Exploring an old volcano - Ape Caves, Lava Canyon

First, let me say that there are no apes in Ape Cave.  Dad said it probably got its name because of the frequent sasquatch sightings in that area (Mountain Apes).  Second, let me say that there are no (recent) Sasquatch sightings in Ape Cave.  Dad's hunt to find Bigfoot continues.  Amelia thinks the Bigfoots (or is it Bigfeet) ran away when Mt. St. Helens exploded.

Regardless, this past weekend was filled with a lot of exploring and some hiking.  On Sunday, we went to Ape Caves.  For my birthday, I received a lot of cool stuff, including a new backpack (perfect for hiking), a headlamp shaped like a panda and a new lantern.  I needed somewhere to test my gear.  Somewhere like a pitch black cave without bats (panda headlamps and Amelia are afraid of bats).

 Ape Caves was perfect.  It is an unlit, natural, underground lava tube (I call it a cave still).  Equipped with winter hats, coats, my backpack and plenty of lighting, we wandered through the dark, like explorers.  It was so dark, I could turn off the flashlights and not tell if my eyes were open or closed. 

Amelia and Dad made a hiking video of their adventure in the tunnel, check it out. 

Dad says the lighting is a little "Blair Witch" - whatever that means.  I think it is not so interesting to watch someone walk through the dark.

After a 1.5 mile hike down and back through the cave, we had lunch and rested for our next hike.  Lava Canyon.  I was excited, because I am struggling with the concept of lava and liquid earth/rocks.  How can rocks be like water?  For those wondering, Lava Canyon does not have any liquid lava, just a river running through an exposed lava chute.  It was still pretty cool.  Because of the higher elevation, the canyon had cooler temperatures so the leaves had already started to change!  The trees were like a rainbow.

 Amazingly, after 2.5 miles of hiking in one day (my farthest yet), I did not fall asleep on the long car ride home (mom did though, hehe). 

Unrelated to Sunday's activities, on Saturday, we had the neighbors over for s'mores.  As you can see in the picture below, we are sitting on a new bench that Dad, Amelia and I built Saturday morning.  Last weekend, we rescued a really cool and heavy wooden pallet.  After some labor, we turned it into a bench!  Now, we just need to paint it. 

Check out all of the pictures from Ape Cave, Lava Canyon and our Marshmallow Roast here.  Here's another link to Dad and Amelia's video.

Peace Out,
Phin

Dancing Queen - I'm no Queen, but I'm going to be a flower in the Nutcracker!

Phin loves trucks, trains, buses, cars..., but I love dancing (and pink and purple).  On the road trip to Portland, I kept telling Mom that I wanted to dance. On the way, we stopped with a friend who did gymnastic; mom would ask "Do you want to take a tumbling class?"  I would always say no, "I want to dance."   Maybe it was because I was stuck in a car seat and wanted to move.

 

So when we got to Portland, Mom found a nearby ballet studio and signed me up for dance.  I look forward every Thursday to going to dance. On Tuesdays, I ask if its time for dance.  On Saturdays, I ask if its time for dance.  On Sundays, I invite Dad to come to dance (although I do not have dance on Sundays, just Thursdays).  I love dance so much that I want to go every day I'm not at school

 

 

I also love my dance outfit.  Pink tight pants, special shoes and a black top - so great.  I get excited to put on my special dance outfit.  

 

In addition to practicing my ballet moves, we also get to have fun dancing.  We jump over a stuffed turtle, dance like cats and birds, and just have a lot of fun.  You can check out all of my dancing pictures here.

Lots of Love,
Amelia

Happy 5th Birthday To Me!

This past weekend, my Nana, Papa, Grandma & Grandpa came in to celebrate my 5th birthday!  It was a fantastic long weekend filled with adventures around Portland.  We showed our visitors some of what Portland has to offer.  The weekend was capped off with my birthday party - an afternoon dedicated just to me (although I invited Amelia as well).

This year, I told Mom and Dad that I wanted a Train Birthday party.  They thought I would want a bowling birthday party - but I had not had a train one yet. 

• My First Birthday party was a caterpillar party, but I do not remember it.
• My Second birthday party was a Dig Truck themed event at the soft play room in Virginia
• For my Third birthday, we had a bring-your-own-bike & eat peanut butter party at Birthday Party Park (aka Under the Bridge Park, aka Jones Point Park)
• For my Fourth Birthday, we had a huge Under the Sea party with sea animals in the courtyard of our old Virginia house

As you can see, No Train Birthday yet.  So this year, we had a train birthday - because I love, love, love trains!

To get to my train party, Nana, Grandpa, Memoo and I rode the MAX (Portland's version of Metro).  Luckily, they just opened the new Orange line last week and it runs right to my party (yeah)!

