Daisy and Jered's Hike

Jered and Daisy went on the most beautiful looking hike on Monday. They headed up and behind work, and got some magnificent shots. The following is Jered's latest contribution to blogland.

It is such a colorful time of year all around.

After some time (it looks like) a clearing opened up and a view of the ocean appeared, what a treat.

Daisy will never walk too far ahead, no matter who she is hiking with. She may walk in front at times, but a minute never goes by where she doesn't turn to check and make sure you are still there. Very sweet, not like I know what she would do if you weren't there, probably just go and find someone with a doggy door to walk through and live happily ever after.....but either way, she is a pretty good hiking partner.

She does get very tired now in her older age, and deserves a rest under a super cool car after a long hike like that. She is just lucky I have a super cool car.

Tony's Birthday Party

Jennifer took the family up to Canal Creek Campground for the weekend celebrating Tony's 9th birthday. It was a beautiful afternoon up there, and it was nice to get to take a drive up the Alsea. I didn't live down there very long, but I did get attached to the area; it has a wonderful wilderness.Santos is always pretty cute though too.

Jennifer, cooking like it is no big deal. And like always, there is smoke blowing in someone's face. That happens to be Laura, one of Jennifer's co-workers. Not the best time of the night for her.

Carmen was very nice to make sure that Daisy was having fun. There were a ton of dogs all throughout the campground, so I figured one less would be sustainable, so she stayed in the car except for a short walk.

Tony, just before eating a cupcake for his birthday. He is having a ton of fun at his Halloween, I mean, birthday party.

Santos loved to hold Daisy's leash on our walk. It got ran over by the stroller a few times, which caused quite a fiasco, but nothing too big to handle.

Daisy and I left after that, we were saving our outdoor sleeping for another time, hopefully coming really soon!

Daisy's Adventure..Not in Wonderland

Daisy is in big trouble!
Oh, but how can you get mad at that face!!?
At some point after 3PM (after Jered went to work) part of the fence that encloses the back yard fell down. I suppose she rolled around in the grass for some time, not really paying any attention, but at some point (around 6:30 or so) she realized that part of the fence was missing, so she proceeded to wander out. Since there is nothing but more fencing surrounding almost the entire property, the fences just led her up the driveway and out onto the busy highway.

That day I had been lazily chatting after work, messing around doing errands, and visiting with Jennifer and Santos. Before I left town I decided to go up to the middle school and go for a jog. After the jog, I checked my phone, only to see a very odd local phone number that I had never seen before. I, of course, waited to see if they left a voicemail, which they did. It was a crazy message.......

"Hi, we were sitting in our living room, and a dog walked through our doggy door.....Ummmm, her name is Daisy and her collar has this number on it. Please call us back!"

I was driving by this time also but I quickly pulled over to gather myself before I called these people back! What!!! Daisy just walked through their door and started hanging out!! I couldn't believe my ears.

Daisy continued on the highway, as if we were walking to get the mail, but then proceeded to turn onto Fred Taylor Road just before town. She walked down what would be a few blocks, until she saw/smelled something familiar. Then she just WALKS INTO SOMEONES HOUSE! She was around 1/2 mile away from home at this point!

So when I get there to pick her up, I realize that this house is familiar! OMG! Daisy and I had house sat in the same house, like, six (or so) years ago!! Did she remember this house, and therefore think that she should be able to just walk in?? Did she go inside looking for the attention that she once got (maybe I am just freaking out a little:)?? There she is, walking around with the new renters having the time of her life. They were really nice and understanding, and seemed like most, to enjoy Daisy's company. I was utterly grateful, yet still a little stunned at the coincidence. I really wonder if she remembered staying there. But really just glad that I have her back and she didn't get hit by a car.

Jered fixed the gate today, so it probably won't happen again. It is a very happy ending for all of us, so we continue our adventures in wonderland.

Santos' First Hair Cut

I have to admit, I was nervous the first time Jennifer decided to cut Santos' hair. He had the most beautiful curls, and so often they don't grow back after the first cutting. Wrong I was! His curls are back with full force!! He is so beautiful!

Stairs to the river

During this recent hike we came across a pump house ran by the city of Toledo. Behind the house there were stairs that went all the way to the river. Daisy and I attempted to walk down the stairs, but she didn't understand that it was the stairs that she should stay on. She proceeded to jump over the stairs to the "ramp" and started to slide down toward the river. Luckily, she was on leash, so I managed to pull her back onto the stairs. Needless to say, she stayed at the top as I walked down after that.

