Labor day at the Coast and 1st place "racers"

The thing about going on vacation is that I tend to take a lot of pictures and then I have to go through them and get the number down to a reasonable amount to post online.  I have failed miserably this time, but since we had such a fabulous time on the coast and the weather was perfect, I will give myself a pass.  We headed out a few days before labor day to the Oregon coast and had a condo rented in Lincoln City.

The weather when we were out there reminded me of the California coast.  Every day it was 75 degrees and sunny without any clouds.  I had to keep reminding myself that this actually was Oregon.

Our condo was just down the street from the pier and Matthew loved to hang on the light posts and run from one to the other.

The sunsets were perfect and for three nights we had this view.

And of course you cannot go to the beach without throwing stuff into the water.

I was pretty set on clamming and crabbing when we were there so day one had us hitting the flats at low tide and digging for clams.  James was actually a pretty good helper and in no time we had our limit of 72.

This kid can be such a cheeser.

The kids love to dig and hang out in the sand.

We found a little park that had some cool things for the kids to play on.  This was found while walking around and waiting for the crab trap to "set".

Check out that coast.  We saw a bunch of whales or what may be more accurately described as mist being blown into the air and then a indiscriminate back of a whale.

Of course when you are on a coastal vacation with Brenda you are required to go to at least one lighthouse.

We finally found the pier in Northport which happened to be a hot spot for crabbing.  In no time we had a few crabs.  Every time you take that trap up, you never know what you are going to catch so it was really fun.  In all honesty I was just glad to a catch a few.

Then, it was back to the beach, which is the real reason the kids wanted to come in the first place.

James surveyed the waves.  The waves were pretty big and although it was warm, it was not warm enough to swim.  Matthew got knocked over by a wave and James then thought he had to get in as well so he went ahead and laid down in the water...kids.

The next day we were off to Silverton Oregon....

...after a stop at the coast for one last photo op of course

We headed to Silverton for the "Oregon Gardens 200".  The race is really not a  race in the sense that if you finish first you win.  This is a timed event where you win if you finish closest to the time that you should have finished in...which you don't know.  There is some strategy in it, but since you are shooting in the dark as to the time you need to get to win, it is really a guessing game.

We were relatively trouble free (lost all brakes twice and had to do some roadside repair), but we did help a fellow race with a flat tire.  You can see the hose connected to the tire in this picture and the other end off the hose is actually ran off of compression from the cylinder of the model t engine.  Pretty cool invention and it was nice to see it in action.

James got to hang out and wave the finish line flag.

Jim and I did finish first in the race by about 45 second and we were as shocked as anyone.  Last year we broke down in the first 15 miles and this year we win it.  I will forever be memorialized on the trophy as the navigator and mechanic although Jim did all of the wrenching.  We had a blast.

On the way home we stopped by Snoqualmie Falls for a "attitude adjustment" and a good photo op.

When we get home we found all of these in the garden.  I guess it is time to make some salsa and some tomato soup.

James and Matthew are doing some team corn eating here.  I don't think it worked to great, but they enjoyed it.

Classic summertime fun in the backyard.  The best thing about eating outside is that you don't have to clean the floor.

Now it on to the stuff the really matters.  James asked for a jump the other day and so I grabbed a 4x4 and threw it on the ground and then went to go grab a ramp.  While I was grabbing the ramp, I guess James thought the 4x4 was the jump because the revved the engine up and hit that thing at full speed.  Luckily he did not crash, but before he could hit it again I got the ramp up.  Then he informed me that the ramp was too low and so I put some bricks on it.  After that, he was golden and ran over that thing about 50 times.

 

I took a ton of pics.  That kid took to the jumps like a frog to water.

And the end this post with I think I will end with the ride the boys took at the fair last week.  Although there was not a rodeo, they insisted on dressing up "cowboy" and ended up having a great time at the fair.

American River Guard Station Vacation

Two weeks ago we got the chance to got o Mt Rainier and rent a USFS abandoned guard station so we grabbed it.  In all honesty we have had this scheduled for a few moths, but we were glad to get away for three nights in the middle of nowhere without any semblance of cell coverage.

Immediately it was time for climbing and outdoor fun.  A tree had fallen at the cabin a  few weeks before(according to the visitors register) and that made a perfect place for the kiddos to climb on.

This picture must have been taken on the first day since Matthew is clean.  The cabin did have electricity, but there was no running water so there were no baths for the few days.

Bear with me since this post is going to be very heavy on the kiddo pictures, but it had bee so long since I have had a bunch of days together with the kids away from work that I did take a ton of pictures.

We did bring the bikes and the kids did ride down the drive to the campground that was just down the way.  There was only two campers at the campground, so it was a nice quiet place to tootle around

James is a master at riding off road and that of course means that he gets flat tires.  This was his first flat, so I did not have any patch kit with us which meant the bike riding was not possible for the last day or so.

The cabin had a great classic screen door.  It was so nice to sit and read my magazine and listen to the screen door open and slam shut and the kiddos went in and out of the cabin.  The slam of that door reminded me of summers at grandmas house and there was something so refreshing about that.  The sliding screen door at home just does not cut it.

Here is a quick pic of the cabin.  Kind of rustic, but very clean and fun.

The first day we headed to Sunrise to get a great view of Rainier.  The smoke was minimal up there due to a wind shift so it was nice to get out of Spokane.  As you may be aware, Washington is really on fire and the air quality in Spokane is the worst air quality ever recorded.

