Boo for boo-boos

There were many, many adhesive bandages used in this house today.

I woke up on the couch this morning, where I ended up after trying unsuccessfully to share with Zoë. I didn't feel too great for most of the morning, and thus opted for the stationary bike at the gym, rather than the step class Kristen had signed us up for (and did attend herself).

Our streak of lovely weather is supposed to end with tomorrow's rain, so we took a quick trip over to Fort Rock Park this afternoon while the sunshine lasted.

"Miss Lynn, will you take my picture between the cars?"


The metal slides were a little too hot for small bums, so here is Zoë thinking better of it.


Kristen informed me today that when the four-way seesaw was installed at the park, Zoë referred to it as "the duck heads."


There is a baseball field adjacent to the park, and Z likes to pretend to swing a bat and run the bases--she actually did a very conscientious job of touching each bag as she went by . . . as seen below at first . . .

. . . just past second . . .


. . . and in the home stretch!


She's also a fan of hopscotch . . .


. . . and hill-rolling!


In addition to the various delightful entertainments, Fort Rock Park apparently also has some wild strawberries (in progress)! So far, they are pretty little blossoms.


So, after we got home from the park, Z wanted to ride her scooter along the bike path. And then race me on foot along the (paved) path . . . which is the point at which she took a hard fall and the day took a different turn.

She soaked her wounds in the tub for quite a while, and was originally reluctant to let me photograph them.


Kristen, on the other hand, had no such hesitations when a previous injury of hers re-opened while trying to administer First Aid to her daughter.

Band-Aid Buffet! (Not pictured: Sushi and Bacon)


This photo didn't turn out that well, but Z got her worst scrape inside her left elbow (we can't quite figure out how).


Two on the back of her right hand (I told her it looks like a snake bite):


And one on the knee:


And after:




After all this bandaging, the "all better" was made complete with the delicious pots de creme Kristen made and we had for tonight's dessert!

Tomorrow we are getting up early so that Kristen can go to the dentist (boo), we can get breakfast in Bend (yay), and go for a tour at the brewery (YAY YAY!) I'll try and take lots of pictures so that you can enjoy the good times retroactively tomorrow . . . thanks for reading and happy Monday!

Delicious, delectable, delightful

We girls went out to the Lodge last night for some drinks and dancing. Our Marionberry martinis were very pretty and yummy!


Once the other girls showed up, Robin started snapping lots of photos to record what a good time we were having.


The band (affectionately christened the Oompa Loompas) was very good, and Robin was all about gettin' her dance on. Here she is mid-boogie--the watch and black shorts are Kristen's.


Kristen, Zoë and I headed into Bend for some errands and scrumptious lunch at the Bend Brewing Company this afternoon. Z was treated to an outfit for her Groovy Girls dolls. Lola is modeling the new duds, alongside Charlie (Zoë is the big one).


Annie, Robin and Ashley came over for Happy Hour . . . mmmmmmmmmmm.


Z availed herself of the opportunity to remind us all that she is the queen.


Later, she grabbed her mike and moved out into the yard for the news report. I've seen enough local broadcasts to believe she could skip Kindergarten and find immediate employment, should she want it.

One of the things we picked up in Bend this afternoon was whipped cream, which meant we had everything needed for SPANISH COFFEE! Whoo-hoo!


I didn't get a picture of the sparks, but this one of the flaming 151 came out pretty well.


K and I watched the recent BBC/WGBH production of "Persuasion" this evening, followed by the end of the season finale of "Desperate Housewives" (which was baffling). Now it's time for bed. Hope you had as nice a weekend as I did--more in the new week!

Last-minute Saturday morning expedition

This morning was Pole Pedal Paddle here in central Oregon, and we decided on very short notice to head up and watch some of the cyclists along the course. But short notice or not, Elmo knows that safety comes first!


Mt. Bachelor, which was the start of the event and the location of the "Pole" (skiing) and start of "Pedal" sections of the race.


Not surprisingly, Zoë had the best seat.


We got there about 10 minutes after the lead rider came by, and the beginning of the field was still very spread out. This was our view as we watched for cyclists to come down past us.


We saw lots of cyclists wearing lots of different kinds of gear. There were very round helmets . . .


. . . and VERY pointy ones.


In my opinion, all of the participants in an event like this are superheroes . . . but some more than others!


Some cyclists ride by with a little help from their friends (or family members):


Get me to the church on time?


This might just look like dirt at the side of the road, but is actually snow covered with cinders, which is what they use around here on slippery winter roads (rather than the corrosive salt used in the northeastern U.S.)


We saw about 150 riders before returning to Sunriver, where we went to Hot Lava for doughnuts! Z got frosted with sprinkles. Yes, it is practically as big as her head.


Maple Bars are a northwest specialty. Yum!


Post-doughnut Zoë. I can't believe she ate the whole thing.


Some of K & N's friends from Vancouver are here this weekend, and I believe we girls are going out dancing later. So this will finish off my news for today--I'm sure there will be more to report come tomorrow!

Oooooooooh, Bend

Kristen and I took an exercise class this morning (surprisingly strenuous), and this afternoon we went to run errands in Bend. There was a stop light in between Target and Trader Joe's, and while we were stopped I thought I would take an opportunity to share the view from there. These are two of the Three Sisters.


Zoë and I got our picture taken at Trader Joe's!


