 2034 Olympics…

Last Sunday, I concocted a biscuit recipe and also made some creme patissiere. I combined the two into what I referred to as a ‘cream puff’.

I ate a few bites and then decided that, like whipped cream, I also don’t like creme patissiere.

The Bigs have decided that something I do like to eat, based on my face when I get home from school, is dirt.

A crew of DSM students have been building tunnels during recess and aftercare. Tunneling out? On this particular day, I brought most of our excavation home in my boots – see the huge pile of dirt next to my boot?

I am also big into the Greek Gods right now. Here I am creating a poster that describes Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.

It has been snowing a lot and conditions are great.

This week was the Mini World Cup slalom race.

Here I am ripping it up.

Ha.

Afterwards The Bigs and I did a few runs.

It was sunny.

Until it wasn’t.

On my Monday off I went to lunch with Mom. I ate the all but one slice of the pizza you see i front of me and two meatballs. Can you say growth spurt?

I also made Victoria Sponge from Paul Hollywood’s cookbook.

It turned out pretty well. Unfortunately, I decided I don’t like whipped cream, so not too much got eaten.

Mom needed some help getting ready for lab class, so I did some wiring and programming for her.

On Saturday we had one of another bluebird day.

It snowed all week, but they weren’t able to open the Summit Chair due to weather. Looking at the back of the lift house, you can see why…

Because they couldn’t open the lift all week, when they did open it on Saturday, that meant there was fresh powder to be skied. The Bigs dropped me off at MBSEF and took off to see if they could enjoy some before it got all skied off.

After MBSEF we skied a run together so I could show Dad my moves.

While we had an amazing, sunny Saturday, Old Man Winter is not done with us yet. Here we are on Sunday.

After skiing The Bigs had some work to do, so Mom asked me to find something to do. I decided to do some experimenting in the kitchen (silly Mom – be careful what you ask for). I made up a recipe for a biscuit and then baked it and, then I decided to try making creme patissiere from Paul Hollywood’s cookbook. The clean up was intense. Mom was not happy.

Watch out Rafa. Four tennis lessons in and my forehand is looking good.

I come home and teach The Bigs everything I learn, because, in my opinion, they know nothing and are not very athletic.

I actually went to school all week, so there isn’t much to report. The good news is that I have tomorrow off and big plans for another Paul Hollywood recipe, so next week there should be some good pictures.

Besides tennis, I did some swimming and some skiing.

And Mom went spiralizer crazy…

She made a lot of Mediterranean sweet potatoes with avocado and tahini sauce. She learned an important lesson…

Don’t double a recipe before trying it.

I have been polishing some rocks with my rock tumbler (thanks Uncle Jim) for the past few weeks and they are finally done. I made myself a necklace with my favorite one.

I was sick on Tuesday, so I stayed home and watched Heidi and Mary Poppins while The Bigs worked. I still had some time to kill so Mom gave me Paul Hollywood’s (of The Great British Baking Show) cookbook and told me to make something.

I made scones.

And enjoyed them with butter and jam. I think I would not have to leave the tent.

After many snowy weekends, we had one of these days.

It was pretty great. I practiced skiing GS on Saturday morning

and then skied with The Bigs in the afternoon.

Sunday we had another gorgeous day for nordic skiing.

I grew a LOT of lettuce this month.

I made myself some pretty sweet salads

and let The Bigs use some to make asian lettuce wraps.

I also made egg tamago rolls with wasabi mayo and mom made sweet potato cakes with kimchi mayo one night.

I had to make a mailbox for my Valentines. The Bigs had to twist my arm to do it, and only after much grumbling, did I make this.

I made a pretty cool card for Great Grandma Marie, so I just copied the design for my school Valentines. Here is the front.

You have to use the back to figure out what it says.