The kids and wife were troopers on the mile or so hike up to the ridge to get a great view of the mountain and the mountains to the north.

Such a nice view.

Later that day we went to hike a cave.  It was pretty mild as far as caves go and really short which is perfect for kids.  They were pretty scarred, but since it was so short, they only were worried for a little bit.

The next day we went to Paradise for yet another view of Mt Rainier.  It was crystal clear this day and apparently there was a mom and cubs hanging around the lodge right before we got there.  We did not see it and decided to go on a hike and then when we got back, we found out the trail was closed since the bears were on it....and we still did not get to see them.

Cool view from up there

On our short hike the kids thought they could stand up like the marmot in the background.

Then it was back to the cabin for another game of connect four.  James is still learning it.  He understands four in a row up and down, but is really confused about the diagonal.

Dirty brothers loving it.

On the way home the kids were getting a bit restless for the last 40 minutes so we opted for the old "lets try and make truckers honk".  Matthew was adorable and got a ton of honks.  Since James was on the wrong side of the car he was not very happy, but I honked my horn to try and appease him.

Races, Baseball, skateboards, forts...this is summer folks and it is good.

Monthly update per usual.  Not sure why I have gotten away from posting on this blog more regularly, and for that matter, why I continue to keep going on this blog, but I guess it is kind of out of habit at this time.  I have been posting and updating this blog for about 8 or so years and it is kind of nice to take a look back and see what has happened.  It also serves as a reminder to me of what I have done.  I have such a poor memory that this is the best way I have found to track what was going on when. 

 

Two weeks ago I took the family to Wednesday night havoc at the raceway.  What a great way tobreak up a long week and the kids sure did like to see the races (and watch the rednecks).  James and I went one time and there were 8-14 year old racing in mini cars that would do about 60.  He must have asked about 20 times when those kids were going to come back out.  I had to explain to him how lucky he was to be out on a school night and how good he has it since he does not have to go to school or have a job.  I don't think he got it though.

These kids love to wear earmuffs.  They wanted them on as soon as we got out of the car in the parking lot.

Last week we headed out for a Sunday night Spokane Indians game.  The seats were cheap and the fun was fun.  Summertime is the best.

 

I picked up an old folding kitchen stool/chair at a flea market a while ago and finally got around to refinishing it.  Matthew really likes it, but since I had already made two other stools for the kitchen, so mom has put this on the front porch as more of a decoration.

This this was a real pain in the but to take apart and get back together, but with James's close oversight and direction, I was able to figure it out.

 

The garden is in full swing and the two sunflower plants I have this year are really getting big.  The tall one is about 11-12' and is just now getting a head on it.  I cant wait to see the size of the flower on this one and hope it is bigger than last years.

My giant pumpkin is also growing more and more each day.  I bought seeds this year from a guy in Canada and have high hopes for this giant.  The summer here has been perfect weather for them so there is no excuse not to have a huge one.

 

When I was at the flea market a while ago I bought a box of skateboard parts and wheels.  I got them for another project and had some parts left over so James had big ideas for building a skateboard.  Mom pulled out a piece of wood and James spent all day drawing it out on the wood and then when I got home, I got a 45 minute download on how the skateboard was going to be built and how it needs to be put together.  James is very mechanically minded and has a great imagination.  He plans out everything in his mind in detail...even if the details wont work with the laws of physics.

Matthew also had an idea for the skateboard and his was a bit more realistic. 

I finally put the trucks on apiece of wood though and this was as good as it was going to get with my limited tools and skills(and time).  Nothing like putting your fingers right next to the wheels and pushing yourself around.  Oh, and throwing in a pair of scissors on the front of the board for an added amount of risk and danger.

 

Matthew loves to play catch.  he is pretty brave, but starts to cry pretty easily as well....not a good combination, but a lot of it is drama.  I don't do drama.

 

Mom picked up a book from the library the other day and in the back it had a craft idea for building a house out of an old box..

Once again, I got home and had a lecture on how it was supposed to be done.  I think James and Matthew have taken the tiny house movement a little to far here though.  I have a sneaking suspicion the tiny house movement is really a government conspiracy, but cant prove it yet.

 

For Brenda and Izumi's birthday last year they got a caller and we had a square dance at the house.  This year it did not work out to have the party on or near there birthdays, but they still wanted a party so who am I to say no.

Once again we got a caller and had a dance.  I think there was about 40 people there including kids and we had a blast.

It was a perfect night with the weather and the smoke clearing.  It is really great to sit out on the back porch and hang out on evenings like this.

 

Just so no one gets the wrong impression, it is not always unicorns and rainbows.  Below is a common sight at the De Jong house.  Typically it plays out that one kid gets in trouble and then the other kid pesters the one on timeout....then the other kid also gets timeout and all of the tears and whining come out in full force.

I am absent of any feelings or caring so it is easy for me to laugh it off and not worry about it, but sometimes I slip and do care a little bit.  If you are taking my comments seriously or think I really am devoid of emotions, you probably should stop reading my blog because you obviously don't get sarcasm.

 

This past weekend I got a Sunday afternoon to go out and play on the bike a bit.

mmmmmmm...BMW....m...mmmmm

The scenery is also not so bad.  The area I drove in just got shut down to all recreational use this week due to fires and fire danger.  I was lucky to get out there and enjoy some dirt roads through the Coeur d'Alene NF.