I also bought a lot of great stuff, some of which we have already eaten here in Sunriver, some of which will eat over the coming days and nights, and some of which will come home to Nashville.

Guess that's all for today . . . happy Friday and more tomorrow!

Wacky times in Sunriver

I am safe and sound in central Oregon! I am having a great time with Nick, Kristen and Zoë here in Sunriver.

Since this is technically supposed to be a knitting-related and not exclusively vacation-oriented blog, I thought I should share that I finally finished a knitting project begun over a month ago--the last in the series of little cardigans with fancy buttons. Here it is!



And now, what you've all been waiting for . . . the Zoë pictures! This one is a little weird, but I thought it was hilarious. If disturbing.

Here she is demonstrating her "peg leg."


We went to Fort Rock Park today to have a play date with Molly and Gaby. They have a four-way teeter-totter! Here is Molly, Kristen, Zoë and Gaby.


My favorite feature at the park is the cone-shaped merry-go-round.



TIRE SWING!!!


The only bad thing is that I got sunburned on my sternum and a little bit on my face. Apparently sunscreen doesn't stay effective indefinitely--particularly when you neglect to put it on certain areas of your anatomy.

K and I went to a beginning yoga class this afternoon, which was great. Tomorrow we are going to a low-impact exercise class. Other than that, we have been eating, drinking, going for ice cream and generally hanging around. It's AWESOME!

My favorite vacation conversation so far:

Zoë: "Miss Lynn?"
YT: "Yes?"
Zoë: "Do you like good words?"

Heh heh heh. More extremely interesting news tomorrow!

Playing catch up, part two

UGLY PROM!!! If you own a hardhat you may want to put it on before proceeding to prevent your mind being blown.

Heather K., Trish and YT


YT and Chad (he was supposed to be a prom chaperone). This is the best photo I seem to have of my dress, but I think that Heather has some better, full-length ones.


YT and Liz


And here it is in all its glory! A few minutes before the police came to shut things down, I believe (I had gone home by then.)



Thanks to Scott and Trish for the pictures! If I get any more from Heather, I will post them. And now my slate is clean and ready for reports from vaca, starting tomorrow! I know that all you Zoë fans out there are anxious to find out what she's been up to now that she's five. So, more from Oregon!

Playing catch-up, part one

First of all, why does the phrase which provides the title for this entry use the word "playing"? Doesn't that imply the pursuit of fun? When generally the act of "catching up" when one is behind in one's duties is anything but?

The dude who wrote the book I am currently reading, aka affectionally by me as the Grammar Nazi, would probably make a federal case about that, as well as the fact that I am using the term "federal case" to describe a relatively minor matter. As for me, I just think it's weird.

Stop blogging for 10 days or so and the material really starts to pile up! Since it's getting late and I need to be up and at 'em in the morning, tonight I will focus on random info from the past two weeks, and then tomorrow night I will catch you up on the big event of this past weekend: UGLY PROM '08!!! All of this in an attempt to go into my vacation, starting Wednesday, with a tabla rendered relatively rasa. Or perhaps that should be blogla rasa? But I digress.

Here are some pictures from the past two weeks, described briefly.

Our last NFG meeting was on Liz's birthday! And Heather H. arranged for this awesome cake to be made for her. In case you are befuddled, Liz really likes 19th century novels. And I really like words like "befuddled."


I saw this growing on the tree in my front yard when I was mowing--is it mistletoe? If so, no smoochers on my lawn! I'm going to be like that old dude in "Attack of the the Eye Creatures"!

But seriously--if this is mistletoe, could I cut it down and sell it at Christmas time? And is my not cutting it down dangerous for the tree? Isn't it a kind of botanical vermin or something?


This is the first of the pictures I took during our girls' weekend in Birmingham (May 2-4), visiting our friend Tracy. If you are a regular reader of this blog, it should be pretty self-explanatory.

Around the corner from the PW, in front of the (what else) public library. That is a little "party" fire helmet that was sitting on the ground until I put it on the chess piece.

It rained really hard early Saturday morning, and the sky remained gray and gloomy even after the rain stopped. While we were out walking around in Tracy's 'hood, there was a single patch of blue sky. I took a picture to commemorate it, my logic being that if I did so, it would actually clear up and render my photo moot.

And guess what? My reverse psychology actually worked on the weather! Go, me. The rest of the weekend was sunny and gorgeous!


We passed many lovely houses and a number of doggies on our stomp through Tracy's grounds. I liked these three dachshunds. They were trying hard to be ferocious, which I found hilarious.


Tracy also showed us her graduate school alma mater, Birmingham's Samford University. We only saw one fraternity house while we were there, and it happened to be my bro's bros, Lambda Chi Alpha. So I took a picture.

Back at Tracy's for a late lunch! Julie, Trace and YT.


Tracy and her roommates encouraged (cautioned?) us to look out for this sign on our trip back northward. For some reason as-yet-undiscovered to us, exit 6 (in Tennessee, alas) from I-65 seems to have some real sketchy stuff.


A wild strawberry in the lawn! I didn't eat it, although if it's still there tomorrow, I might.


I finally seeded and mulched the garden on Tuesday this past week! It was extremely windy here today, necessitating all the weighting down of the mulch. I admit that it's kind of a mess, but I'm still hoping something will come up.

Come back tomorrow for UGLY PROM '08 awesomeness!