Rafting Trip on the Deschutes

We had a great time on our annual overnight rafting trip on the Deschutes. Check out this link to see some cool pics of us going over Oak Springs. Todd is rowing the first boat and the pictures start on the second line. His boat is packed with gear, so when you look through the pics you should be able to notice Todd rowing. Randy is guiding the next boat with Liz and I in the front. Notice, how I almost got booted out of the boat by the rapid. Eekhoff is next in his kayak. This is the link to the Boxcar rapid pictures. They only got Todd rowing with Nicka in his boat and Kevin in the inflatable kayak. Rita and Steve watched Meadow for us for the weekend and she apparently had a great time with the grandparents. It was so nice to be able to have a really fun weekend with some new and old friends. Sara, we missed you!!!!!
The group hanging out in the morning.
Our tent. The sun was pretty bright in the morning and blaring right on Todd, so we were up pretty early.
Making blueberry pancakes for breakfast. They were sooooooooooo good.
living in style on the gear boat.

My friend Liz.
Liz and Todd chilling at the end of the boat while I do all the work.
Eekhoff on a break from fishing.
Nicka and myself enjoying some beverages. Todd picked up some beer made by Caldera brewing for the trip. We have to give them some props. Their microbrew is amazing in a can.

Meadow Hiking

Just of note: this is Todd writing, as you may have guessed, Jocelyn does all the blogging for Team Van Hee.

I have been taking Meadow down to the trail in our backyard along the river. she has been hiking further and further. She will cruise right along until some stick or flower, or something grabs her interest. After a bit, she will take off again. This is a clip of today's hike.

Fun Stuff for Meadow

Here are a few pics of Meadow's new stuff for the new backyard play area. Todd put this together last night and Meadow was trying it out in the house. The kid park bench was an absolute steal, so we couldn't leave it in the store.

Todd and I are leaving on a weekend rafting trip bright and early on Saturday. Todd's parents will be taking care of Meadow for us. It should be a great trip. We haven't been on a trip like this in about two years.
The new play equipment. This is perfect for Meadow's size. She loves going on swings.

Trip to the Zoo

We had our first family outing to the Portland Zoo this past Friday. Meadow really enjoyed looking at all the animals for the first time. I think Todd and I always have mixed emotions when we go to the zoo because it is so wonderful to see the animals live, but also somewhat depressing because they are caged up and not in their typical environments. All in all, it was a good day and fun to see Meadow's reactions to seeing so many different animals.

This bear was not very happy and kept pacing back and forth. It looked pretty scary. We were glad there was a big glass window in between Meadow and the bear.

There is a big elephant behind us that you can barely see. I believe this elephant is the pregnant one.

Looking beautiful as always.

Videos

Date Day!

Todd and I hadn't had a true date day in over a month so we were happy to spend some quality time together. We headed up to Skibowl to play some frisbee golf and enjoy the mountain views. We had played a few years ago up there before they changed the course. The new course is really fun and pretty challenging. It cost $7 per person for a chair lift ride to the top of the "ski run," and they have designed an 18 hole course which criss crosses the ski run as you walk from the top back to the lodge. It's pretty cool to walk around up there without snow everywhere. Though, we wished we had our hiking boots because we had to hike through a lot of brush that was kind of hard on our feet with just sandals on. The views from up there are just amazing and the disc would fly sooooo far with the light wind/up draft heading up the hill, plus every hole you throw down hill. After some nice exercise we headed to Ice Axe Grill, formerly Mt. Hood Brewery, to enjoy some great beer and food. We also checked out some new condos at the Grand Lodge in Government Camp. We were just curious about the project. We wish we could be serious buyers up there. They are planning on another development that will be like Whistler, BC with a village, gondolas, ice skating rink. So, after dreaming of owning a fun condo in Govy we headed back to pick up our darling child then headed into town for the Thursday night concert series at Edgefield. It was great to meet up with friends we haven't seen in awhile and enjoy the concert on the lawn with another fun pint of beer.

Finding my lost disc in a creek
Up, Up and Away on the chairlift. Note the beautiful mountain in the background.

Mt. Hood and Frisbee Golf. Everything looks cooler with a mountain in the backdrop.

Girls Day

Meadow had Maddie over today for a play date. They had a great time in the pool. This was Maddie's first time in the pool so Meadow was showing her the ropes and put her face completely in the flower sprinkler.

Jen and I were having so much fun with the girls we decided to go out to dinner. They both did great and really entertained each other and shared a grilled cheese sandwich. What great friends.

Meadow wanted to hold the whole sandwich. She also signed for food today, which was really exciting and said "uh oh" several times throughout dinner. What a silly girl.

