Playdate

Today we went to Isabelle's house for a playdate. The girls had fun playing - we haven't been getting together every week because of summer travels by both families.

On her bike

Holly got on her bike today - she's been somewhat reluctant to ride since she took an over-the-handle-bars tumble at the park. Since then she's been wearing elbow pads as well as knee pads when she gets on the bike. Today was the first time in a while she took both feet off the ground instead of just walk-riding it.

Good job, Dad!

Daddy's birthday

Today we celebrated Daddy's birthday at Tai-Poh and Tai-Kong's house. Mommy made a yummy ice cream cake with Breyer's Creme Caramel ice cream and lots of Malteser balls! Yummy! Daddy and I had 3 helpings and even Tai-Kong had seconds!

A birthday party!

Today we went to Sarah's 3rd birthday party. It was at a model train railway - a great idea!

Here are some of the party goers pretending to be on the train...















Waiting for the cake - with the birthday girl looking kind of bored... where is that cake?!










A princess cake - Sarah is a "princess" fan, just like Holly!











Enjoying her cupcake...

Race day in the Gorge

We tented for 2 nights down in the Gorge. This morning was race day for Mommy and Daddy. I got to drink my morning milk in my bed! Pink baby Lilo, Keiki bear and Pooh bear came with me and slept in the pockets beside me.



















The start of Daddy's race - his team is in 3rd place after about 2 minutes, but they win the race! Yeah Daddy!














Here is Daddy being interviewed for one of the sports channels - maybe we'll get to see it on TV!



















Mommy got a medal, too. She came 3rd in the Women's Open division with the Kai Ikaika crew from Portland, Oregon.

In the photo: Heidi, Bren, Cathy & Miranda (Mommy) - missing are Torey and Erin.

Bear pancake

This morning we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant and Holly had a kids' pancake breakfast with bacon (one of her favourites). The chefs made the pancake in the shape of a bear with jam dots for the face. Yummy!

She's not smiling because she has some bacon in her mouth - and at the bottom of the photo you can see she brought some of her cars with her for breakfast.

Morning paddle

Paul went for a quick paddle this morning to test out his canoe (he had a small accident with it during the solo race in Gibsons). The water was quite flat and still - not at all like it normally is in the afternoon! Here he is paddling towards the pier in Stevenson and showing Holly and me how easily he can "fly" the ama!

Hood River Railroad

Daddy surprised us by getting us tickets to ride the Hood River Railroad.

Here I am with Brown Bear, waiting for Daddy to pick up our tickets.














I thought I'd get a shot of the town before we left...














Daddy took this one of me and Mommy on the train.














We got to see and experience a "switchback" during our ride. There are only 5 switchbacks in all of the USA! We had to switch tracks here so we could continue up the mountain.














A view of the tracks we travelled along when the switchback was complete.














We saw a lot of orchards along the way.














When we got to Odessa we had to wait while the engine did a "run-around". They disconnected the engine from the front, then it passed us and went to the back and pushed us the rest of the way! We got to experience a lot on the train today!





















One of the cars on our train...














Daddy and me on our car - the "Katharine".














Back in Stevenson this afternoon, Mommy and I saw deer crossing the road! A mommy deer and her 2 babies, right in town!

Holly's photos of the day

A picture of Daddy paddling. You can just see him on his white canoe across the river.














Another shot of the river.























Daddy on the train.

























A shot of Hood River from the train just before we left the station.

Skamania Lodge

After spending two nights in Gibsons for the outrigger race, we went home on Sunday, did laundry, and packed up for our "camping" trip to the Gorge. We were home Sunday night and left bright and early this morning to avoid any line-ups at the border. We only had a 5-10 minute wait and drove down through scenic Washington, stopped for lunch in Leavenworth, and drove through Yakima to the Columbia River.

Here is a photo of the Columbia River from our hotel room at Skamania Lodge. It's a beautiful place with a golf course, pool, hot tub, spa and a couple of great restaurants. There is a gorgeous guest lounge where you can get your free Starbucks 24/7 and read a paper, while looking out the windows at this same view.














Holly the monkey on a rock in the open area just outside the restaurant, after dinner.















Some more rocks and our room is one of the ones on the top floor in the background.

Gibsons

We were in Gibsons for the Howe Sound Outrigger Race this weekend. We had breakfast and watched the start of the women's race. After we ate, we went for a walk towards the pier and stopped outside a little corner store to take a photo with a bear!

After Holly took one, Connor decided he wanted a photo taken, too. Connor's mom Isabelle raced and he stayed with us while she was racing..... we had lots of fun hanging out with Dad, Uncle Gary and Ocean, too! Holly and I were the two "brown-eyed girls" having breakfast with the 4 "blue-eyed boys"!

More Holly pictures

Here is a sampling of my photos from today... starting with my feet!















Moving on to a series of shots of my dolls "riding the bus", and having a tea party. Scroll down to see the photos as they were taken - the original series is 32 photos long, but my Mommy decided to only post a few..... pretty cute! =)