We continued on the walk after that, even though there was some embarrassment by some.

This spider did not want me coming any closer to his foxglove. Creepy!

Grass seed.....my latest nemesis!

Weekend Guests

We had a weekend full of wonderful guests that made our Siletz home even more enjoyable than it already is. I also don't think I would have realized how awesome the playground at the school is.

Crew enjoyed it very much also, and expressed his excitement with some impressive agility!

And I really don't think it is possible for these two to have been cuter! It is just crazy!

Oh, I mean these three......It is just crazy!

I was excited to see what a hit my Lowe's car was. It was almost as fun as plastic bottles.

It was sad to see the weekend come to an end, but hopefully it won't be the last time we have weekend guests! ;)

Second Float....Beyond our home

For our second float of the summer, we were interested in exploring what was down stream from our house. There is a Elks campground (very nice looking) just a few miles away, so Jered parked his rig there, and we launched from out in front of our house. Less than 500 yards from the starting point, we had to get out and walk for a minute to get around a giant tree that crossed our path. Other than that, it was smooth sailing......kinda.
The Cow Parsnip is blooming everywhere. It looks great with the green.

There appeared to be an abundance of agriculture land down stream from us. These guys (and two more) decided to come down and visit us as we passed by. Maybe they thought we were going to drink all of the water, so they needed to make sure they got one last drink. Yum, that makes me thirsty just thinking about it.

There were just as many beautiful waterfalls below us as there was above.

Yay, after almost three hours we passed the first bridge, one more to go. I didn't think it was going to take that long.......

But then yet, as we approach the second bridge (which equaled out to over six hours of floating:) I appear to be so sad........

It was a long day, but there wasn't another place I would rather be. More floating to come!!!!

The wait was worth it!

Got the new appliances set up early this morning. On the fourth or fifth load right now. The set up is a little funky right now, and with them being so short, the hoses are sticking out of the washer. We will figure it out though. We already changed the way the dryer door opens, first step into the refining period.
What an exciting day!

It will be a late night of celebrating and clothes cleaning!

State Park Day!

State Park Day is a super fun day where the parks are celebrated and they give tons of stuff away! It started out with donoughts in the morning, thanks to Jenette, Millie, and Royetta.
And of course Lorraine!

Joanne and Barry were nice enough to show up for the special event, and Sharon (right) was one of the many volunteers.

Lisa and family managed to compile together and make it out!

JR Beaver even stopped by! JR and Hailey.

Maya in her stroller.

Jennifer, Santos and Tony also stopped by for the barbeque.

Rhyson being a goofball.

JR Beaver, Santos and Jennifer. Santos would not give JR Beaver the time of day, it was really funny. JR Beaver hugging Trace and Hailey. This is a big advancement for Trace, last year he was scared to death of JR Beaver, so it was nice that they came to an understanding (very adorable!).

Tony, looking as uncomfortable as a little boy could be, hugging JR Beaver. He was a little cranky though.....:)

JR Beaver with his stick hot dog. Also a very cute little girl in the background.

There was a little fiddle and guitar band playing all the while inside of the woodbin, because of course, it is sprinkling the entire time and they needed to keep their instruments dry. But they added to the greatness of the festivities this year. Kate and JR sure seemed to like it!!

Hailey and Trace got to try out cooking some hamburgers and hot dogs. They look so super impressed.

Oh, wait, now Trace is having fun!

Gavin is sneaking a hot dog while Hailey is hard at work!

Pete is giving Trace further instructions on the art of "burger flipping."

Trace then becomes board and eats a boat full of yogurt covered animal crackers. It should be an interesting afternoon.

At the end of the barbecue the last of the hot dogs were poked to death by Trace, Hailey, Gavin, and Melina, but it was all in good fun.

They cleaned up their mess anyway! What good kids!

The clean up was quickly followed up by a water balloon game in the day use area. Very good thing that I did not bring my camera to that event!

Although this may have been the smallest overall turn out that I have seen (in 4 years) for the park activities, I think this one was very special. There was a really fun vibe in the air, there were tons of people I care about there, weather working, volunteering, or just hanging out. JR beaver was awesome! The music rocked as well, it was a great idea. Events like this one are always a little stressful in planning and performing, but well worth it when it is as fun as it was today. Days like today I have to stop and go, "I can't believe I get paid to do this!!"