I thought this was funny. Sorta makes me feel better about the stuff that comes out of my mouth daily. The YouTube comments on this video include people saying "I feel sorry for her kids." They, obviously, were not moms. ;-)

We don't ride your hide because we're mean, children, we do it because WE LOVE YOU! ha ha ha

 

 

We all went for a hike on Friday, along the Eagle Creek trail in the Columbia River Gorge.

 

It was my man’s idea. Miss T had the day off from school, and that’s about all I needed to ask for an extra day away from work. My attitude there has dropped and I needed a mental health day if nothing else. Mother Nature condescended to make it beautiful out.

 

M cooked us a big breakfast to fill our hungry girl bellies and then off we went. We found the trail in a snap – it’s basically the only right turn available off Exit 41 West; drive to the end of the road and park – and were walking in less than an hour.

We hiked along the creek all day, which is in a rather narrow canyon. Our late morning start was perfectly timed, because – though our breath came out in frosty puffs during the whole hike – the sun was just cresting over the trees when we arrived, and three hours later on our way out, the sun was falling behind the trees again.

 

Apparently one of the most popular hikes in the Gorge, I can see why people would come to Eagle Creek. There wasn’t a 10 foot stretch of trail anywhere that didn’t inspire me. But then, this is gorgeous Oregon, and it’s simply one of the most beautiful places on Earth no matter what trail a person walks on.

One of the most incredible sights was the rising sun through the moss-draped trees from the shady forest beneath. It’s a magical thing to see, and was nearly impossible for me to capture on camera. You can see all the photos I took (plus some of M’s) on my flickr site.

 

T told us the day before, “I hate hiking! I don’t want to go! You guys always make me do this stuff and I hate it so much!” Yeah right. As soon as the car stopped, she burst forth and we were left in her dust the rest of the day. She started whining about 2 hours into it, so I fed her, and off she went again. That girl loves the outdoors; she was simply being 11 years old. What a faker.

 

A hike in a frosty, sunny morning is soul food to me. We played in the countless showers of tiny faery falls hurtling over dizzying cliffs of moss and wildflower buds on the verge of flowering. Sunlight lit up the water everywhere as iridescent glitter. Spring green moss covered most available surfaces and there were knots of bright purple roots coming to life at eye level in the cliff walls we passed.

Eagle Creek was clear as glass, despite it’s frenzied rushing to the Columbia, and all its tributaries were equally clear and shockingly cold when we tasted it. What a beautiful beautiful world I am blessed to live in.

 

We hiked about 9 miles total, and figured that was a day. We went home, cleaned off the mud, ate some leftovers, and took off for OMSI.

 

T has been working her way through human history in her 6^th grade classes. Right now her class is studying ancient Egypt, and in particular, the pharaohs. OMSI has an IMAX domed theatre, so aside from the topic – films in there are always jaw-dropping for me. (Yes, I am that easily impressed) We learned about some of the fabulous Egyptian tomb-related stories, and the 45 minute show was the perfect length for our long day.

Awwww, how beautiful is this? What was even more wonderful to me is that she was plucking out a melody from Beethoven's 9th symphony. So lovely.

She brought home straight A's on her report card Friday. She demanded ice cream AND poppy seed muffins as a reward. ...and got them.

:-)

I wouldn't even know what more to ask for if I was able to choose my perfect daughter. I think I have her already.

Oh, and, notice the black fingernail polish. Awesome!

I just saw something very cool.

I was out in the back yard, breathing air which is not freezing anymore. I've got these beensy mini-daffodils coming up, and they're brilliant. The Juncos have learned that when I show up, that is somehow connected to tasty seeds. So they start arriving. And I'm watching the tree where they are perching and thinking about tasty seeds and looking at me... and I see a hummingbird join them.

A hummingbird! Cool! I saw her on Saturday afternoon too. I guess I need to add some tasty juice to our back yard fare.

Then Mr. Hummingbird shows up and hovers 11 inches away from the Ms.

"Hello, hello? Check this out!"

And he suddenly goes up, up, up into the sky. Waaaaaaaaay up. So up that I can't even see his teeny weeny bird body anymore. Then he DIVE BOMBS the tree and makes this awesome whining sound because he's blasting through the air so quickly.

Ms. Hummingbird doesn't move. She says, "hm."

He does it again and again. It is SO awesome! I've heard of that, but never seen it. Waaaaaaaay up into the sky till he's invisible, then whoosh! Bzzzzzing! and Zzzzeeow! he dive-bombs past the tree, somehow timing that whine to occur at the exact moment he passes the Ms.

Then he flew over to roost on a nearby rooftop and chirped at her for several minutes.

She decided it actually was pretty cool. "Ok, I'll fly with you," she said. And zoom! Off they went together.