Halloween 2014

I’ve been so burnt out at work with a big project that I wasn’t too stoked to worry about dressing up for Halloween.  Thankfully, my terrific wife helped me out by picking out a costume for me, well, mostly just a wig as I used my own beard to make a mustache.  I didn’t dress up for work this year but when we got home I did get dressed up Scott’s Party in Corvallis that we drove down for.  Emily fashioned herself into a terrific scarecrow while I did my best Ron Swanson Impression.  Read on...

Ellie's 8th Birthday

I just had a wonderful weekend with my daughter for her 8th birthday.  Last year I made a promise to her that I would visit her on her birthday each year.  Finally, without graduate school and with a steady job and can now afford the trips and get her a nice present each year.  She really is growing up fast!  Let’s see, highlights… she can cartwheel with the best of them, she is getting pretty good at violin, and she’s quite the climber and gymnast!

Larch Mountain

Today Emily and I took Leo out to Larch Mountain for an afternoon hike.  It’s not too far from Portland and we hadn’t been up it before.  We started our hike at the base of the mountain to create a loop up and around the crater of the ancient volcano.  For the most part it was pretty uninteresting until we got to the top.  We did get to see a lot of mushrooms and it seemed like everyone around us was walking out with bags of Chanterelles but of course we didn’t have any luck finding any!  

Cape Horn

Today Emily and I headed out to Cape Horn on the Washington side of the Columbia River.  This area is closed in the spring due to Falcons nesting along the cliffs so for a beautiful fall day it was the perfect hike nearby for us to check out.  We got there early afternoon and it turned out to be a pretty hot day for October.  Read on...

Base Camp Brewing Octoberfest

Today, Arley, Katie and Ryan invited Emily and I out to the Base Camp Brewing Octoberfest.  We had expected Nicole and Jesse James to come up for an afternoon hike and stay over with us but although she said she’d be here by noon we hadn’t heard a word from her.  We waited until 2pm and then decided to just go to the Briefest and meet up with her later if they actually came up.  Read on...

Sushi and Godzilla

Tonight Emily and I had our 2nd movie night in Portland.  Our first movie night was a week ago where we ordered pizza and watched Old School which Arley hadn't seen before.  This week we  invited Conrad, Ryan, Arley, Katie, and Anna over to roll some Sushi and watch the new Godzilla movie.  Ryan of course brought his amazing cooking skills and helped teach the half of us who had never done it before how to do it.  Emily and I had done it with Jason and Jen before but I think Ryan knew how to cook the rice better this time.  We made a bunch of rolls and ended up having too much to eat.  

Godzilla was of course amazing despite Ryan falling into a food coma during the 2nd half of it.  Not sure how many movie nights we will have as we all have busy lives but this one was certainly a success.  Plus, its just so damn fun making sushi!