Rockragious Garden

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

BOO!

I don't know who was more excited to go trick or treating....the kids or all the adults who trailed along. Here's some highlights...
NEMO...starring *Annie*

DINO....starring *Mathias*

PUPPY....starring *Alex* seriously what else would he want to be?

TIGER....starring *Dominic* yikes I lost my shoe!

PUNCHING BAG.....starring *Paul* believe it or not he got 3rd place at work for this!

80's DISCO DUDE.....starring *John*

MOLLY....as *herself* seriously....remember her hair growing up?

THE BOXER....starring *Robyn*

The DISCO DUDE and Molly hook up with a tiger for a pet...

Trick or Treat!

Some people kiss gnomes for luck....others kiss....skeleton lights!

Or anyone else who might be handy....

Friday, October 30, 2009

I love Halloween because it signifies the closing of the year for me. All of a sudden the leaves have changed color, the garden goes to sleep and its Autumn. The color ORANGE is suddenly fashionable. With the arrival of new babies in our lives Holidays take on new meaning.

Alex kissing the garden gnome. He kissed every statue in the garden.

We're kids again...teaching new kids how to have fun. Seriously...have you ever taken the time to actually play with an 18 month old? I have this opportunity every week. For example...Robyn had an eye appt. so I watched Alex for an hour at the appt. We ran up and down the stairs, drank from the drinking fountains, then went outside. We played in the leaves, swung from the bike racks, walked on the curbs without falling into hot lava, threw rocks in the creek nearby, collected dinosaur eggs for gramsi's garden, threw helicopters into the air (the seeds with wings) and made the noises for helicopters, rode the construction cones like horses. We learned "danger." When a car comes I yell "danger!" and we run to the curb and jump up on it until the danger passes. It's amazing how well I can communicate with these little ones. They talk to me all the time and I know what they're talking about. Life has become new again through their eyes.

Here's some pictures from our annual trip to a nearby farm. Enjoy the little ones in your life. Try and see the world through their eyes and take the time to actually play with them. Get down on their level and be little again!

This farm is so amazing. They have a local 4H group run various activies for cheap! You can go in and pet all the animals for free. The pony rides cost $1
Going in the *maze*. It was dark in here but they loved it.

Ridin the pony...alex

Dominic feeding the goat...one kernel at a time...

I loved this next shot because they're so cute in their little overalls.

My camera battery died too soon but I'll get more pics from the moms.
And yes I knitted the cute hats and made the scarfs. Always in the height of fashion.
Dominic...

and here's a rare moment...Alex posing...standing still? a miracle!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Old St. Francis in Bend, Oregon

We went with Randy to Bend and stayed in this cool little place called McMenamins Old St. Francis Hotel. McMenamins is known for their terrific pub food. They like to buy old schools and turn them into hotels/pubs. This one is an old catholic school.
We stayed in the Parish House. It was a 2 story 5 bedroom house. Very luxurious. The decor was old fashioned.

Above is the front of the house.
Here's the back. The path led right to a cozy little patio with fires burning to keep you warm.

I LOVED the fence which went all around the property.

There were cool finials on the posts.

Brick paths took you all over to the different houses.

In every room there were words written on the walls with a hand painted picture.

Here's one of the bedrooms.

In another building was the hotel if you just wanted one room. We had to go down this
really cool hallway to get to the soaking pool.

It was really dim inside. The hall was lined with pictures of students who went through the school. For those of you who know me see if you can spot me in this photo. It was kind of creepy really because it looks just like an outfit I used to wear.

Here's the soaking pool. It's actually a giant hot tub with no jets or bubbles.
Just this cool fountain with stalactites growing on it. And the lion heads spouting warm water.

The whole room was done in these tiled mosaics. Very pretty!

Here's another funny hall picture.

We ate dinner in the Theater. The movie was The Proposal. It was hysterical.

The theater seating was old fashioned love seats. It was really cool and comfy actually.
You ordered your food and drinks in the back and during the movie they brought you your food. Alex was terrible so Robyn had to take him swimming in the soaking pool so that was kind of terrible for her in a way. But Alex loved the pool. The food was delicious and I loved sitting so comfortably to watch a movie.
The next morning we walked downtown and found this great crepe place for breakfast. There was this man sitting on a bench with his wallet open. Randy put money in it. LOL!

Then we went to Smith Rock. This is a famous rock climbing place.
I'll tell that adventure next time.
Here's one more picture of the cool fence. I want...I want...I want...

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

A Blog Book

Thanks to Megan for turning me on to this idea. Making a Blog book from my blog.
This is a top quality hard bound book. Here's the front cover.

My first entry.

This last pic is the back of the book.

I used blurb.com. It was very easy to do. For this book I did the
first two years. I'll make another book for 2009. I added collage pages
to this book. The photos are top quality. I was amazed at how professional
looking it turned out. This book cost 60.00. A small price to pay for a copy
of my online journal complete with pictures. You know how we're supposed
to keep journals! yeah!

Monday, September 28, 2009

Is It a GIRL or a BOY?

We had fun with Sari's belly. Here's our vote tally for her coming baby:

We told her not to wash it off. She's going in Tuesday to find out for real!
What's your vote?

Monday, August 24, 2009

Puppy Love

Alex loves Lucy. Here's his favorite way to give her a treat.

Of course he always eats one himself to the dismay of his mother.
But here is pure love.........giving kisses....

***
He really likes to pretend he's a puppy. We're always snatching up the puppy food
when he comes to visit because it's his favorite snack.
Lucy's bed is his favorite hang out. (also if no one is looking it's a great way to sneak outside)

Sunday, July 26, 2009

FAMILY CAMPOUT 2009

We had another terrific family campout this year on the South Umpqua River. Not as many as last years 65 number. Closer to 40 this year. For some odd reason the weather decided to dive into the 70's from our 105 heat wave. And then the following week it soared back into the 100's. Good thing we all are made of whale blubber or don whale blubber in the guise of a wetsuit. It was a lot of fun. Too short as usual...we even dodged a few rain showers.
Eating is always on the agenda...here's Dominic guzzling some milk in his cute chair.

Jeff made spaghetti and Alex was all over it...literally...

Sheldon was high tech with his microwave. His truck had a plug in for it. Can you believe that?

Here's Hunter in his Suave Pink Wrap with his slaves before him feeding him grapes on the beach.

Roasting Marshmellows for smores is always popular.

Fat Man in his chair...

Look! That there is rain a comin! Let's build us some shelter!
Ben and Christian...

Even Gavin helped...

Rain Gnome...

On to the beach....
We didn't go swimming without protection. Heres a pink fighter complete with pink goggles and pink fighter gun. (Nuala)

ONE....

PLUS ONE....

EQUALS 2..........

Sittin on a log.........Preston, Zac, Ben, Jeff, Hills, Sheldon

Hiking to Acker Rock...

It's a little creepy walking around up here. It's sheer drop off all around.
Here's our friends Gavin and Amanda.

We got to go inside the lookout. It was really cool. You can rent it and sleep and cook in it.

But if you have to go to the bathroom....then it's down these steep stairs...

a short hike along the trail to this...a room with a view...

Ben really had to go so here he is making sure no one is looking...hehehe...I am stealthy...

This is such a fun thing to do every year. I wish there was a pavilion with stadium seating so all of us could perform talents and such.
And even though we spent a great deal of time keeping the grantwids out of the fire it was sure worth all the trouble to get here.
We made new friends and caught up with old friends.
We saw a lot of these two. They are so amazing and FUN! I LOVE love love them!