For everyone curious to know

how the kitchen

is coming along.

MT. BIKE OREGON
AND SOME
HOWARD PRAIRIE CAMPING

While Mick spent a three-day weekend with his brother at Mt. Bike Oregon, which they planned five months ago, the kids and I spent a three-day weekend at Howard Prairie, which we planned five days ago.

I can vaguely report that Mick came home exhausted and happy (maybe he'll post his own blog?), and I can specifically report that the kids and I came home exhausted and happy as well.

Howard Prairie on Lake Hyatt is just a half hour out of Ashland - 17 miles out Dead Indian Memorial Road. (The kids and I think this is a sad and lonely name - and when we learn why it's called that, we'll report back.)

We arrived at noon on Friday and scoped out a coveted LAKESIDE spot and spent the afternoon kayaking and swimming on the lake and doing a little bike riding through the campground. The kids also got to do a little jet skiing.

Dane admired the jetskis of the family on the beach next to us and the dad came over and whispered to me later that if my boy wanted a ride on the jet ski, he'd be happy to take him. He wanted to see if I was comfortable with that. He and his wife and baby and in-laws were totally wholesome and warm and I told him my kid would think it was awesome.

So, both Dane and Aubrey took rides with Chad on his sit-down jet ski and squealed and steered and smiled the whole 10 minutes of each of their rides. I just stood on the beach smiling and thrilled for them.

Other than the jet skiing highlight, we woke up around 8 on Friday and took a ride in the kayak together on a calm morning lake. I paddled the sit-on-top and the kids each sat on an end, dragging their feet through the water.

Later that morning, we took a six mile bike ride on a trail part-way round the lake and had a blast. Dane just zipped ahead - but always made sure to stop at decent intervals so we didn't get separated for long - and Aubrey used those little knobby tires like a pro, saying things like, "I think we should go the whole way round the lake!" (it's 15 miles) and "Mom, I'm mountain bike riding!"

We stopped at one point at a place like this:


I didn't have a camera with me and I didn't have a piece of paper or pencil, but I memorized the moment -- the scene, the scent, and especially what my boy said -- because it about melted me into the ground.

He stood there really still, squinting at the landscape, and said - speaking with this sort of cadence where he lingers on his key words (I'll emphasize them for you):

This place is a beauty.
You've got your tall trees growin' over there...
You've got this great big lake here...
You've got all this green grass growin'...

Then a slow, audible sigh.

Yeah, that about sums it up, I think.

Later, after a return ride, where Aubrey handled herself like a champ (her chain came off at least 8 times, and she only broke down to cry on about the eighth time), some friends joined us.

Here's some Chix in the Stix with our Pips:

Girl pips.

Grubby Mom feet.

Chix on the beach.

Boyz In the Hatch.

CONDITIONED

When I ask why he's rubbing conditioner all over himself in the bathtub, Dane tells me, "Um, the bottle says it's for extra body."

Box R Ranch Trip as told by Dane

So, on the first day, I was at the YMCA for the beginning. We packed up all our stuff and we took a long time for us to go there, and then we were driving there. And in the middle of the drive the girls bus stalled - it's true - and they had to wait there for an hour.

So, we took all our stuff into the tipi and we set up everything. Everybody had their own spot for their clothes and sleeping bag. I was with Keller, William, Ben, Isaiah, Jorge, Carson, and Mason. My camp counselor was named Tucker. I didn't know any of them - except I met Keller at a birthday party once - before I went to camp.

We went to sleep in our tipis and then we woke up for Polar Bear Swim. It was warm, but the water slide was cold and we weren't allowed to do the zip line. This was at 6:30 in the morning. And then we started rotations.

One of the rotations was going swimming again; another was art; and the last was sports. The next day we did archery. And I was not that good. So, there was hay and a target. And in the target there was a yellow, black, green, and a red and yellow. Yellow was the bullseye. I got the worst ever. Wanna know why? I got two in the hay and one in the white. But it's still my favorite thing.

On Wednesday we did a campfire. We roasted s'mores and they were yummy. It was a very cold night so it was nice doing that. That night, it was actually kind of raining.

Every night there was skits. There was a really good skit. This wasn't my group - and it was cows with guns. And my group did the midget exercise once -- we were midgets and we did exercises and stuff. We weren't in midget mode but we put shoes on our knees. It was a funny play. One of the counselors said, "So far, that's the best play."

Then there was the broncin' barrell. It's an awesome barrell ride of sorts. You'll have to see when we go. It's freaky -- I know how to work it, though.

When I was going there, I thought it would be a giant box with an R on it and it would have a bunch of ranch dressing in it. It's true. But it was really a giant ranch.

Every morning, I just put on clothes. I didn't care if they were clean or dirty. *

I want to go back next year!

By Dane Reynolds



*Note: Mom here. This is true. His duffle bag had many clean clothes in it when he returned. I think Dane wore the same clothes 3 days in a row -- underwear included.

What are we going to do with her?

My fart smells like barbecue chicken. -Aubrey, age 7

DANE COMES HOME TODAY!

Aubrey's been counting the days. Well, the hours and minutes, really. Hope Dane has some great stuff to tell us. Karen's right: he should post a blog giving everybody the scoop.



On another note: R.I.P., John Hughes...

My generation grew up on his stuff. Personal favs: Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Say Anything, and She's Having a Baby.

Loved thinking about marriage and love through Hughes' eyes with that last one - I always think of the scene where there are complications with the delivery and Kevin Bacon's crying in the waiting room to a Kate Bush song. Gets me every time I even think of it.

But now that I write that, I think Say Anything is the serious winner - with John Cusack hoisting that boom box up over his head...

BIKE BALLS

Quote of the Day

Aubrey, riding her bike into a curb, yells, "Ow! That hurt my nuts!"

BOX R RANCH

Guess who's heading out on his first week of overnight camp? And guess who gets to sleep in a tipi, hop out of the sack early for Polar Bear Swims, shoot arrows from a bow, and stay up late round a campfire?

That's right. Little Roscoe's headed off to YMCA camp. Aubrey's been telling him every ten minutes for the last two days that she misses him already. He's been packed and ready to go since Friday.

The rest of us will stay home and wish him well -- we'll also surprise him with some gooshy lipsticky HoneyBoy Reynolds mail so he can have the full camp experience. Of course.

Click here to get the lay of the land.

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