A Memorial Ride

So, I basically just don't keep up this blog much, but today was the Mt. Adams ride.  This is a memorial ride for a biking friend of ours who started it last year as a final ride(his favorite) because of his brain cancer.  He then survived the cancer, but was later killed while on a different ride.  So friends and family came together to ride it in his honor.  Will has been prepping Roger for this and he did great.  After a 14 mile climb, he had to take a break, so I drove him to the next pit stop.  Will rode and met us there so they could finish together.  All in all Roger rode about 32 miles of a 52 mile ride.  Both father and son had a great time.  Me and the other boys hung out at pit stops and ate treats and the boys enjoyed the dirt. :)

Here are the pics...

Getting started

Almost to the top

Boy were they glad to make it to the first pit stop!

He was proud of himself. :)

Watching a flat repair.

Waiting for Dad and Brother.

Even Eddy had a great time.

Frank enjoyed cheering in all the bikers as they rode in.  "Woohoo!!!"

Making it to the finish!

So excited to see us.  Will is a great dad!  I sure love this guy!

Hamilton Mountain

Today we went hiking.  We bought a discovery pass this year and want to use it, so up to Hamilton Mountain we went.  We tried it once in the past with only 2 kids and turned back.  We figured if we could go halfway with 2, then surely we could go all the way to the top with 4. :) 

We have pictures to prove it.

Crossing a bridge

Standing in front of the waterfall at the viewpoint

The arrow is pointing to the viewpoint at the top of the falls from last picture.

This is the sign where we turned back the first time we took the hike.  Its hard to read this sign in the pic, but one says difficult and the other says more difficult.  We took the "more difficult" route. :)

The view was incredible.  Poor baby slept most of the time.

The kids were happy almost the whole time.  It was awesome!

View from the top!  The pics don't do it justice.

Lunch at the top.  3.2 mile hike makes for hungry hikers.

Yum!  Cherries!

Me and my boys. :)

Self portrait

All of us.

I let the baby sit in the grass for a minute and Will caught this pic.  He's trying to eat the grass. 
It's probably one of my favorite pics from the hike.  Brother love. :)

Hamilton Mtn
Elevation: 2438 ft

 

With the gorge in the background.  Clouds are coming, time to go.

Check out Beacon Rock in the background, upper right corner.  It looked so little from the top.

Switchbacks

We went to an outcropping.
Then Will caught the boys running back on camera.  Busted!

And then the other.

 We had a blast.  Happy hikers for the most part.  The little ones have been sick, so they got to rest and enjoy the fresh air.  It was beautiful and fun.  3.2 miles to the summit.  We saw all sorts of wonderful nature items, flowers, ferns, wild strawberries, slugs, etc.  Everyone had a great time.  We got all sorts of props from other hikers for taking them all hiking.  The boys were so good that I think we'll just have to start hiking more.  It was a great day!

Cheetah Party

Cheetah Cake!

Allen just had a birthday, and we finally had his party.  When I asked him what kind of party he wanted, he said a cheetah party.  So I asked him what you do at a cheetah party, and here is what he came up with.

Cheetah Hats

Each boy got to decorate a piece of paper into cheetah skin, and then we rolled them into hats.  Nothing professional, but they turned out pretty cute.

Cheetah Memory Match

This was just printed images off Google of different cheetahs.

He got one!(Sorry for the blur.  Cheetahs are pretty fast.)

 It was actually harder than we had anticipated, so we only played until everyone got at least one match. 

Eating Cheetohs

We had cheetah races and then ate Cheetohs.  Those cheetah boys were so fast I forgot to take their pictures.

Everyone with their cheetah hats

He's pretty happy about the cake.

 I was pretty pleased with how the cake turned out. I wasn't sure if I could do a shaped cake, but apparently I can. 

Looks like he'll get his wish.

So that was the cheetah party.  Everyone seemed to have a great time.

The Attempt at a Family Picture

So, today after church we attempted to take family pictures.  I had told the kids to all put vests on so there would be at least a little matching going on.  So everyone sat on the couch, we set the timer, and voila...

Too much sun, better try again...

Ok, this isn't any better.  Let's shut the blinds.

Will's turn to try.  He's adjusting the settings.  Uh, oh.  Eddy is not happy.

Better nurse him while Will is messing with the camera.

"Everyone, lets try this setting."

At this point Frank wanted to read a book, which was then stolen by his brother and confiscated by their mother.  Roger is extremely bored.

Funny faces everyone.

Ummm, are we done?

 At this point, the batteries died so I had to find new batteries.  Frank was hungry, had to give him a few almonds to tide him over.  I think I've got it, hurry before the camera dies again.

You can tell how excited all these guys are about this photo shoot.

Hurry up Mom!

Smile, so we can eat lunch.

Only one more picture, I promise.

So that was our photo.  I'm sure those of you who have tried to take any picture with kids can completely understand the mayhem.  It was comical to me, so I thought I would share.  Fun times at the Bluemel house. :)

Merry Christmas