The party was a lot of fun - we had it at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center.  The party was in a train shed, where they house and work on locomotives.  It was cool. Mom made a cupcake train and my friends and I got to paint wooden engines, box cars, passenger cars and cabooses. 

Afterwards, a bunch of us when on a train ride - we rode in the caboose.  While the train did not go far (just to the amusement park and back), it was a lot of fun.  I do love trains after all (not that you can tell from this picture).  When it is not taking me for a ride, this train parks in a mini-depot 5 blocks from my house.  I love to drive by and see the train parked.  I love it even more when I can run down to the tracks and what the train drive by (slowly) on its way to the depot.

To cap off my birthday, Mom asked what kind of special treat I wanted.  I wanted a donut, just like we had for Amelia's birthday.  So, off to Voodoo donuts - Memoo and I split an M&M donut.  It was delicious!

 

You can check out all of the pictures from my birthday party here!  Additionally, for those wondering "where are pictures from Amelia's 3rd birthday party?"  I don't know either.  Apparently, Dad forgot to take any or collect any.  No worries, she got some cool gifts though.

 

Peace Out,
Phin @ 5

First Oregon Camping Trip - First Camping Trip with Friends - First Whale Sighting - First Really Really Long Blog Title

A few weeks back, Dad decided that we were "sufficiently settled and need to go camping before it go to cold."  Knowing that I love the beach, he booked us a campsite at a small state park on Oregon's Pacific coast.  Avid blog readers know that I love camping and I love the beach.  But, I especially love to go camping on/near the beach. 

It has been a few years since our last beach camping trip and I was excited for another try.  The last adventure ended with a broken and flooded tent (60+ mph winds and a torrential rainstorm at night that nearly blew our tent away), and complete loss of my bladder control (I was only 2 at the time and salty waves + air makes me pee everywhere).  This time we were better equipped: we camped among the trees and brought a lot of extra clothes.

Back in DC, it took 2.5 hours (with no traffic; but there was ALWAYS traffic) to drive to the beach.  Another reason I love Oregon - with terrible traffic, it only took us 2.5 hours to reach the State's Central coast!  On the way down the coast to our campground, we stopped for taffy, looked out towards the ocean and spotted a whale spout (shooting water out of its blow hole).  Dad was so excited!

Anyway, we made it to camp just in time to set up, eat dinner and ride to the beach to see the sunset.  I have not seen a sunset in a long time - I'm usually sleeping - and I cannot say that it was very interesting.  The sun gets brighter and then fell behind the clouds.  I wished it goodnight and then we biked back to the campground.  I was glad the sun set, because I like seeing stars.

The next morning, we woke up and went to Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area & Lighthouse.  What a crazy name, but for those wondering, it really was outstanding and it protruded into the water.  I really wanted to take the lighthouse tour - so Dad and I went.  It was the tallest lighthouse in Oregon, 114 steps.  It was also the longest lighthouse tour in Oregon, an hour. And the most anti-climatic ending lighthouse tour in Oregon, you can only peek your head up to the top.  So, after enduring an hour long tour and 114 steps up, I could not see the final view (too short) at the top.  This might be my last lighthouse tour for a while.

 In the photos above, you can see me running back down the stairs - get me out of this boring tour.  Meanwhile, Memoo and Mom hung out nearby.  After the lighthouse - we went to the tidal pools nearby saw starfish.

 Next it, was time to hit the beach by the campground.  I found all sorts of cool things on the beach.  I found Kelp.  I found Jellyfish.  I found that the kelp can be used to attack the jellyfish.  I love the beach. 

 It was a great camping trip.  Our neighbors (the ones with the chickens and goats) came to join us Saturday afternoon, evening and Sunday morning.  I had never been camping with friends, it was fun.  I especially loved showing them how to roast a marshmallow and make s'mores. 

You can check out all of our beach camping trip photos here.

Peace Out,
Phin

Flowers Galore

Last weekend, in addition to our goat ride, we went to a Dahlia Festival.  Who knew the countries largest Dahlia farm is located about 30 minutes from our house.  What's a Dahlia - it is a crazy, but beautiful (and not fragrant) flower.  It had been a while since we saw giant fields of flowers; so we were super excited for this adventure.  The garden at the festival was in full bloom and we found a few we loved - especially one called Pooh (Mom said it was named after a bear called Winnie; but I think it was named for a different reason, hehe) - that we may try to plant this winter/spring.  What was so different about Dahlias was their diversity - some were huge (bigger than my face) while others were tiny.  Some were pointy, like balls of fire, while others were round and smooth.  They are crazy flowers.

Anyway, you can view the whole album here and enjoy a few of my favorites below.

What was extra cool about the Dahlia festival, was the neighboring farm had a train you could ride on!  Can't wait to go back.

Peace Out PDX,
Phin