I have build and put up shelves in each of the kids rooms except PJ and he asked for some this spring.
I got a piece of cut juniper from a guy selling them on the side of the road near Sunriver for $20. I sanded it down, then cut it adding a light pre-stain and then polyurethane to bring out the color of the wood grain.
We used some shelf bars we have had from our first apartment in Huntington Beach after getting married.
PJ is super excited!
My good friend mark has been doing a high school boys Bible study since the start of the school year. He wanted to get all the boys out plus a couple of additional boys that will be starting high school next year (our Noah for example). We have been planning it for about a month. In total we had 18 people. 12 boys and 6 adults.
Mark and I would run gear rafts and our friend Justin who works for CRU at the college would run a raft full of kids and the older boys would run in a smaller raft on their own. (Jack and hunter both have familiarity running this one).
Mark and Justin ran the programming for the weekend and I was camp cook!
We were a bit worried about the weather as it had just been snowing a little over a week earlier but we were blessed with good weather. Cool at night but nice spring days during the day.
We did a 3 day run on the lower Deschutes leaving Friday and coming back Sunday. Boys had an absolute blast and it was amazing to see them bond as brothers in Christ.
Dads also had a great time hanging out and bonding with the boys as well. Food was great and always enjoyable to share meals together. Food pics- night 1 - big pot of chilli and second photo is a peach cobbler I did.
We have been rafting as a family the last couple of years on borrowed equipment. This year we invested in our own equipment. It’s hard to find something that everyone enjoys together and this is one of those things. With that you need a way to transport the raft so I set about building a removable platform for our trailer to carry the raft inflated.
April 14. Mid April snow! It has actually snowed 3 days this week already.
More … April 16
We go camping on Paulina lake often in the summer. I have never been up in the winter. The resort on Paulina lake is actually open for a few months in the winter but you cannot drive in - hike or snowmobile only from a snow park that is a few miles down the road.
Noah and I drove up Friday afternoon and hiked in staying at one of the small 2 person cabins for the night.
On the way in we stopped and hiked down to Paulina falls. Again - a place we have visited in summer but not in winter. Really pretty.
A restaurant we enjoy in Sisters called the Open Door has as outdoor greenhouse you can eat in. I booked it and we went with some friends to enjoy a meal with some of our close friends.
This year’s trip will be long remembered by the boys. We went to the Alvord desert in far southeastern Oregon to ride motorcycles. 3 dads and 9 boys!
For mid-late October the weather was spectacular. Cold night down to freezing but warm days in the 60’s.
It’s about a 4 hour drive from Bend. Just as we got to the edge of the desert one of the rigs got a flat so we did a fix on that hoping it wasn’t an omen for the weekend:).
While we fixed the flat Noah started running across the desert. Our destination was likely about 6 miles across to the other side! We actually passed him on the way over but I got a video of him running into our camp spot.
Shots of the boys riding. My favorite is the picture I captured of Hunter pulling a wheely at sunset.
Pictures from around camp.
Couple shots of the desert at sunrise. Peaceful and beautiful.
Previous years:
Abbie really wanted to do a canoe camping trip this year so this weekend I took her to Waldo lake. We have camped there a few years back but there are some dispersed wilderness sites on the other side of the lake that you have to search to find.
The weather was spectacular this weekend, especially given it was the last weekend in September
We launched from Islet boat ramp. The water was like glass most of trip across the lake
We found a great spot on a point on the far western side of the lake with the tent spot hidden up in the trees but still with a view of the lake and lots of rocky beach to explore. Waldo does not allow any gas engines and with no people anywhere near us to was amazingly quiet. It actually sounds strange to hear no humam-made noises.
We had a great time sitting around the fire and making dinner together. We made pizza and salad for dinner with campfire cones for desert!
We rose when the sun got up- had coffee and hot chocolate followed by a breakfast of egg burritos using eggs from Abbie’s chickens!
Our trip back across was not quite as calm once we got out on the open water so it was good practice for abbie.
This years campout was a little different with no fires allowed due to drought conditions. It makes you realize how much a part of camping the campfire is. How it becomes the gathering place for meals and talking with its light and heat.
Nonetheless we made the best out of our 5 days away! Our friends the Christoff's came up for a couple days/nights as well!