Trillium Lake

On Sunday we walked around Trillium Lake. What a beautiful day. We ended the evening by stopping at one of our favorite breweries. Todd has his own personalized mug at the Ice Axe Grill.

Timothy Lake

At the end of Erin's visit we decided to go up to Timothy Lake to camp. Todd had to work the first day so Erin and I loaded up the car with all the gear and set up camp ourselves. I wish I had gotten a picture of the full tent because we did a great job of setting it up. We splurged this year and bought a family sized tent to fit all of our stuff and Meadow. Meadow was a little trooper hiking all over the campsite, rolling, getting dirty, eating dirt, and wanting to wade in the freezing cold water. It was actually a nice thing she didn't mind the water because we had to dip her in the water to get some of the dirt off. It was a great girl bonding event and then Todd joined us the next day. We went on a hike around part of the lake and enjoyed the scenic views of Mt. Hood. Todd had brought our sea kayaks to use on the lake, but we were all a little bit too comfortable relaxing on the side of the lake to use them. It was a bit breezy so we didn't play too much in the water.




A little out of order, but we went out to dinner the last night Erin was here. You can just barely see the yummy dessert we got at the Rendevous. Scrumptious!

Enjoying some smores by the campfire. Erin and I really got the art of smore making down.

Dirt anyone????? Meadow made sure we all had a little dirt on us too.

Portland Blues Fest

Erin, Meadow and I headed down to the Blues festival last weekend. We arrived at the perfect time to hear a couple great bands. It was nice to be able to show Erin this annual event in Portland that raises money for the foodbank.

Toddlerdom

Just wanted to let you all know that my cute little girl has fully entered the toddler days. She is Miss Independent and wants to explore the whole world now. Eating out has become quite the adventure. She is very social and wants to make friends with everyone she meets. So, we are on alert at all times trying to keep her safe and as injury free as possible. She experienced only a minor tumble this morning that resulted in a minor scratch on her head. They should really make some more stylish helmets and knee pads for this stage of childhood. Just had to share a little bit of our world recently. Our backs are a bit sore from following her adventures.

Future Fun

Just had to post the link to this really cool bed and breakfast we will be staying at for my friend Sarah's wedding. We will be staying in a tee pee. You have to check it out because these teepees are so cool. They also have renovated old camper trailers on site that are so cool looking. Just click on the name of this bed and breakfast and it will go to the website. Cherry Wood Bed and Breakfast and Barn

Meadow's New Friend in Minnesota

Welcome to the World, Zoe Kathleen Wagner!
Arrived on Monday July 7, 2008 at 7:01 AM Central Time
Weighing in at 8 lbs. 9 oz. and 21 inches long

We are so excited to meet Jerri and Mark's precious little one. We will be out to visit in September.

Hiking Pictures

We didn't have our camera, but did have a cell phone so the pictures are a little bit blurry. Notice the snow underneath our feet. It was a beautiful day on the mountain. We actually headed up to Timberline afterwards and enjoyed a drink at 6,000 feet.

Mirror Lake
The mountain is behind us, but it is too hazy to see.

Rafting and Hiking Adventures

Yesterday, I was able to go rafting with Todd and some good friends on the Clackamas river. It is too bad we don't have any pictures for proof of our adventure but we had such a good time. It is always so nice to be able to share the rivers and hikes that we live so close to with friends who visit. Erin and I paddled in the front of the raft for most of the trip and definitely endured the most splashes and full body wave impacts. It was also great to have Todd guide our raft. He has been such a kayak snob the past few years, I have not been able to get him in a raft. He did a fabulous job of heading us in the right directions and putting us through all the meat of the rapids. The day before we hiked up to Mirror lake. The hike was beautiful and we were even able to have a snowball fight by the lake. Yes, there is still snow up there in July. But, most of the trail is open and there was just a little bit of snow to hike over around the lake. I wonder what other adventures we will find before Erin has to leave on Monday. She is having so much fun she is thinking of staying a few more days.

Erin Arrives

My good friend Erin arrived on Tuesday evening. She is a good friend from college and was my roommate/housemate for four years. She has been living in Germany for the past two years working as a school counselor at a military/international school. I was able to see her right before she left for Germany but haven't had a chance to meet up with her since then. I hope to be able to go visit her someday while she is still working in Germany. We literally "lucked" out on Tuesday because an Irish band was playing on the lawn at Edgefield. I guess they have Irish Tuesdays all through the summer. So, to commemorate my irish friend's arrival to Portland we got to do a little Irish dancing. Meadow was definitely the star of the show and made a few new girlfriends. I love getting compliments from four year olds on how cute my baby is. She actually just starting clapping her hands that evening too. She really enjoyed herself. We have a lot of fun things planned for Erin's visit, including a rafting trip down the Clackamas. It should be an action packed week.