Beating the Heat

This past weekend was pretty hot here in Oregon - in the 90's again. We decided to to head on up to Waldo Lake for a weekend of canoeing and camping. We left on Friday night after Matt got home from work and we arrived at the boat put in just in time to be attacked by mosquitoes. I stayed in the car to feed Audrey after our drive, but poor Matt had to unload the car and get the boat packed...luckily the mosquitoes don't seem to like him too much. It cooled down enough about the time we got out of the car that the mosquitoes had pretty much disappeared.

Audrey was a little upset before we were going to set off, so we went for a short drive and then she took a walk with dad to calm her down. We were right next to the campground and it had just gotten dark, so we didn't want her crying there. She fell asleep, so we took the opportunity to start paddling.

We had a beautiful float to where we decided to camp. The temperature was very nice and the water was completely flat and still under a nearly full moon. We paddled close to shore the whole time and shortly found a spot to camp. Matt got the tent set up under the trees where there were still some mosquitoes. We all jumped in the tent and Audrey had another great night of sleeping outside. Thankfully she seems to take after her father and ended up with only 1 mosquito bite which disappeared quickly. I on the other hand had about 20 bites in the 5 minutes I was out of the car at the boat launch and they lasted for a couple of days.



We got up on Saturday morning and Matt set up the mosquito netting we took to Central America with us on our honeymoon to have Audrey hang out in while we packed up the tent and got the canoe loaded. It worked beautifully. We paddled out to a little island and made some cinnamon rolls for breakfast and waited for it to get warm out.

We then paddled to this awesome little cove that had a sandy beach where we spent the day. We set up the sunshade and Audrey's umbrella and proceeded to have a very relaxing day of book reading and enjoying the scenery. Audrey even went in the lake and really liked it.





After a great day, we decided that we didn't want to take our chances and ruin how much fun we had by the mosquitoes making our evening miserable so we headed home instead of staying out another night.

On Sunday we did some things around the house and got to see how much Audrey enjoys the water. It was hot again so we filled up the little plastic pool we bought for Bella last summer which she didn't like and let it sit out in the sun for a few hours. At the heat of the day, the water was warm so we put Audrey in...she LOVED it! Here's a few more pictures.





Yumm - hose water.

Grandma & Grandpa Newman Come to Town and Audrey Goes Camping

The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy around our house. Grandma & Grandpa Newman came to visit and we put them to work right away. Originally we told them we were planning to refinish & expand our deck, but we ended up changing our minds on them and decided to paint the house. Here are some before and after pictures.


It is so nice not to have a peach colored house anymore! We are still working on painting the trim and have some additional detail work to do with the screen doors and in the porches, but it looks great already. Once we get some pictures in better lighting we'll post more with the trim being completed.

After a couple days of slaving away on the warmest weekend we've had all summer...in the nineties, we packed up the two cars and headed up the river. We stopped at one of our favorite hiking places off the south fork of the McKenzie for some lunch and took a couple mile hike up river so that Matt, Gary & Kathy could fish for little trout. Audrey slept most of the time, but seems to enjoy being outside.


We then drove a little further upstream and found a nice car camping spot with plenty of room to set up our plush kitchen and have a great meal of porcupine balls, corn on the cob and salad...followed by strawberry shortcake.

Audrey was already a pro at her first campfire and camping in a tent seemed to come naturally to her. The following morning we got up and Matt had Audrey all decked out in her Patagonia gear - maybe they need a baby model for their catalog.


Another day of fishing brought on another day of relaxing for Audrey and I. Matt hooked up a hammock for us right on the river where I could read my book and nap. What a perfect spot!

We all had a great time having the grandparents visit. Thanks for coming out!

Audrey's First Outdoor Adventures

This last week Audrey got her first pieces of outdoor gear. Her Patagonia order came first with a fleece pullover, fleece hat, and a reversible puffball jacket. A few days later, her life jacket arrived from Stohlquist. We of course needed to do some product testing, so last weekend we went for a hike up the North Fork of the Willamette River. Audrey has finally gotten big enough that she won't fall through the arm holes of the Kelty Wallaby kid carrier.
We walked all the way to where the trail was closed due to logging.

On Tuesday night, Matt took Audrey on her first canoe trip. Mike South went along for safety and took Bella in his boat. I was given the evening off to relax and spend a few hours by myself.


I made sure that Audrey had everything she needed, including a bottle, so that Matt could be left alone with her for more than a couple of hours.
Everyone seemed to have a good time canoeing and made it home with no complications.