Sunriver 2011

We had a really good time at Sunriver this year. This was the first time everyone got to ski/snowboard together. Adam wanted to try the snowboard. It was also Rachel's first time on skis. David, Tammie, and I also skied.





David was too fast for me and I never had a chance to catch him on video. This was his 3rd or 4th time skiing and we signed him up for his first lesson (up until this point I had been what one might call a teacher if one were being so generous). Each time he'd pass me up I wasn't expecting him so the camera was never ready.

Snow Caving 2011

A couple years ago I blogged about our first snow caving experience. Well, we've been twice again since then. The most recent being just yesterday.

The first year's lessons were well learned and last year we made some improvements to the cave that we repeated this year to much success.

First, we made arrangements to arrive early in the day so that we'd have plenty of time to be digging during day light. It takes us about 5 hours to complete a cave.

Second, and this takes some experience, we dig the sleeping loft elevated above the height of the entrance to help hold in the heat. But not too high to allow for a ceiling high enough to be able to sit up.








Third, to prevent the tarp from slipping and sliding on the icy cave floor we put down a canvas floor cover. It gets very wet and has to be peeled off the floor when we leave, but it gives the tarp traction and keeps the floor stable.

The weather while we were digging was miserable. Cold, windy, snowy. But the snow was great for digging out. It was just wet enough to stick together so you can pull out big chunks. It was also wet enough to soak us through our outer layers. We got wet but stayed warm the whole time. When we finished we went inside the lodge to warm up and dry off by the fire.

Saturday morning looked beautiful, however. Clear sky and a terrific view.

Snow Caving

Our first time snow caving. We went to Timberline Lodge on Mt Doom...er, I mean Mt Hood.

Lessons learned:

#1 David learned that jeans aren't very warm in snow, especially when wet.

#2 I learned that a plastic tarp on an icy cave floor likes to quickly find the lowest point in the cave.

We slept horribly, but we had fun. Timberline Lodge is beautiful and I'd like to go back there in the summer...maybe even next winter for some skiing.

Oh, gee, it's up to my knee

We got another 6-8 inches today, on top of the (now thicker) layer of ice, that's on top of the 6-8 inches of snow from 2 days ago. I actually had to go out and...*gasp*...shovel it. I haven't decided if it was punishment for being a homebody for 10 days or if it was exercise. Either way I wasn't liking it.

I didn't really have to shovel it. But it was almost too deep to walk through and it is probably going to get worse over the next week. So I figured I might as well start eating the elephant.

Snowed in!

We've seen some crazy weather the past week. Last Sunday we got our first snowfall...and much more than we're used to getting here. Portland is not well prepared for getting this much snow, so usually even a little bit will cause school delays or even closures. This was supposed to be the last week of school before winter break, but the weather caused school closures for the entire week!

I also wasn't able to make it to work for several days. Fortunately I'm able to remote into work and still get things done. So I ended up working from home most of the week. (And as sweet as that may sound it's definitely a distraction when the kids are home too.)

Yesterday and today got even worse though. We got much more snow yesterday than we had all week. Then overnight and this morning we got a freezing rain. So there's about a quarter-inch of ice on top of about 6-8 inches of snow. Just a few minutes ago we were back to snowfall, and as I look out the window right now we're back to the freezing rain.




The kids were picking up great sheets of ice and trying to make an ice fort.


That bush was standing upright yesterday.


Stuck.


We don't get snowplows. I don't think the city even owns any snowplows.


An "ice flower."

Merry Christmas! (2007)

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas! We had fun opening presents and ate our traditional Eggs Benedict. We even got our first real snowfall of the year.

David was very excited about getting exactly what he wanted.


Rachel got a "Just like me" doll. Although, I doubt the doll will behave just like her. (I mean the doll could never be as sweet...yeah, yeah...that's the ticket.)


And Adam loves games. Here's one that should keep him busy for a while.


Who asked for snow?